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1st March 2018

AINSCOUGH BUILDS BRIDGES IN BLACKPOOL

crane lifting

Ainscough Crane Hire has successfully completed works to repair one of Blackpool’s key road bridges, Squires Gate Bridge on Squires Gate Lane.

The company has provided lifting support for the bridge reconstruction, which carries the highway over the town’s southern rail link, to contractor, Story Contracting.

Squires Gate Lane is the main highway link between the town’s South Promenade, its airport and the motorway network at Junction four of the M55.

Over time, the concrete and steel beams supporting Squires Gate Bridge had weakened and work was required to replace them to ensure that the bridge could remain open to traffic for many years to come.

Using a Liebherr LTM1500-8.1 on a 165-tonne ballast the Ainscough team proceeded to remove the worn beams before lifting the new single-span sections carefully into position.

Dave Baxter, Technical Contracts Manager, said: “As the bridge was so close to the sea front, the wind was an issue and our team had to be very mindful of this while working on the bridge.

“It was crucial to place the crane in exactly the right position to ensure the correct radius and lift capacity to complete the lifts correctly. This was made all the more critical as the bridge’s wingwall encroached on the crane pad area.

“Working closely with the Story team, we completed the lifting ahead of the programme schedule and everything went to plan.”

The work is part of a repair programme being implemented by Blackpool Council over the next five years to improve Blackpool’s bridges.

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