Renovation Gallery

Welding JLP01_11_32608_10

SEVERN BRIDGE, M48, AUST, SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE. A welder within one of the deck sections of the Severn Bridge strengthening the joints between the steel ribs.
The original design and construction of the Severn Bridge had under estimated the increased volume of traffic since its completion in 1966 and whilst built to last 120 years it was found to require remedial work after just 20. Laing Industrial Engineering & Construction won the £29.5m contract from the Department of Transport and strengthening work on all elements of the structure began in May 1987. The project was completed in April 1990 in the same year that Laing jointly won the contract for the construction of the second Severn Crossing that would take the traffic pressure off the first bridge and extend its lifespan even further

© Historic England Archive

Carlisle Cathedral JLP01_08_075746

CARLISLE CATHEDRAL, CARLISLE, CUMBRIA. Foreman stonemason, Ted Drinkwater, working at Carlisle Cathedral checking a stone head on the north face of the cathedral. Half its face had been replaced using SBD Certite as the adhesive.
This photograph is part of a batch taken by Laing to show restoration work being carried out using SBD Certite. In 1961, N M Phillips, the architect for Carlisle Cathedral started experimenting with the bonding material SBD Certite in the restoration of the cathedral. It was used on all but one of the decorated Gothic windows of the South Clerestory and by the time this photograph was taken, it was being used in the restoration of the north face of the cathedral. By using SBD Certite, Laing stonemasons were able to remove just the weathered surface of the stonework. New stone only two inches deep could be bonded to the old stone saving more of the original fabric of the building and cutting costs by a third. The photograph was published in April 1967 in Laing's monthly newsletter Team Spirit

© Historic England Archive. John Laing Photographic Collection