Facts and figures behind Gateway

nated soil acceptable for re-use.

Removed and safely disposed 2,341,450 litres of liquid materials from the site.

Cleaned up 36,785,000 litres of liquid passing through the bridge project water treatment plants. ● Merseylink consortium said there have also been more than 20,000 neighbourhood benefits such as:

More than 20,000 hours of support to projects delivered through the Merseylink TimeBank scheme

£121,000 of initiatives delivered across 18 projects in Runcorn and Widnes through the Merseylink TimeBank scheme and regeneration fund, ranging from creating nursing home peace gardens to nursery school play areas.

30,000 people visited the visitor centres.

73 weeks of work experience delivered for school and college students.

92 volunteers shared the Mersey Gateway story with residents.

Presentations and Lego sessions took place for more than 2,200 children in 71 schools. ● The three tower cranes marked the Halton skyline for months during the construction of the three bridge pylons from the riverbed upwards.

There are three rather than two pylons because of height restrictions and sent to Bratislava in Slovakia to to allow for planes flying into nearby build a bridge over the Danube. Liverpool John Lennon Airport. ● Six form travellers: Their heights were: Each weighing 270 tonnes, these North pylon is 110 metres (m) high were lifted up to bridge deck height with a final crane height of 129m. using hydraulic ramps.

Central pylon 80m high with a final Three pairs acted as cantilevered crane height of 100m form work to construct the one-kilo

South pylon 125m high with a final metre-long bridge deck in 6m long crane height of 146m and 33m wide sections. ● Trinity and Webster, the moveable There are 154 deck segments. scaffold systems (SMSs): ● Two wing travellers:

Each weighed 1,700 tonnes, were Each weighing 280 tonnes, these 157m in length, 8m high and 22m 48m wide and 20m high machines wide. were used to cast the additional lanes

Trinity cast 750m of road deck onto north and south approach viaalong the north approach viaduct ducts. with 11 enormous concrete pours. They cast 12m sections along each

Approximately 1,100 cubic metres side of the viaduct. of concrete was poured for each sec● Striking features: tion, and each one took around 26 The team constructed three tempohours to complete. rary cofferdam, which are still visible

Webster cast 720 metres of road in the river, to create dry working deck along the south approach viaareas to lay the concrete base for the duct including one section across the pylon foundations. Manchester Ship Canal. The three foundations sit below the

It spent much of its time working riverbed and each measure 4.5m (h) 40ft above the ground on Astmoor and up to 22m in diameter. Viaduct. Each cofferdam is approximately

Approximately 1170 cubic metres 40m in diameter and about 25m deep. of concrete was poured for each secThey will be removed over the comtion, making each one the equivalent ing 12 months along with the 1,000m of 200 cement trucks. : temporary trestle bridge.

Both MSSs have been ‘ recycled’ ● Stay cables:

There are 146 cables and they are spread across the three pylons to reflect the heights of the pylon.

They range in size between 41m and 226m and there are between 41 and 91 individual strands within each cable from bottom to top.

Each strand has a load bearing capacity of about 27.9 tonnes.

Cllr Rob Polhill, Halton Council leader, said: “As one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK the numbers behind Mersey Gateway are staggering.

“The scale and complexity of the engineering and construction activity is phenomenal. Some of the figures involved show that delivering this project on schedule and under budget is an incredible achievement.

“I’d like to say well done to everyone involved – the construction team, the council team and tolling teams and very importantly the Merseylink volunteers for making such a vital contribution.”

Hugh O’Connor, Merseylink general manager, said: “It is the skill and ingenuity of our team that has made delivering this project possible but to achieve it in three-and-a-half years we’ve constructed and used some incredible machinery to help us along the way.”