Bridge set to lead the way to 7,000 jobs
THE company behind a massive distribution park going up near East Midlands Airport says installation of a new 1,200 tonne bridge which closed the M1 recently will help pave the way for more than 7,000 new jobs.
The concrete and steel bridge was successfully installed above the M1 as part of a new bypass around the village of Kegworth.
It is one of the infrastructure projects being completed to help make way for the Segro Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway – a 700-acre “inland port” including a 50-acre freight terminal under con- struction at Castle Donington.
When the new bridge opens in the autumn it will help reduce the amount of traffic and HGVs travelling through Kegworth by about 60 per cent.
Shop Direct – the business behind the Very and Littlewoods online shops – is the latest in a growing list of firms planning to take space at the £700 million logistics park.
Two other anchor tenants are Amazon and Nestlé – the latter through third-party distribution company XPO Logistics. Amazon has negotiated a deal for a 500,000 sq ft warehouse – equivalent to eight fullsized football pitches. The building, which will cater for up to 3,300 jobs, is expected to be ready by April 2019.
XPO Logistics, meanwhile, is set to have a 700,000 sq ft distribution centre built at the same site, off junction 24 of the M1 – creating thousands more jobs.
During the weekend bridge installation the M1 was closed from junctions 23A to junction 24 while a project team from landowners Segro, as well as Roxhill, which is constructing the distribution park, and Buckingham Group Contracting worked closely with Highways England and councils in Leicestershire, Nottingham and Derby to ensure everything ran smoothly.
The bridge was constructed in sections on site next to the M1 and the steel parts were transported from Cleveland Bridge in Darlington last Feb- ruary.
In the weeks leading up to the installation of the bridge, alterations were made to the M1 which included filling in the central reservation and removing street furniture to enable a clear path for the bridge to be “driven” over the motorway.
The bridge was manoeuvred over the motorway throughout Saturday and the M1 was finally handed back to Highways England on Sunday morning.
Andrew Pilsworth, Segro’s business unit director for national logistics, said: “The Segro Logistics Park East Mid- lands Gateway is a hugely important development, not just for the region’s economy, but the UK on the whole.
“The bridge is a key part of the development and will bring great benefits to the local community and we’re looking forward to it opening to traffic later this year.”
The distribution park has planning consent for up to six million sq ft of logistics space and will also include a 50-acre rail terminal.
In all, the development is expected to create 7,250 jobs, alongside 900 construction roles and 3,000 indirect jobs.
Ten distribution units are earmarked for the site, although the final number will be determined by the market.
The logistics park – already visible to drivers along the M1 – will also have its own rail terminal, set to be completed by the middle of next year. It will be capable of accommodating half-mile-long trains and will connect the park to the Castle Donington freight line, providing direct access, via the Rugby Loop, to the major eastern and southern UK ports such as Southampton, Felixstowe and London Gateway.