Ravedon Clough

Raveden Brook is a natural watercourse that takes rainwater from the West Pennine Moors eventually down to the River Irwell. Within Smithills Country Park the Brook enters a steep valley across which an adopted highway spans via a 10m high bridge structure comprised of solid masonry with a small 1.2m diameter culvert to allow the Brook to pass under.

The bridge structure was assessed and the masonry walls (up to 10m in height) found to have serious bulging despite several attempts over the years to install reinforced concrete buttresses plus and the culvert diameter was inadequately sized to cope with 1 in 100-year flood conditions.

The whole 40m long structure was to be dismantled, a new 2.4m diameter culvert for the Brook installed and masonry walls rebuilt with a mass concrete infill comprising in excess of 500m3 of concrete core.