10,000 have visited centre
THE Mersey Gateway Project has welcomed the 10,000th guest to its Widnes-based visitor centre.
The free attraction at the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in West Bank first opened in February 2015 to tell the story of Halton’s iconic bridge and road project.
It has now attracted more than 10,000 people through its doors.
To mark the achievment, a team from Merseylink, the consortium behind the project, held meet and greet sessions with the public at the Widnes centre encouraging visitors to enter a competition.
It involved taking part in a social media campaign to share their visitor centre experiences.
Rebecca Jones from Halebank was picked at random and will now receive a personal tour of the construction site to see Trinity, the project’s movable scaffold system, and the huge form traveller machines operating in the estuary.
She said: “I was over the moon to find out I had won the competition.
“I am really looking forward to the tour to see the progress being made on the new bridge as it is history in the making.”
The visitor centre offers views over the River Mersey estuary and the construction of the new bridge from the Catalyst’s rooftop observatory.
Special samples of the materials being used to build the bridge are also on display, including a giant steel anchorage box weighing 620kg which shows a cross section of one of steel stay cables.
History enthusiasts can view a range of ancient bottles, thought to be up to 150 years old, which were unearthed at Ditton roundabout in Widnes by construction workers.
Visitors can also use a number of interactive display screens to access a wide range of project information, including videos, photographs, a live site webcam and a special children’s zone.
John McClure from Widnes said: “It’s well worth a visit with excellent information and friendly staff. If you want to find out about the new bridge this is the place to come.”
Helen Hodson, originally from Runcorn and now living in Buckinghamshire, said: “Growing up in the Runcorn area I was keen to see the huge changes with the addition of the new bridge.
The viewing platform at the Catalyst Museum is a great place to see this happening.”
The Widnes-based centre is one of two Mersey Gateway visitor centres, with a second smaller information one based at Runcorn Shopping Centre.
Both visitor centres are free to attend and are staffed by Mersey Gateway volunteers, who are on hand to answer questions on everything from history and heritage, environment and ecology, to the bridge construction itself.
Halton Council leader Rob Polhillsaid: “It’s great to see the local community getting involved with the project.
“As we have always said, it’s more than just a bridge, and it’s fantastic that the visitors centres in Widnes and Runcorn are available for people to find out more”
The new bridge is on track to open in the autumn of 2017.
For more information visit www.merseygateway.co.uk/ visitor-centres