15/06/2026
Laying the Groundwork for Peterborough’s New River Crossing
Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd has been appointed by M Group Highways to carry out temporary sacrificial sheet piling works at Cygnet Bridge. This new pedestrian and cycling bridge across the River Nene in Peterborough, forms part of the city’s wider Embankment regeneration programme.
Cygnet Bridge will provide a dedicated sustainable travel connection between the Embankment and Fletton Quays, offering pedestrians and cyclists a safe, direct route away from the main road and improving links between the city centre and the new university campus to the south. The project, funded by the Government’s Towns Fund and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, carries a total budget of £8.3 million. Construction began in May 2026, with completion expected within twelve months.
SPUK’s involvement covers the supply and installation of approximately 30 linear metres of Larssen 616 sheet piles to form the temporary earthworks retention for the central pier foundations. The sheet piles are sacrificial and designed to remain in place permanently once the foundation works are complete, rather than being extracted on completion. Sheet pile installation is being carried out using one of our Movax Excavator Piling Rigs, pre-augering ahead of installation to suit the ground conditions at the riverside location.
The inclusion of biguma clutch sealant, which is applied to the sheet pile interlocks prior to installation, is a notable element of this project’s specification. In waterside and below-water-table environments, managing water ingress through interlock joints is an important consideration, and clutch sealant provides an effective means of reducing seepage in circumstances where watertightness is a requirement of the temporary works design.
Riverside and waterside sites present their own set of access and logistical challenges. Working within a live public environment on a high-profile civic project requires careful coordination, and the compact, versatile nature of the excavator mounted side grip piling rig makes it well suited to sites where space is at a premium and a conventional leader rig setup would be impractical.
The Cygnet Bridge project is a good illustration of the breadth of environments in which sheet piling plays a role, from major urban construction schemes, to civic infrastructure projects in highly visible, publicly accessible locations. SPUK’s experience across both sectors supports safe, considered delivery in exactly these conditions.
SPUK has extensive experience delivering temporary and sacrificial sheet piling solutions across a wide range of infrastructure and civil engineering projects throughout the UK. To discuss your project requirements, contact the team on 01772 794141 or email [email protected].