Repairs to “key strategic route” Bidston Moss now completed

Mar 28 2012 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

REPAIRS to one of Wirral’s busiest stretches of road totalling more than £90m and taking two years are now complete.

The 730-metre long Bidston Moss Viaduct is used by 50,000 vehicles every day but in recent years heavy goods vehicles were restricted to using the inside lanes as the 42-year-old structure needed to be strengthened.

Graham Dakin, project manager at the Highways Agency, said: “The strengthening work was vital to the future safety of the viaduct, which is now more than 40 years old.

“The project will allow the thousands of people who travel over it every day to continue to use it in the decades to come.

“Through lean ways of working, such as factory style production control and process improvements, we were able to shave three months off the completion of the strengthening works and also saved £1.5m on the total spend.

“We have worked closely with our partners throughout the scheme to ensure we reduce disruption to local roads.

“We would like to thank all road users for their patience while we delivered these improvements.”

The bridge carries the M53 over the A554 and a railway line in Wirral before taking traffic into the Kingsway Tunnel under the River Mersey and approximately 3,000 heavy goods vehicles travel over the viaduct each day.

The work included concrete repairs to the underside of the viaduct and other improvements include road resurfacing, upgraded lighting and drainage.

The scheme has been funded by the Highways Agency, the Department for Transport, Wirral Council and Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (MerseyTravel).

Government approval for the repairs was given in 2010 when transport minister Paul Clark described the Bidston Moss Viaduct as “a key strategic route for motorists travelling to and from Liverpool city centre, the city's port and other North West transport links”.