Roxton Road Bridge demolished for £1bn Black Cat scheme

Skanska has completed the final demolition work for the Roxton Road Bridge for the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvement scheme.

Working on behalf of National Highways, the company demolished the bridge to make way for the new Roxton Road link.

Together with its contractor Armac, Skanska's team deployed six excavators to carry out the work, which began with breaking the deck from the centre outward.

Steel beams were cut and dropped safely onto crash matting, with two 60-tonne excavators used to lift the beams from the carriageway. They were then sectioned into more manageable pieces for removal.

Skanksa highlighted that all concrete material generated ‘will be crushed and reused on site for haul roads and temporary works platforms, contributing to the project’s sustainability efforts’.

The bridge spanned the existing A421 and linked local villages to the Black Cat roundabout but the new replacement, which has opened earlier this month, was built to accommodate the updated junction plans at the roundabout.

The design of the new bridge also accounts for the heavier loads expected, as well as traffic from local businesses that would previously have had direct access to the A1.

Willie McCormick, project director, said: ‘The demolition was meticulously planned and executed during a full 48-hour closure of the A421 to ensure safety and efficiency. I want to sincerely thank the entire team for their dedication and hard work in making this complex operation a success.’

The £1bn A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet project aims to improve journeys between Milton Keynes and Cambridge and is set to open in 2027. 

Image credit: Skanska