Just noticed with great interest that the work on the B&Q round-a-bout is due for completion spring 2012?????? anyone wanna bet its nearer spring 2020, its been there that long I can't remember when it wasn't and Im 50 this year

Agreed, been going on for some time that. Im convinced they have finished it and then restarted because it took so long to finish that the part they did first needed redoing.

No doubt the 3 cold winters will get the blame. At least the new deck on the Wallasey Dock Link appears to be holding up. They just need to do the rest of the flyover... before June

yeh i bet it's 2020 ish as well

also the bridge by the ferry terminal is out still, thats due for completeion in the next 2 weeks but i bet that'll be 2 months.

it'll look odd without all the scaffolding and sheeting all over it, may become a tourist hot spot, till they decide to do it again cos it'll keep some nacker in work ha ha

The bridge was due to be finished today was it not?

It was a pain there today, lights were working and causing long tailbacks as lanes were closed.

I remember seeing that sign and thinking 'Jesus, another three years!'

When they put the flyover up in 1970 they forgot it was being built on marshland and Would sink.
I bet you when the works finish In the spring, within 2 years they will be back again. It would have been quicker although not cheaper to replace the flyover with a proper bridge structure and was considered by the highways agency.

As far as I can remember, repair work started for the second time in 2005 and has been ongoing ever since.

The cost is capped with costsins agreement at £2.9m so they will want to complete as soon as possible. Additional re surfacing work cost just over 800k.

The scaffolding set up is also the largest in the uk.

Roll on the spring.......

I worked in.the Toyota garage for 6 years from 2004 to 2010 I'm sure the works started later than 2005. I think it was more around 2007/8?

I have 2 friends working on this job, and another friend, his Dad is very high up in one of the contracting companies.

It is due to be finished this spring, as they are both going to be out of work soon, and, this also surprised me, they are not fixing it due to it dropping with the marsh. The problem is when it was built they didnt expect the loads and the traffic that it currently carries, and the whole structure wasnt strong enough - hence the weight limits. When a few trucks drove over it, you could physically see and feel it move.

The works have been to strengthen the viaduct to carry the traffic needs of today as originally it wasnt up to sctratch, and poor materials had been used.

I can tell you from experience it does move when lorries go over it. I broke down on there once and the amount it shakes is unbelievable. It felt like someone had grabbed the car at the side and rocked it.

The story I got was that it was built using box section steel, which works well in warmer climates, but whoever approved it forgot that Britain is a damp country. The remedial works are to fix problems caused by rust and to strengthen the structure. Where there isn't tarpaulin covering it up, you can see new plates riveted in place at various points.

Agreed that it would have been much better to flatten it and rebuild. It wouldn't even take that long - motorway bridges are replaced in a day or two using pre-built concrete sections which are made elsewhere then trucked in and craned into place.

What gets me is that following the quake in LA and the tsunami in Japan, they had roads and bridges rebuilt and running in a matter of weeks. But here in good old Blighty we fart about for years.

They knew it was built on marsh. When built they were the biggest piles in Europe. The piles were even put in deeper than planned because they found that their experimental bore holes were not representative of how flaky the ground support was.

Box section is a flawed design. It's almost totally intolerant to any support movement.

They should never have started strengthening the box sections but should have built arched supports which are amazingly adaptable to movement.

It would have been better to have started with arches in the first place and there are plenty around still holding up structures that are many times older than any motorway.

Got stopped at lights last week so asked fella asked fella crossing when it is going to be finished he said 3 months.Hopefully this time they will not have to come back and repair it,every few years.Hope i can sleep when they have gone no more thudding noise.ha!