Motorists have been warned that a section of the M62, between Manchester and Leeds, will be closed to traffic as a new £22m railway bridge is installed. The closure will last from 21:00 BST on a Friday until 06:00 on Monday. While the bridge is being put in place, traffic will be rerouted on to local roads, which are expected to be very busy. A spokesperson for National Highways said that while the closure had been planned, it would be a “huge operation.” The closure will be repeated from 20-23 September.
Network Rail has said that the closure of the section of the motorway is necessary for the safe and efficient installation of the new railway bridge which replaces the original bridge built in 1969. The lifespan of the old bridge was 60 years, and engineers have been on site since February to safely demolish it. To complete this process, concrete peckers will be used to remove the old bridge before the debris is cleared away.
The new bridge will be wheeled down the motorway and fitted into place in its final position. Before demolition, the engineers had to put pieces of wood down on the carriageway to protect the road surface. Olivia Boland, the project sponsor for Network Rail for the M62 bridge replacement work, explained that the workers then used four concrete-pecking machines to ensure safety.
The motorway closure is exacerbated because it coincides with a shutdown of the railway line between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale, which is also taking place, and which is scheduled to lift on 25 September. Network Rail expects the new bridge to last 120 years, and it will be in operation alongside motorway traffic from Monday morning.
The closure is expected to cause significant delays to traffic. The westbound carriageway will be closed between junction 20 at Rochdale and junction 19 at Heywood, while the eastbound carriageway will be closed from junction 18 at Simister Island to junction 20 at Rochdale
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