Work is continuing on a £600 million road bridge project in North West England.

It is understood a 1,700 tonne bridge-building machine named 'Trinity' has poured concrete to create curved viaducts for the Mersey Gateway bridge in Widnes.

The Movable Scaffolding System (MSS) was specifically designed to build the structure, which will become the centrepiece of the Mersey Gateway Project.

At 157 metres long and 22 metres wide, Trinity will remain on the Mersey Gateway site for the next 14 months.

The machine began work on 21 January with a concrete pour for the first deck section of the northern approach viaduct, which will lead to the new bridge.


Around 160 truck loads of concrete was poured into a 1,170m3 formwork mould which lasted for around 24 hours.

The process involved locking the MMS onto the bridge piers and then pouring concrete into the mould to create a deck space.

The equipment will then move along via hydraulic jacks to create the next deck span.

Each of the 19 spans will be developed in sections approximately 70 metres in length and work is scheduled to be completed in March 2017.

Hugh O'Connor, General Manager for Merseylink, said: "This is a hugely exciting time for our construction teams. An enormous amount of effort has gone into preparing and testing Trinity ahead of today’s concrete pour. We are delighted to achieve this important milestone and get this next phase of the project underway."



(LM/MH)