New MSS arrives in Runcorn
Merseylink’s new bridge building machine has begun to arrive on site in Runcorn with construction teams taking delivery of the first shipment of containers.
The MSS will be used to build the south elevated approach viaduct, which will connect Runcorn’s main road network to the Mersey Gateway bridge. It is the same specification as ‘Trinity’, the machine that is currently building the north approach viaduct in Widnes.
Workers have already started to assemble the machine on site at Astmoor. It will be put together around the first pier of the approach viaduct, approximately 12.5 metres above the ground.
When fully assembled, it will measure 157m long – the length of around one and a half football pitches – 8m high and 22m across at its widest point. And at 1700 tonnes the steel structure will weigh the equivalent of 140 double decker buses.
Halton schools are taking part in a competition to name the machine, which is due to start work in September this year.
