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Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company

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Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company
IndustryConstruction
Founded1877[1]
DefunctSeptember 2021 (September 2021)[2]
HeadquartersDarlington
Products

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a British bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington.[1] It was operational for 144 years.

From the founding of the company in 1877, it had a presence in Darlington. While initially focused on fabrication, the company became one of the major bridgebuilders in the world, having constructed structures across all five inhabited continents. It built numerous landmarks around the world, including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge; the Forth Road and Humber suspension bridges in the UK; Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge, and London's Wembley Stadium Arch.[3][4] Cleveland Bridge's Dubai subsidiary, which was established in 1978, fabricated and erected steel structures for, amongst other projects, the Burj Al Arab and Emirates Towers.[3]

During 1967, the company was acquired by The Cementation Company, which was itself bought by Trafalgar House soon thereafter. During 1990, it was merged with Redpath Dorman Long, another subsidiary owned by Trafalgar, to create Cleveland Structural Engineering. After a management buyout in 2000, the company operated as an independent concern, with considerable financial backing from Saudi Arabia's Al Rushaid Group. However, the company soon found itself in multiple legal disputes due to alleged quality issues and other concerns on its work on major projects such as The Shard and New Wembley Stadium; these proved to be not only costly in financial terms but also damaging to its reputation. During the early 2020s, the fiscal situation of the company declined considerably and backers proved to be unwilling to expend additional resources. Thus, in July 2021, the Darlington portion of the company went into administration in July 2021, owing £21m. After unsuccessful efforts to attract a buyer, the company was closed in September 2021.[2]

Victoria Falls Bridge

History

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Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was founded in 1877 in Darlington with a capital of £10,000.[1] Seven years later, the assets were sold to Charles Frederick Dixon, who registered the company on a Stock Exchange in 1893. By 1913, it had 600 employees.[5]

During 1967, the company was acquired by The Cementation Company.[6] Three years later, Trafalgar House purchased Cementation; it also acquired Redpath Dorman Long from Dorman Long Group in 1982, after which the two subsidiaries were merged in 1990 to create Cleveland Structural Engineering.[7] That business was renamed Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge following acquisition of Trafalgar House by Kværner in 1996.[1][8]

During 1999, it was reported that Kværner intended to sell the business amid a wider restructuring away from heavy manufacturing activities; at the time, the company employed roughly 600 staff following a series of job losses.[9][10] Despite appeals for financial assistance being made to the British government, it refused to intervene in the matter.[11] One year later, the company became independent through a management buyout that involved a payment of $12.3 million.[12][3][13] In addition to the UK-based operations, the same management team also acquired the company's Dubai subsidiary that had been established in 1978. Saudi Arabia's Al Rushaid Group provided finance to the firm which rose to an 88.5% stake by September 2002.[14]

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the company's headcount varied considerably, often rising soon after the awarding of key contracts to the business.[15] During this era, it undertook various activities, including its involvement in various road and railway-based schemes and several major construction projects, such as The Shard and Wembley Stadium.[16]

Final years

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In July 2021, Cleveland Bridge sought further funding from Al Rushaid Group and warned 220 staff of potential redundancies. That same month, the firm was reported to be on the brink of administration as a result of contract delays and negative economic consequences that were partially attributable to COVID-19.[17][18]

Al Rushaid Group did not provide the requested resources; instead, FRP was appointed as the company's administrator and the business was put up for sale.[19][20][21] Consequently, 51 workers were made redundant in August 2021.[22] Around 25 staff continued to assist FRP, and 128 staff were furloughed under the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme pending restart of production.[23][24]

FRP was ultimately unable to secure a buyer for the business. Accordingly, on 10 September 2021, it announced the company would permanently close with the loss of a further 133 jobs.[2][25] They stated £12m would be required to fund the business to the end of 2021. The company assets were sold off in November 2021.[26][27]

Controversies

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2016 death and HSE fine

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In 2022, Cleveland Bridge & Engineering was fined £1.5 million by the Health and Safety Executive, with a further cost judgement of £29,000 against them. An inadequately secured crane access panel gave way in a 2016 fatal fall. The fine related to four breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 leading to the death. FRP Advisory stated it was unlikely the fine or costs could be paid.[28][29]

The Shard

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In 2013, Cleveland Bridge was ordered to pay Severfield-Rowen plc £824,478 compensation for delays to their subcontracted work on The Shard. The judge accepted there was a very high incidence of poor workmanship in the steelwork Cleveland Bridge delivered. Cleveland Bridge's own internal correspondence highlighted an extraordinary work overload in 2010, and Judge Akenhead concluded it had taken on more work than it had capacity.[30][31]

