Work on the £53 million Poynton Relief Road has reached a new milestone with the final five bridge beams now lifted into place for the new Chester Road bridge.
Reaching this latest milestone saw a 500-tonne crane used to lift the 22.5m-long beams into position, with each beam weighing 37.8 tonnes. The operation was completed within a day and the beams now form part of the largest structure in the scheme. Works on the Chester Road bridge began in May 2021.
During March, concrete will be poured to form the west abutment for the Adlington bridge, marking the completion of all major concrete works across all the project’s structures. Other ongoing works include installation of drainage systems. A second season of major earthworks will start early next month
The 3 kilometre Poynton Relief Road is set to open to traffic at the end of the year, removing through traffic from Poynton village centre and improving road connections between Stockport, Macclesfield and Manchester Airport. The relief road will also include two overbridge crossings for use by walkers, cyclists and farm vehicles and a 3.5m-wide combined cycle and footway, which will run beside the length of the route in the western verge.
Nick Hodder, project manager at Graham, contractor on the scheme, said:
“We’re pleased with the progress being made on the Poynton Relief Road scheme and reaching the milestone of the beam lifting for the new Chester Road bridge. The lift was a delicate operation delivered carefully by our project team to ensure a safe and timely installation of the beams, which will support the new bridge.
“We now focus our attention on completing the remaining concrete works and earthworks to prepare for the opening of this much-anticipated relief road later this year.”
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