M62 closures start this weekend for £22M post-tensioned railway bridge replacement

The M62 might be closed in each instructions from 9pm from at this time, 6 September, to 6am on Monday 9 September and once more from 9pm on Friday 20 September to 6am on Monday 23 September.

The closures will allow the reconstruction of the 42m-long, 2000t Castleton bridge, which takes trains over the M62 between junction 19 at Heywood and junction 20 at Rochdale.

The virtually 60-year-old post-tensioned bridge is included on Community Rail’s threat register of post-tensioned bridges. The rail operator is working its approach by means of this register and prioritising important buildings. The present bridge alternative at Castleton has entailed revolutionary approaches that may very well be utilised as a template for future tasks.

Put up- tensioned bridges – constructed within the mid-Sixties to early Seventies in the course of the UK’s motorway community building programme – function a strand of metallic contained in the concrete nonetheless these bridges have encountered issues resulting from water seeping into the put up tensioning system, inflicting inner corrosion.

Preparation for the mission has taken round 30 months, nonetheless its building schedule has compressed right into a minimal timeframe this month, as a result of crucial position performed by the crossing. Amongst its different functions, freight trains use it to move supplies to and from Drax energy station in Selby.

The alternative bridge has been constructed from weathering metal by Murphy Eire. Not too long ago, two 42m, 70t metal beams have been delivered to the work web site throughout an in a single day closure of the M62. The beams, manufactured in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Eire, made their journey over the Irish Sea to Holyhead, Wales, earlier than travelling with a police escort to the M62 web site the place the bridge might be inbuilt situ.

Community Rail sponsor Olivia Boland stated: “The alternative of Castleton bridge is important for the protected operating of our railway, and essential to the nation’s financial system as 6% of the UK’s vitality provide depends on the bridge for transportation.

Community Rail is working carefully with Nationwide Highways and Transport for Larger Manchester to assist street customers perceive what the work means for them.

Gary Farrell, Nationwide Highways’ senior community planner (resilience) stated:

“Community Rail clearly wants to exchange what’s an ageing bridge and a crucial piece of the railways infrastructure supporting the necessary Manchester Victoria to Leeds service and different routes.

“We’ve been working with employees from Community Rail for a lot of months to plan and publicise this work together with the 2 full weekend closures. We’re urging drivers to keep away from this part of the M62 in the course of the two weekends by delaying journeys or planning various routes – however anybody who does want to make use of the M62 over the 2 weekends ought to observe the official diversions and never depend on sat nav recommendation.

“It’s value noting that in addition to working carefully to coordinate lane and carriageway closures with Community Rail we’ve or might be utilizing as many alternatives as attainable to finish our personal routine upkeep on the identical time – decreasing the necessity for our personal lane and carriageway closures at different instances. We want to thank motorway customers and anybody residing alongside the diversion routes for his or her persistence and help.”

Nationwide Highways stated drivers are additionally being reminded that there may also be nightly – 9pm to 6am – closures of the motorway in each instructions between the 2 weekend closures.  These closures might be in place each evening till the second weekend closure of the motorway however between junction 19 and junction 20 in each instructions with a clearly-signed diversion utilizing the A627M, A664 and A6046 route for westbound drivers and A6046, A664 and A627M route for eastbound drivers.

There may also be some in a single day closures of the M62 in West Yorkshire throughout the identical interval between Huddersfield and Brighouse with the westbound M62 closed between junction 25 and junction 24 on Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 September.  The eastbound M62 between junction 24 and junction 25 will then be closed on Monday 16, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 September.

Along with these westbound or eastbound nightly carriageway closures the westbound entry slip street at junction 25 might be closed in a single day on Friday 13 September with the eastbound exit slip street closed at junction 25 in a single day on Thursday and Friday 19 and 20 September.

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