North Viaduct completed on UK’s Mersey Gateway bridge project

Concrete finishing work has started on the completed north approach viaduct of England’s new 2.13km Mersey Gateway project. Over the past three years, around 18,400m³of concrete was used to build the viaduct. When complete near the end of this year, around 60,000 vehicles are expected to use the toll bridge every day, or nearly 22 million vehicles annually.
April 19, 2017 Read time: 3 mins

Concrete finishing work has started on the completed north approach viaduct of England’s new 2.13km 6126 Mersey Gateway project.


Over the past three years, around 18,400m³of concrete was used to build the viaduct. When complete near the end of this year, around 60,000 vehicles are expected to use the toll bridge every day, or nearly 22 million vehicles annually.

Finishing work on the north viaduct involves water-proofing the deck, installing fascias along its sides and laying a road surface, said Hugh O’Connor, general manager for Merseylink Construction Joint Venture.

A range of specialist equipment was used to build the north approach viaduct, including the 280tonne wing-traveller machine used to build the outer road lanes on either side of the north approach viaduct. It followed Trinity, the 1,700tonne 157m-long movable scaffold system -MSS - which was used to build the central part of the carriageway.

Structural work continues on the south approach viaduct, which is expected to be finished this summer. Once complete, the two elevated approach roads will stretch across the saltmarsh on either side of the River Mersey, connecting the new bridge to the main road networks in the towns of Runcorn and Widnes.

Last month, construction of the bridge deck and stay cables also passed the halfway point.
 
The 2.13km Mersey Gateway Project, one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in the UK, is one of the government’s top 40 priority projects in the National Infrastructure Plan. The 1km-long six-lane bridge will consist of four spans supported from three towers in the estuary of the River Mersey near Liverpool. The 80m-high central tower will be shorter than the two outer towers, at 110m and 125m in height.

The <%$Linker:

2

External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal Merseylink Consortium false http://www.merseygateway.co.uk/ false false%> was appointed by Halton Borough Council as the project company in 2014 on a 30-year contract to design, build, finance and operate the structure. The construction joint venture is made up of Kier Infrastructure and Overseas, 1026 Samsung C&amp;T and 1340 FCC Construcci&#243;n. Equity partners are 2378 Macquarie Capital Group, BBGI and FCC Construcción.
 
Emovis will deliver and operate tolling for the consortium through its <%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal merseyflow brand false http://www.merseyflow.co.uk/ false false%>.

 

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • First stay cable installed on UK’s Mersey Gateway bridge
    October 31, 2016
    The first stay cable, 52m long, connecting the Mersey Gateway south pylon to the main bridge deck, has been installed on the Mersey Gateway Project.
    Read More
  • Merseylink wins US$3.12bn Mersey Gateway Project contract
    June 20, 2013
    Merseylink was today announced as the preferred bidder for the US$3.12 billion (£2bn) Mersey Gateway Project in North West England. Making the announcement together in the observatory in the Catalyst Museum in Widnes overlooking the River Mersey, Halton Borough Council and Merseylink also confirmed they have jointly identified savings amounting to “tens of millions of pounds” on the projected public sector contribution to the project budget.
    Read More
  • Europe closes in on the crossings
    September 27, 2017
    The Mersey Gateway bridge project off England’s west coast passed a milestone recently with the first joining of two of the deck sections. The key segments, as the sections are called, link the north approach viaduct to the north pylon deck span and are the first of four deck-joins scheduled for this summer. In total, there are five sections of bridge deck and approach roads that need to be joined.
    Read More
  • First deck span completed for Mersey Gateway's north approach viaduct
    April 4, 2016
    The Mersey Gateway Project achieved another milestone as the first deck span for the elevated north approach viaduct was completed. Work started on site in May 2014 to build a six-lane toll bridge over the Mersey River between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes and opening is set for the autumn of 2017. As well as construction of the new bridge, works include the upgrading of 7km of highway to the north and south of the river - the main bridge is 2.2km long – and changing traffic flow so the majority of tra
    Read More

Highlighted Content