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Mersey Gateway Bridge
The Mersey Gateway Bridge is a toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. The crossing, which opened in October 2017, has three traffic lanes in each direction and is approximately 1.5 km (1 mile) east (upstream) of the older Silver Jubilee Bridge. It has a span of 998 m (3,274 ft) and a total length of 2.3 km (1.4 miles) including its approach roads. It formed part of a wider project to upgrade the infrastructure around the Mersey crossings that included major civil engineering work to realign the road network, refurbish and add tolling to the Silver Jubilee Bridge, and build new interchanges.
When the first road bridge between Runcorn and Widnes opened in 1961 (renamed the Silver Jubilee Bridge in 1977), it replaced the Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge, a 19th-century steam-powered cable-truss transporter that carried four cars in 2½ minutes across the Mersey. The replacement crossing was designed to carry 8,000 vehicles per day; however, 50 years later more than 80,000 vehicles were using the through arch bridge and surrounding road network daily, ten times its expected capacity. A new crossing was therefore deemed both vital and necessary by Halton Borough Council. Moreover, it believed "better connectivity, more consistent journey times and improved accessibility, combined with a much improved physical urban environment would make Halton a better place to live and work, and [..] invest".
In 2001, Ramboll was appointed the lead technical consultant on the project. It worked as part of a technical advisor team composed of CH2M, Ramboll, IBI and Knight Architects, to support the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board with the technical and contractual administration of the project and to help it fulfil its contractual obligations.
In June 2010, the project was put on hold awaiting the outcome of the Treasury's 2010 spending review. In October 2010, it was confirmed by Chancellor George Osborne that the £431 million plan would go ahead. As part of the 2014 Budget, Osborne announced a £270 million guarantee for the project.
After extensive site preparation, construction work began on 7 May 2014. The bridge opened to traffic just after midnight on 14 October 2017.
The bridge has three single arranged towers that support harp design rigging. The three towers are different heights: an 80 m (260 ft) central pylon, a 110 m (360 ft) pylon on the north side and a 125 m (410 ft) south pylon.
The total cable-stayed span is 998 m (3,274 ft), made up of two main spans of 318 m (1,043 ft) and 294 metres (965 ft), and two side spans of 205 metres (673 ft) and 181 m (594 ft). The crossing's total length, including approach viaducts, is 2.3 km (1.4 miles). The deck is made from reinforced concrete with a maximum clearance of 23 m (75 ft) above the river. As the water depth was too low at this point for marine construction vessels, a 1.5 km (1-mile) trestle was built out into the Mersey to drive in the bridge's pilings.
New roads were built to connect the bridge to the highway network. An interchange and a junction were built to join the southern end to Runcorn's existing Central Expressway. On the northern side, the old route of the A562 was demolished and replaced with a dual carriageway to Speke Road. Embankments on the Widnes side were constructed from decontaminated material excavated along the route from former industrial brownfield sites: treating and reusing the material meant that it did not need to be removed from the construction zone. The new crossing was expected to improve journey times by up to ten minutes during peak times compared to the old bridge.
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Mersey Gateway Bridge
The Mersey Gateway Bridge is a toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. The crossing, which opened in October 2017, has three traffic lanes in each direction and is approximately 1.5 km (1 mile) east (upstream) of the older Silver Jubilee Bridge. It has a span of 998 m (3,274 ft) and a total length of 2.3 km (1.4 miles) including its approach roads. It formed part of a wider project to upgrade the infrastructure around the Mersey crossings that included major civil engineering work to realign the road network, refurbish and add tolling to the Silver Jubilee Bridge, and build new interchanges.
When the first road bridge between Runcorn and Widnes opened in 1961 (renamed the Silver Jubilee Bridge in 1977), it replaced the Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge, a 19th-century steam-powered cable-truss transporter that carried four cars in 2½ minutes across the Mersey. The replacement crossing was designed to carry 8,000 vehicles per day; however, 50 years later more than 80,000 vehicles were using the through arch bridge and surrounding road network daily, ten times its expected capacity. A new crossing was therefore deemed both vital and necessary by Halton Borough Council. Moreover, it believed "better connectivity, more consistent journey times and improved accessibility, combined with a much improved physical urban environment would make Halton a better place to live and work, and [..] invest".
In 2001, Ramboll was appointed the lead technical consultant on the project. It worked as part of a technical advisor team composed of CH2M, Ramboll, IBI and Knight Architects, to support the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board with the technical and contractual administration of the project and to help it fulfil its contractual obligations.
In June 2010, the project was put on hold awaiting the outcome of the Treasury's 2010 spending review. In October 2010, it was confirmed by Chancellor George Osborne that the £431 million plan would go ahead. As part of the 2014 Budget, Osborne announced a £270 million guarantee for the project.
After extensive site preparation, construction work began on 7 May 2014. The bridge opened to traffic just after midnight on 14 October 2017.
The bridge has three single arranged towers that support harp design rigging. The three towers are different heights: an 80 m (260 ft) central pylon, a 110 m (360 ft) pylon on the north side and a 125 m (410 ft) south pylon.
The total cable-stayed span is 998 m (3,274 ft), made up of two main spans of 318 m (1,043 ft) and 294 metres (965 ft), and two side spans of 205 metres (673 ft) and 181 m (594 ft). The crossing's total length, including approach viaducts, is 2.3 km (1.4 miles). The deck is made from reinforced concrete with a maximum clearance of 23 m (75 ft) above the river. As the water depth was too low at this point for marine construction vessels, a 1.5 km (1-mile) trestle was built out into the Mersey to drive in the bridge's pilings.
New roads were built to connect the bridge to the highway network. An interchange and a junction were built to join the southern end to Runcorn's existing Central Expressway. On the northern side, the old route of the A562 was demolished and replaced with a dual carriageway to Speke Road. Embankments on the Widnes side were constructed from decontaminated material excavated along the route from former industrial brownfield sites: treating and reusing the material meant that it did not need to be removed from the construction zone. The new crossing was expected to improve journey times by up to ten minutes during peak times compared to the old bridge.