The new busway bridge at Belfast Grand Central Station, built by GRAHAM Construction, has been officially opened
GRAHAM built the 51-metre weathered steel bridge in partnership with ARUP and Thompson’s Project Management.
The bridge will allow buses from Broadway Roundabout to access Belfast Grand Central Station by passing over the new rail tracks. The project was completed as part of the multi-million-pound Belfast Transport Hub regeneration project.
Staff members from GRAHAM, ARUP, and Translink recently attended an opening ceremony where they crossed the new bridge on a bus.
The Belfast Grand Central busway will improve travel across Northern Ireland
The 1500-tonne bridge will help Translink in the next phase of the project as they continue to develop an integrated transport hub in central Belfast.
The development will greatly improve travel options in Northern Ireland by enabling buses, coaches, and trains to work together. The station is also predicted to make the air cleaner and reduce traffic in Northern Ireland by getting more people to use public transportation in the area.
“We’re pleased to have completed this package of works, safely and efficiently delivering a sustainable new bridge which provides a gateway to the new station and will facilitate the construction of the wider transport hub,” said Andrew Henry, GRAHAM’s contracts director.
“Like the other projects we have collaborated on with our valued client, Translink, the hub will have significant social, environmental, and economic benefits for the communities it serves. Our team is proud to have played a part in shaping transport in the region and to have been among the first passengers to cross the bridge,” he continued.
GRAHAM have use cutting-edge building materials
The new bridge has two steel girders weighing 150 tonnes each. These girders are made from weathering steel, a corrosion-resistant material, meaning the bridge should last for around 120 years.
“Passengers will see around ten-minute reductions in journey times when travelling on services that use this direct bus lane and busway bridge to and from Europa Bus Centre. We’d like to thank them for their patience and flexibility while we worked to complete this part of the construction programme,” said Philip Brown, head of major projects at Translink.
“Its completion also enables wider station construction works to progress efficiently. I would also like to thank and congratulate the entire project and operations teams for their hard work to deliver this milestone and also acknowledge the Department for Infrastructure for their essential funding to deliver this project,” he concluded.
