A concrete beam has been lifted into place at the Bridgewater junction in Runcorn as part of Mersey Gateway project
The first concrete bridge beam for a junction on the new 6126 Mersey Gateway route has been lifted into place. Work is underway on a major road junction for the Mersey Gateway Project, with the first of 156 of the concrete beams has been lifted into place as work ramps up at a major road junction.
A 550tonne capacity crane lowered the 106tonne beam into position at the Bridgewater junction in Runcorn, where the new Astmoor Bridgewater viaduct is being built over the Bridgewater canal. Two elevated slip roads are also being constructed.
This junction will form a key part of the new 9.2km link road, diverting traffic across the new Mersey Gateway Bridge to relieve congestion on the ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge.
Over the coming months, the 156 beams will be placed between 24 bridge piers to create the base of the highway for the Astmoor Bridgewater viaduct and the two slip roads. The beams measure around 41m long and have been pre-cast in Ireland by specialist manufacturer Shay Murtagh. The beams are being shipped across the Irish Sea from Dublin to the Liverpool Docks and onwards to Halton by road.
Due to their size and scale, each beam has to be transported on its own special heavy goods vehicle. These vehicles can extend to accommodate abnormal loads.
Deliveries are taking place overnight to minimise traffic disruption. There may be occasional lane closures with traffic stopped for short periods (for around 15 minutes) during the night on the Silver Jubilee Bridge to allow the beams to be transported safely across the river. These deliveries will continue until next summer.
Merseylink's south landside operations manager, Mike Davies said, "This is a massive logistical operation as these heavy loads are nearly three times as long as a standard articulated lorry. We've done a huge amount of planning to ensure we can get the beams delivered safely to site with minimal disruption to local residents, commuters and businesses."
A stretch of the westbound Daresbury/Bridgewater Expressway (towards the Silver Jubilee Bridge) will be closed at Bridgewater until summer 2016 while the beams are installed. Local diversion details are available on the Mersey Gateway website.
An additional 83 bridge beams, varying in size, will also be installed for road elevations at the Ditton, Widnes Loops and Lodge Lane junctions.
Construction teams have been working hard to prepare sites for the installations, attaching temporary scaffold structures to the bridge piers to support the beams. Once the beams have been cast into place, workers will begin to build the reinforced concrete road deck.
Richard Walker, Merseylink's project director said, "Improvements to local highways are a key feature of this project and we are undertaking essential road infrastructure work at a number of major junctions in Halton. When it's finished, the new link road will provide a seamless route across the new bridge making it easier for people to travel between Runcorn, Widnes and beyond."
Elsewhere on the site across Runcorn and Widnes, the Merseylink team is busy rerouting and rebuilding the new route that will connect the new bridge to the main motorway network in the north west of England.
On the main bridge itself, the lower part of the pylons - at the north and south pylon are now complete. Construction of the first deck section, the pier table, is due to begin at the south pylon, and the form travellers that will be used to continue to cast the main bridge deck from the pier table are being assembled.
The new bridge is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2017.
A 550tonne capacity crane lowered the 106tonne beam into position at the Bridgewater junction in Runcorn, where the new Astmoor Bridgewater viaduct is being built over the Bridgewater canal. Two elevated slip roads are also being constructed.
This junction will form a key part of the new 9.2km link road, diverting traffic across the new Mersey Gateway Bridge to relieve congestion on the ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge.
Over the coming months, the 156 beams will be placed between 24 bridge piers to create the base of the highway for the Astmoor Bridgewater viaduct and the two slip roads. The beams measure around 41m long and have been pre-cast in Ireland by specialist manufacturer Shay Murtagh. The beams are being shipped across the Irish Sea from Dublin to the Liverpool Docks and onwards to Halton by road.
Due to their size and scale, each beam has to be transported on its own special heavy goods vehicle. These vehicles can extend to accommodate abnormal loads.
Deliveries are taking place overnight to minimise traffic disruption. There may be occasional lane closures with traffic stopped for short periods (for around 15 minutes) during the night on the Silver Jubilee Bridge to allow the beams to be transported safely across the river. These deliveries will continue until next summer.
Merseylink's south landside operations manager, Mike Davies said, "This is a massive logistical operation as these heavy loads are nearly three times as long as a standard articulated lorry. We've done a huge amount of planning to ensure we can get the beams delivered safely to site with minimal disruption to local residents, commuters and businesses."
A stretch of the westbound Daresbury/Bridgewater Expressway (towards the Silver Jubilee Bridge) will be closed at Bridgewater until summer 2016 while the beams are installed. Local diversion details are available on the Mersey Gateway website.
An additional 83 bridge beams, varying in size, will also be installed for road elevations at the Ditton, Widnes Loops and Lodge Lane junctions.
Construction teams have been working hard to prepare sites for the installations, attaching temporary scaffold structures to the bridge piers to support the beams. Once the beams have been cast into place, workers will begin to build the reinforced concrete road deck.
Richard Walker, Merseylink's project director said, "Improvements to local highways are a key feature of this project and we are undertaking essential road infrastructure work at a number of major junctions in Halton. When it's finished, the new link road will provide a seamless route across the new bridge making it easier for people to travel between Runcorn, Widnes and beyond."
Elsewhere on the site across Runcorn and Widnes, the Merseylink team is busy rerouting and rebuilding the new route that will connect the new bridge to the main motorway network in the north west of England.
On the main bridge itself, the lower part of the pylons - at the north and south pylon are now complete. Construction of the first deck section, the pier table, is due to begin at the south pylon, and the form travellers that will be used to continue to cast the main bridge deck from the pier table are being assembled.
The new bridge is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2017.
