M60 motorway bridge in Didsbury gets urgent repairs

The M60 motorway in Didsbury, Manchester, is set to be elevated by a height of five millimetres in order to allow the specialist bridge contractor Mabey Hire to carry out urgent repairs to 15 concrete columns which hold the bridge over the River Mersey and Palatine Road.

The M60 bridge upgrade project in Didsbury has been commissioned by Highways England, with the aforementioned elevation of the 200 metre bridge scheduled to take place tonight while repair works take place on the bridge and continue until 2023.

The Project Manager at Highways England, Mark Mosley stated: “The bridge over the Mersey has been there since the motorway first opened in 1974 as part of what was then the M63, and it is beginning to show its age.

“We will be using teams of specialists to lift up the motorway by a few millimetres and then carry out concrete repairs to the bridge columns and will be able to keep the road open to drivers throughout the project.

“The repairs will help keep the bridge safe for decades to come, so tens of thousands of drivers can continue to use it every day on a key route across the Mersey.”

The Chief Executive of Mabey Hire, Gordon MacDonald commented: “Following the success of our previous involvement on the Palatine Road Viaduct project, we are delighted to have been chosen to supply the temporary propping and monitoring works for the next phase.

“It is really great to be working once again on a piece of vital infrastructure in this booming city.”

The Director of Balvac, also known as Balfour Beatty, Richard Bailey added: “We are delighted to be able to provide Highways England with our extensive expertise and specialist team of engineers to carry out this critical project. Our innovative approach to repair works will help deliver this project with minimal delay and disruption to the travelling public.”

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here.