Work uncovering river making good progress

Date published: 11 June 2015

Work on uncovering the River Roch in Rochdale town centre is making good progress.

The contractor, VBA Ltd, has now completed the piling on the north side of the upstream section of the river, and piling on the south side of this section is also well under way.

Demolition work to expose the upstream section of the bridge and the river is expected to commence in the next two to three weeks.

Stage two of the work will see extensive work on the bridge itself, with the erection of new parapets in traditional York stone, surface repaving and improvements to the stonework. In recent weeks, the Council has found a source for the stone – Lancashire Gritstone – that will be used to carry out the repairs on the bridge and to construct the new parapets.

The final stage of work, to uncover the section of the river on the other side of the bridge in front of Barclays Bank, will then begin.

Work has also begun on the removal of the roundabout at the junction of Newgate, Yorkshire Street, The Esplanade and South Parade, which is being replaced by a new road junction.

Roads in the area are remaining open for the majority of the project to minimise disruption, with traffic flow being managed through the use of temporary traffic lights.