Around 100 engineers per day are working around the clock to rebuild the Greek Street bridge. Murphy and it’s customer, Network Rail, are just days away from completing the main phase of a £20m project to overhaul Greek Street bridge in Stockport. Today (Wednesday 20 August) is day 18 of a 21-day suspension of all trains for the massive civil engineering project to take place. Over the last two weeks teams have successfully dismantled and removed 200 beams from the old structure, and lifted and positioned beams for its replacement over five railway lines. With just three more days until the railway reopens on Saturday 23 August in time for the August bank holiday, latest footage shows the major progress made over the last week. It reveals how, piece by piece, the large steel and concrete beams were driven by special police escort from a storage site at Trafford Park and craned into position in a carefully choreographed sequence over a four-day period. Lifted by two huge cranes, with a combined capacity of 1,300 tonnes, the new bridge parts were inched into position across a 60m gap above the tracks, in the place where the former structure was standing for 67 years. Around 100 engineers per day are working around the clock to rebuild the Greek Street bridge. When complete it will mean more reliable journeys for passenger and freight traffic on the railway below – and for road users above – as normally it carries a four-way roundabout. Stephen Harnett, Murphy project manager, said: “It’s immensely rewarding to complete this core milestone of the project. The effort put in by our team has been nothing short of amazing as they work around the clock to upgrade and return this critical piece of infrastructure to the local community.” William Brandon, Network Rail’s project manager, said: “The work at Greek Street has been planned meticulously, and its great to see it all come together on site as we expected. I’m so grateful to everyone working so hard on the project “Once the railway reopens, journeys for passengers will be safer and more reliable for the next 120 years. This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the West Coast Main Line for future generations. I’d like to thank local people for their patience while the project continues, and to passengers whose journeys have been affected over the last few weeks.” The original bridge, which was constructed in 1958 is being be replaced with a modern structure which will last for up to 120 years. HIGHLIGHTS New structure transported to site and craned into position in just four days Lifted by two huge cranes, with a combined capacity of 1,300 tonnes across a 60m gap
