Al Cûte Bridge – Site supervision

The Al Cûte bridge is a limestone structure dating from 1721 which crosses the Vesdre river. It was restored in 1775 and has a cast iron parapet from 1860. The bridge has been listed as a monument since 1981 and the surrounding banks as a site of interest.

At the request of the city of Verviers, our mission to study the structure began in 2017 with a campaign of surveys and careful inspections of the bridge.

Very quickly, we identified several problems, the most worrying of which was the deterioration of arch No. 4 due to significant infiltration from the right bank abutment. Our first recommendations to the owner were to prohibit the passage of vehicles over 7 tons on the bridge.

The restoration project began in February 2020 with a first phase of repair and consolidation of arch n°4 to restore its initial load-bearing capacity and thus allow the passage of heavy vehicles. Since November 2020, the work has been stopped to allow for the completion of another project to repair the roadway and drainage of rue Renier, located directly upstream of the structure. The second phase of the project, which includes the complete restoration of the deck, the pavements and the ironwork, is scheduled to start in September 2022 and be completed in early summer 2023. As the bridge has been damaged in the meantime by the recent flooding in the Vesdre valley, we have had to carry out a complete analysis of the structure and stability elements to check the general condition of the bridge and to determine whether they are still fit for purpose.

Finally, much more restoration work is needed on the guardrails and pavements, but not on the main structure, which has generally withstood the violence of the floods.