Wembley Stadium

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In 2002, the company won a £60 million steelwork contract for the bowl of New Wembley Stadium.[14] Part way through construction, relationships between main contractor Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge broke down. Multiplex stripped Cleveland Bridge of their erection role, handing it to roof steelwork contractor Hollandia. Two hundred of Cleveland Bridge's on site erection staff and subcontractors transferred to Hollandia and were sacked after going on strike. The situation escalated when Cleveland Bridge unilaterally repudiated its remaining stadium fabrication contract.[32][33][34][35]

Both sides blamed each other for extra costs; delays; poor workmanship; missing or incorrect steelwork; damaged, missing or incorrect paintwork; chaotic record-keeping; and the near site stock yards. Litigation ensued and Cleveland Bridge was ultimately ordered to pay Multiplex £6,154,246.79 in respect of net earlier overpayments; breach of contract, and interest. Cleveland Bridge was also ordered to pay 20% of Multiplex's legal costs.[36][33] It was claimed, in evidence, that some Wembley steelwork had been fabricated in China for Cleveland Bridge and that it had been diverted to the Beijing National Stadium.[33]

Mr Justice Jackson's 2008 judgement in the Technology and Construction Court was highly critical of both parties unwillingness to settle earlier in such an expensive case where the core evidence extended to over 500 lever arch files, and photocopying costs alone were £1 million. He highlighted the large number of items at dispute where the sums involved were substantially exceeded by the legal costs involved in resolving them.[33]

Notable bridges

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Bridge Location Year Total length Image Ref
ft m
Ramsey Harbour Swing Bridge Isle of Man 1892 420 130
[37]
Victoria Falls Bridge Zim­babwe 1905 650 200
[38]
Waibadu / Garden Bridge Shanghai 1906 344 105
[4]
King Edward VII Bridge New­castle 1906 1,151 351
[39]
Blue Nile Road and Railway Bridge Sudan 1909 1,837 560 [40]
Victoria Bridge Hamilton 1910 500 150
[41]
Tees Trans­porter Bridge Middle­sbrough 1911 851 259
[42]
Goz Abu Goma Bridge Sudan 1911 1,759 536
[43]
Trent Bridge widening Nott­ingham 1926 300 91
[44]
Chiswick Bridge London 1933 606 185
[45]
Verrugas Bridge Peru 1936 574 175
[46]
Howrah Bridge India 1942 2,313 705
[47]
Spit Bridge Sydney 1958 745 227
[48]
Auckland Harbour Bridge Auckland 1959 3,350 1,020
[49]
Tamar Bridge Saltash – Plymouth 1959 1,099 335
[50]
Forth Road Bridge
(ACD)
Scotland 1964 8,241 2,512
[51]
Severn Bridge
(ABB)
UK 1966 5,249 1,600
[52]
Wye Bridge UK 1968 1,340 410
[52]
Bos­phorus Bridge Turkey 1973 1,560 480
[53]
Rio–Niterói Bridge Brazil 1974 43,602 13,290
[54]
Balla­chulish Bridge Scotland 1974 964 294
[55]
Humber Bridge Hessle 1981 7,300 2,200
[56]
Kessock Bridge Inver­ness 1982 3,465 1,056
[57]
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge London 1991 9,423 2,872
[58]
Tsing Ma Bridge Hong Kong 1997 4,518 1,377
[59]
Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge Jiangsu 1999 4,544 1,385
[60]
New Carquinez Bridge San Fran­cisco 2003 3,465 1,056
[61]
Rio–Antirrio Bridge Gulf of Corinth 2004 9,450 2,880
[62]
Wembley Stadium Arch London 2005 1,033 315
[63]
Infinity Bridge Stockton on Tees 2009 787 240
[64]
Twin Sails Bridge Poole 2012 456 139
[65]

See also

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References

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  2. ^ a b c Morby, Aaron (10 September 2021). "Cleveland Bridge to close as hunt for buyer fails". Construction Enquirer. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "CBEME Profile" (PDF). Cleveland Bridge CBEME. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b Ellison, M.H. (27 May 2003). "Wayback Machine – Newcastle University – A to Z Cleveland Bridge Structures". Archived from the original on 27 May 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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  9. ^ Macalister, Terry (14 April 1999). "Kvaerner to sell off top British bridge-builder". The Guardian.
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  14. ^ a b Buying into Success – Al Rushaid Investment Group Increases Stake in Cleveland Bridge Group, clevelandbridge.com, September 2002, archived from the original on 21 November 2003
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