BBCMotorists have been warned to expect delays as parts of a major motorway will be closed to allow for the installation of a new £22m railway bridge.
Work to replace the bridge between Manchester and Leeds on the M62 in Castleton, near Rochdale, has begun and will see part of the road shut from 21:00 BST on Friday until 06:00 on Monday.
The road closure to install the bridge “could not be avoided”, Network Rail said, with it being repeated between 20 and 23 September.
Dee Murray from National Highways said motorway traffic would have to go on to local roads, adding: “It’s all been planned but it is going to be extremely busy.”
The original railway bridge was built in 1969 and was given a lifespan of 60 years.
Demolishing it safely was a difficult process with engineers having been on site since February.
Concrete peckers will be used to take the old bridge away before the debris is removed and the new bridge will be wheeled down the motorway and fitted into place.
Olivia Boland from Network Rail said workers began by removing a motorway embankment: “We’ve had to complete a major earthworks scheme and build a new road to motorway specification which will take the weight of all our machinery.”
She told BBC Radio Manchester: “Before demolition, we put thick pieces of wood down on the carriageway to protect the road surface.
“We then use four concrete-pecking machines to ensure that we’re not going to have a major catastrophic collapse.
“After demolition, we then use remote control vehicles to lift the bridge up, wheel it down the motorway and fix it into its final position.”
Sections of the motorway will be closed over the weekend from 21:00 BST to 06:00 on Monday and then again between the same hours from 20 September to 23 September.
There will be different arrangements for closures of each carriageway. The westbound carriageway will be shut between junction 20 at Rochdale and junction 19 at Heywood.
Eastbound traffic will be stopped from junction 18 at Simister Island to junction 20 at Rochdale.
Mr Murray said it was “a huge operation”, adding there was “no way of removing this bridge without closing the motorway and the railway line”.
“It means we’re putting that motorway traffic on to local roads. It’s all been planned but it is going to be extremely busy.
“Obviously we’ve got to re-use this motorway afterwards so when we’re dropping this bridge we need to protect the carriageway underneath with matting.
“That’s why we can get the motorway open so quickly after the works.”
The railway line between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale has also shut until 25 September while work takes place.
The replacement bridge is expected to last 120 years.
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