AmeySRM have started construction on the National Highways £23m A533 bridge work, which will provide a new road bridge over the M56 in Cheshire
National Highways is replacing the A533 Expressway bridge near Runcorn with a brand-new crossing just a few metres further up the motorway.
After preparations started in November, road workers have moved onto the site to start building a site compound and install safety barriers along the M56.
The bridge provides a vital connection for people living or working on both sides of the motorway so it cannot be demolished until the new one has opened. Over the next few weeks, bridge and motorway users will see activities ramping up.
‘A complicated and exciting engineering challenge’
Kennedy Muzira, National Highways’ senior programme leader for the North West, said: “We’re delighted this important project to replace the A533 Expressway bridge is now underway.
“This is a complicated and exciting engineering challenge for us but minimising inconvenience to the thousands of people who rely on the bridge and the M56 for their journeys every day will be at the forefront of all our minds over the next year or so.”
The current bridge was built in 1976, and is being replaced with a new 67m two-span concrete bridge, consisting of a single two-lane carriageway and a combined footpath and cycleway.
This will connect communities and businesses over the motorway and support investment in jobs and housing for decades to come.
The bridge will have to be carefully demolished once it is sandwiched between the new one and the existing railway bridge serving the West Coast mainline.
Major internet and water services supporting hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses in Cheshire and Merseyside north of the M56 will also have to be diverted.
The motorway will need to be closed for two weekends – in the spring and autumn – for installation of the new bridge and demolition of the old one.
