Two Tyne and Wear Metro bridges are to be replaced as part of a £2.5 million project with the work set to take place during March. The two bridges are in Tynemouth and Cullercoats and their replacement will require line closures over two weekends during March.
The bridges are located on Beach Road, Tynemouth and Burnside Road, Cullercoats and are said to be life-expired hence why they need to be replaced. The work on the Burnside Road bridge will take place over the weekend of 2nd and 3rd March with those on the Beach Road bridge the following weekend, 9th and 10th March. On both weekends there will be no Metro services between Wallsend and Monkseaton with a replacement bus service running instead.
The work will see the deck of each bridge lifted out and replaced using specialised equipment. The new bridge decks will then be jacked into place using a multi-wheeled lifting rig. SISK Group will be completing the work on behalf of Nexus.
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said: “We are investing £2.5m to replace these two ageing Metro bridges in North Tyneside to ensure they can carry our trains for many more decades to come. The work is vital and forms part of our Metro modernisation programme. Each bridge project is being packed into weekend working so that the level of disruption to customers is kept to an absolute minimum. These are complex engineering projects that are securing the long term future of the Tyne and Wear Metro for the 36 million passengers who use it each year.”