Murphy restored three Grade II listed rail bridges to their former Victorian splendour at Great Ducie Street, Manchester. The oldest structure - Stephenson Bridge dates to 1844 and its 1884 extension formed part of the longest passenger platform in Europe. The Network Rail design and build contract included restoring historically significant cast iron parapets designed by George Stephenson as part of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company's trans-Pennine route. The distinguishing features of this scheme were the historical significance of the structure engineering quality and the complexity of both the design and construction required to successfully complete the scheme due to numerous challenging site constraints.
Work on the grade II listed underbridges was needed due to the deterioration of the protective paintwork and cast-iron elements. The renovation will ensure that busy passenger and freight services can run reliably through Manchester for decades to come.
Works were carried out in an extremely busy and challenging town centre environment.
As the principal contractor working on the refurbishment, we undertook:
