Network Rail completes work to rebuild motorway bridge near Rochdale

Rail passengers and motorists are being thanked for their patience during work to demolish and rebuild a bridge over the M62.

The railway between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale reopened this morning (25 September) following a 19-day closure, allowing Network Rail to complete the £22m essential upgrade.

In recent months, engineers excavated over 50,000 tonnes of earth to create a safe and bespoke worksite next to the busy motorway to assemble the new bridge.

Two 42-metre, 70-tonne steel beams were fabricated in Ireland and travelled over 200 miles by land and sea to site.

Read more: M62 closure, cancelled trains and tram disruption could cause chaos for residentsPublished: 05 August 2024

Over two weekends in September, the M62 was closed, and the 100+ strong team worked around the clock to demolish the existing 2000-tonne bridge, then replaced the old structure with a brand-new, future-proofed bridge.

The new bridge is expected to last 120 years and will never need painting due to its weathering steel design.

Network Rail has unveiled timelapse footage of the project which shows the huge scale of work required.

Olivia Boland, Network Rail sponsor, said: “I’d like to thank rail passengers, motorists and people living along diversionary routes for their patience during this work. I know that the bridge replacement work was very disruptive to your travel and daily lives, and I really appreciate that everyone followed our advice during the work.

“This has been a very collaborative project and I am grateful to National Highways, Transport for Greater Manchester, Northern, and Rochdale, Bury and Oldham Councils for their assistance during this work.

“The new Castleton bridge means passenger and freight services can travel safely and reliably over the M62 for years to come.”

Network Rail worked closely with National Highways and train operator, Northern, throughout the project.

Amy Williams, National Highways’ director for the North West, said: “This was an essential, safety-critical project for Network Rail and allowing them to replace the bridge over two carefully-chosen weekends was a decision we took with a great deal of consideration and preparation over many months.

“We would like to thank motorway users and people living along the diversion routes for their support and patience over the last few weeks during the two weekend closures and other overnight carriageway closures.”

Craig Harrop, regional director for Northern, said: “We’re delighted to see that this hugely important project has been completed on schedule and the line has reopened, enabling services to resume for our customers.

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience while this work took place, which will benefit rail users for many years to come.”

Over the next few weeks there will be some follow up work to finish the welding and stressing on the track, gradually bringing the line back to full speed.