Loddon Viaduct collapse

About

The Loddon Viaduct collapse was a falsework collapse during construction of a reinforced concrete deck on the Loddon Bridge of the A329(M) motorway in Berkshire, England, on 24 October 1972. It killed three people and injured ten others. It is thought that a design error led part of the falsework, transitioning between the deck and the supporting towers, to be understrength and it failed by buckling or twisting. The part-poured deck fell into the river below. The collapse was investigated by Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate and the contractor, Marples Ridgway pleaded guilty to a breach of the construction regulations at a trial in Bracknell, being fined £150 (equivalent to £1,631 in 2025).

The collapse led to the Advisory Committee on Falsework, chaired by Brunel University vice-chancellor Stephen Bragg and consequently known as the Bragg Report. The committee, whose final report was published in 1975, made a number of recommendations for changes in how falsework was designed, constructed and dismantled. These formed the basis of British Standard 5975: 1982, Code of practice for falsework (now BS 5975-1 and -2: 2024). The Bragg Report had a wider impact on how temporary works were managed in the UK including establishing procedures and the position of temporary works coordinator.

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