Work is continuing on a £7.1 million road and bridge project in Middlesbrough.

The Middlehaven Dock Bridge and Road scheme is being delivered by Balfour Beatty as part of Middlesbrough Council's £68m regeneration programme.

The new 30-metre 'lifting' bridge and 750-metre long link road will support the development at Middlehaven Dock and is scheduled for completion this summer.

Balfour Beatty's project team have now started work to install the second of two 84-tonne precast concrete units at the site. The unit will be manoeuvred into position by a 1,000 tonne crane and rest on piles in the dock, which were recently installed by the contractor using a barge as a working platform. A further 34 precast concrete units will then be lifted into position over the coming months.


Stephen Semple, Balfour Beatty Managing Director for North & Midlands East Delivery Unit, said: "We're making strong progress on the Middlehaven Dock Bridge and Road project. We've drawn on our experience to overcome numerous challenges including the need to work with the changing tides. We used precast concrete units to avoid the need to construct the bridge in situ which speeded up delivery and was the safest way to deliver the project.

"We look forward to further collaboration with the Council to deliver a project to the benefit of the local community and support the regeneration of Middlesbrough."

Cllr Charlie Rooney said: "This is a really significant civil engineering project for Middlesbrough, and it's great to see the rapid progress being made.

"The Dock Bridge and link road are key to the regeneration of this hugely important area and will help to unlock a new phase of inward investment.

"This latest milestone means we are another step closer to realising our ambition for Middlesbrough as the city heart of the Tees Valley.”

(LM)