The Project
Design and construction contract to replace an existing fixed canal bridge with a new swing bridge in the Sankey Canal, Widnes.
The swing bridge will allow boats to pass along the currently disused Sankey Canal in the future. The 15m long steel bridge was prefabricated off site and lifted into position over an existing railway line using a 250 tonne mobile crane. Loading is transferred through in-situ concrete abutments into concrete piles.
Members of the pubic using existing footpaths in the area had to be accommodated and some design aspects and methods of construction were modified during construction to accommodate the presence of existing ground obstructions and piles and the close proximity of existing services.