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Bridging the
Mersey gap
• Construction of the
Mersey Gateway Bridge
required three towers to be
anchored to the river bed.
That meant draining sites
in the river.
T
he grade II listed Runcorn
Bridge (also known as the
Silver Jubilee Bridge) has
been enabling motorists to cross
the River Mersey and the Man-
chester Ship Canal since 1961.
Increased traffic has resulted in
the decision to build a second,
six-lane toll road crossing,
which is currently under con-
struction.
The Mersey Gateway Bridge
will be located just 1.5km to the
east of the Silver Jubilee Bridge
and will ease congestion and
improve safety in the area. Its
2.3km length includes a 1km
span crossing the river, which
will be supported by three tow-
ers, anchored by foundations
cast beneath the river bed.
These towers will provide the
structures to which the suspen-
sion bridge's cable supports will
be attached, and draining the
three tower sites in the river for
construction of their founda-
tions is one of the most techni-
cally demanding aspects of the
project.
The project is being con-
structed by Merseylink Civil
Contractors Joint Venture (Mer-
seylink CCJV), a joint venture
between Kier Infrastructure and
Overseas, Samsung C&T ECUK
and FCC Construcción SA.
DrainaGe
• Drain three tower sites
in the river Mersey for the
construction
• Construct a coffer dam
• Construct an access
bridge between the
shoreline and coffer dam
MaY 2015 WET NEWS 17
To make up the coffer dam, a
circle of steel sections twere
driven into place to create a
circular dam with water inside
and out
