Mersey Gateway reaches full length
The construction of the £600m Mersey Gateway has passed a major milestone, with the final segment of bridge deck inserted to join the last deck sections together, so the bridge now fully spans the River Mersey.
The historic moment came as members of the construction team completed the final key concrete pour between the south and central pylon decks.
The Mersey Gateway runs for one kilometre across the river and is connected by its viaducts to the seven kilometres of newly-built roads.
While there is still finishing works to be done before the bridge opens to traffic this autumn, the completion of the deck marks the first full crossing of the river since the Silver Jubilee Bridge was completed 56 years ago.
The Mersey Gateway’s design features three pylons, of varying heights with the tallest, the south pylon, stretching 125m above the river.
Almost 90,000 cubic metres of concrete, equivalent to 36 Olympic-sized swimming pools, was used to build the bridge, the North Approach Viaduct, and the South Approach Viaduct.
Together they measure almost 2.5km long.
Cllr Rob Polhill, leader of Halton Borough Council, said: “Having been involved in this project from the start I’m extremely proud to see the progress the team has made. This really is a momentous occasion and marks the first full crossing of the river since 1961.”
Great, hopefully the awful diversions and really bad signposting will end soon, then we have the pleasure of paying to cross our own region everyday, oh joy!
By Motorway queuer
Has this bridge got another name?…….. “The Chumps up North pay again Bridge” might not be the best, but it tells us more about this Government’s attitude towards transport and the economy for the area.
Sorry to tell Motorway queuer, but they intend to close the Silver Jubilee for some time for maintenance;………. queues I think for some time to come!
By Billy
Maintenance, de-linkage and permanent lane closures turning it into something which has very limited each way capacity. And yes, you’ll still have to pay to go over it.
When the government started picking at this project, resulting in the diluted and tolled project it is today, the authorities would have done better to drop the whole thing and make clear the government were responsible for that decision.
The Runcorn bridge is handling something like 10x the traffic it was designed for, and it needs major maintenance. The chaos that would have ensued from not developing a new bridge would have been something only a national government could have been held to account for.
By Mike