THE huge structures that will together form Garth Lane’s new centrepiece footbridge are being constructed at a specialist workshop.
By the end of March, the new bridge will be in position across the River Freshney as the £3.5m grant-funded transformation of the whole area reaches its final stages.
The fabrication work started before Christmas at the North Yorkshire premises of specialist contractor SH Structures in Sherburn-in-Elmet. By the end of this month, it is planned to transport the 30-metre structure to a paint workshop in Scunthorpe before it makes its final journey over to Grimsby. The colours of blue, white and ochre have been selected.
The two beams you can see in these pictures will be positioned at the outer edges, with the deck sitting on them. The structure which looks curved, is the 5-metre-wide deck – it appears curved as the picture was taken with a wide angle.
Designed for pedestrians the bridge has a 30-metre span and once in place it will be complemented by a whole new look for the area. This includes new paving, which will be decorated with a ‘turbine’ pattern to reflect Grimsby’s burgeoning offshore wind sector. The ‘fish’ benches that have been carved from the felled willow tree will also be put into place, along with new landscaping and lighting.
Meanwhile, work continues on the tiered seating/walkways down to the water on the north side with concrete and steel reinforcements being put into place within the next week or so. Contractors from CR Reynolds will also be moving back over to the south side tomorrow (Tuesday January 19th) for low-noise piling work. For safety reasons, there will be a footpath closure in the immediate area with pedestrian diversions in place. A one-lane closure of Frederick Ward Way will also take place during this work, which will last for up to five weeks. With the old footbridge removed, the main diversion remains in place for pedestrians via Alexandra Road.
Central to the Grimsby HAZ, (Heritage Action Zone), the project is being managed by ENGIE on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council.
The funding, secured directly for work on this project, has come in part from the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership from the Local Growth Fund as part of the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse. Further funding has come from The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government with funding released as a result of the Grimsby Town Deal.