Machine for building bridges

THE days of a gang of workers building a bridge the old fashioned way is a thing of the past as far as the new bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal is concerned.

A massive bridge building machine has been brought in to construct the Mersey Gateway bridge over the canal that will connect the Central Expressway in Runcorn with the Eastern Bypass and Speke Road in Widnes, Alan Tilbury reports.

Replaces existing bridge

It replaces the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge that presently connects the two towns and is being built 82ft over the canal a mile East of the existing bridge.

The machine consists of a moveable scaffolding system that will cast eight reinforced concrete spans to create the central section of the approach road, with loads of concrete being able to be poured into the spans as the system moved along.

When complete it will carry a six lanes highway as a toll road.