12:10pm Friday 22nd January 2010
A VITAL new bridge over the River Weaver will be ready to use by the end of the summer.
Work to demolish the old Riversdale Bridge is set to start in March and the new bridge should be finished by the end of August.
The bridge, near Sir John Deane’s College, is a vital daily link for hundreds of pupils and students and has been much-missed since it was closed for safety reasons in 2004.
Cheshire West and Chester Council’s (CWAC) executive group has now appointed civil engineers Barhale Construction to build the new £1m link.
All the steel work will be shipped by road and ferried by boat to the assembly site at the location of the existing bridge.
Clr Herbert Manley, prosperity executive member, said: “No-one underestimates the importance of the new bridge to Northwich which will cut two to three miles off the journey to school or college and will provide a much safer environment.”
The overall scheme, a Sustrans Connect 2 project costing £1.4m, also includes landscape works, footpath and cycleway improvements.
These will also be completed by late summer.
The new low-level swing bridge, designed after extensive consultation with residents and community groups, will cost CWAC £500,000 in capital costs plus £15,000 a year to maintain and operate.
A further £600,000 is coming from the Big Lottery Living Landmarks Fund, via Sustrans, and £300,000 from Growth Point Funding.
Planning permission comes complete with 17 conditions to meet environmental, ecological and heritage requirements.
Clr Manley said: “Everything possible is being done to meet the many planning conditions and legal agreements ensure that we can open in time for the beginning of the September term.”
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