NEW BRIDGE’S CROWNING GLORY
The magnificent centrepiece of Sunderland’s new bridge has arrived on site.
The massive pylon, which will form the heart of the structure, set off from Port of Sunderland shortly after 5am yesterday to travel the three miles upstream to the construction site.
The 1,000-tonne steel pylon, which is about 100m long, arrived in the port on Saturday, January 7, after taking two days to cross the North Sea from Ghent.
The decision on when it would be moved has been dictated by both the weather and the tide on the river.
The striking white structure was carried on the barge Louis, which took a shade under two hours to make her way to the site between Pallion and Castletown, where the new bridge is being constructed.
She travelled under the Wearmouth Bridge and passed the Stadium of Light before negotiating the tight corner at Deptford Bend, and finally moving under the Queen Alexandra Bridge.
Stephen McCaffrey, project manager for FVB joint venture, formed by Farrans Construction and Victor Buyck Steel Construction to build the new bridge, said: “This is a major milestone in the project.
“Seeing the pylon arrive on is really the start of the next major stage.
“The erection of the pylon will follow very quickly and will change the shape of the bridge.
“The pylon is to be fixed to the concrete tusks that were poured before Christmas before the cables that will be used to erect the pylon can be removed.”
David Abdy is the project manager for Sunderland City Council. He said of today’s development: “It’s a massive in many ways, not just the fact that we have reached a signifi- cant stage in the project, but now you can get a sense of this all starting to come together.
“This also represents a massive step forward for all those involved, not just the constructors, but also the staff at the council that have been pushing this project forward for many many years.
“This is really starting to bring it to life.”
The team behind the project had hoped to make its move upstream public, if it had been travelling during the day, but kept the early departure under strict wraps to minimise the risk of sight-seers coming down to the river in the dark.
The project team had carefully planned the transportation to coincide with the right tidal and weather conditions, which meant it had to be carried out during the early hours.
City council leader Coun Paul Watson said: “It’s great to see the pylon now in its final location on the River Wear.
“A lot of hard work and planning has gone into building the pylon, and getting it to site, and I think we can now begin to imagine just how impressive it will look when it’s raised into position.
“I appreciate that some people may be disappointed that they were unable to watch it being transported up the river, but given that it would have meant people