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9th January 2017

Ainscough Crane Hire Install Greater Manchester Road Bridge

Ainscough installs Greater Manchester road bridge

Ainscough Crane Hire completed a number of challenging lifts to assemble a new road bridge in the town of in Ashton-Under-Lyne in Tameside, Greater Manchester, whilst working for infrastructure company Murphy Group.

The Richmond Street Bridge crosses the Manchester to Huddersfield railway line and is in need of replacing after the original 100 year old bridge fell into disrepair.

Requiring a £4 million pound investment from Network Rail, the new bridge was installed during August bank holiday by Ainscough using a Terex Demag TC2800-1 lattice boom mobile crane. The crane was configured with a 72 metre main boom, a 160 tonne super structure counterweight and a 250 tonne super lift counterweight to install the bridge’s sill beams, parapet beams, and internal beams and approach units.

Following the installation, additional works were carried out until the 730 tonne bridge was re-opened to traffic in November 2016. It is anticipated that the new Richmond Street Bridge will be operational for 125 years.

Completing the lifts over four 12 hour shifts whilst a rail possession was in place, technical contracts manager Dave Baxter, was pleased with the outcome, saying: “As Murphy Group’s main supplier of lifting services, we are familiar with their operations and their approach.

“We were working with very tight parameters which meant we needed to be extra vigilant. We set up in a narrow yard parallel to the rail track, with only 11 metres to operate in.

“With the time limits on rail possession, you always have one eye on the clock but I had no doubt that the team would complete the work in a swift and efficient manner and they didn’t let me down.”

Ian Spibey, engineering manager at J Murphy & Sons Limited said: “Everything went to plan and Ainscough’s co-operation played a pivotal role in ensuring that the lifts were completed within our tight time frame.

“We have been working on rail-related projects with Ainscough for eight years now and we have become accustomed to their dedication and professionalism. Once again, their service was of a very high standard.”

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