I asked last night and a driver said the completion would not be until march now. Thats 5 months later than what was initially stated .
Hydraulics are not even installed yet and the approaches laid out.

I have seen new housing estates (Church Rd, Tranmere and by Birkenhead North Train Station) built quicker than the little brick hut they have (finally) built!

Yes, end of March is the new completion date.

Without knowing more about the difficulties they have encountered I think any comment is meaningless.

They should give estimated completion dates instead of telling the public a date it would be ready by.

Hopefully they will not start the duke street one right after this one is completed.

Duke Street bridge replacement seems to be an urban legend? No plans to replace the Duke Street bridge according to a worker on Facebook.

Will tag you Ste, on the ink's when I see them next.

Today I noticed the new bridge on the quayside where the U-Boat
once was stored. Not sure if it has just arrived or been there
a while.

Is that the new red bascule bridge that was beside the roundabout, perhaps they have moved it dockside for the floating crane to move it into position?

Water.

You'd think with the number of repairs, examinations, inspections and reports its had in recent years that there wouldn't be anything unexpected especially as this is a whole replacement jobber.

Five months is a pretty big delay for what is essentially a new build.

They should have got Chinese workers in it would have been done in a week!
As you go over Duke street bridge all the street lights are off and its like a game of chickern trying to cross the road at night, i have asked Wirral to fix the lights three times now and still nothing! Wirral Council are usless!

This has been a complete pain - in fact the biggest disaster since the blitz. what's funny but not suprising is that when you contact the Twitter feeds for those at Wirral Council and Cllr Stuart Whiittingham for more info they completely blank you. It seems tax payers like me and just irrelevant nuisances who should just go away. I assume there will be some sort of penalty clause?

Caught me out on Sunday. No warning that the road was closed until I got to it.

The good new is after months of moaning to the Council they got the street lights working on Duke street bridge road, people can now cross without being run over, well done the Council, now if you could get off your backside and fix every other fault in the area we will know our council tax was spent well! and not just to loan it to some bloke who wants to build a golf course!

Sorry adding another post, but just had one of those feelings, when this thing in working wonder how long it will be, before it breaks down!
Completion date March breaks down April!

Perhaps there could be a hidden boost to the Councils coffers in all of this. From the gov.uk website...

Streetworks Overrun Charges.
Published 21st July 2011.

"When utilities are planning works they must agree with the highway authority how long it will reasonably take to complete them. If they take longer than this, the highway authority may impose an ‘overrun charge’ - so utilities are incentivised to complete their works on time.

After consultation, the government has announced its decision to raise the amount of this charge, to a daily maximum of £5,000, with higher charges on the fourth and subsequent days. New regulations setting this out will come into force in October 2012.

The current regulations: Street works regulations 2009.

The charges should be levied as set out in chapter 10 of the code of practice for the co-ordination of street works and works for road purposes and related matters."

No doubt there are penalty clauses in the contract but if you try to enforce them then the contractor hits back on the "extra" charges:- work carried out that wasn't covered by the original contract. Many contracts are qoted at cost (or even a loss) to get the competitive edge but the contractor knows that there will be extras to make his profit from, unplanned work usually having a premium charge.

This practice was prevalent when public departments found a "cosy" contractor that they preferred to deal with which sometimes helped them use money from different budgets or different budget years. No idea if the above is still practiced but I can't see it having died out completely.

The streetworks overrun charges were to stop the practice of many utility companies digging holes then going on and doing other work sometimes leaving disruption behind them for many months.

I went to have a look at the birkenhead side of where the orange bridge is to go. I was expecting large scale landscaping and the extension of the cycleway now built nearly on the wallasey side, they have infact done nothing. Honestly not one thing, the entrance to twelve quays is still the same, the uneven footpaths on both sides still the same. Words fail me in the councils ineptitude.

This whole thing is one big joke, the Council are saying there are rises in the coming Council tax bill and then you look at the money wasted, they got £1.2 million from Eurpoe three years ago to do a cycle land along Beauford road to link up to the railway station at the bottom, [sorry gone right out of my head], anyway they put tons of soil there for grass and that was it, no marking for the cyclist [ do they ever use them? ] trucks drive over the grass and turn it into mush, it rains and fills with water. I watched workmen spreading bitumen topping on to smooth pavements the other day IN Seacombe, yet a few yards passed this the flags are all over the place, would these ever be repaired?
Going over by the four bridges road today they have also removed the old railway crossing and footbridge, but the traffic at rush hour is just silly when will the bridge be open? and is there a crane big enough to lift the new one in place?

The floating crane is being brought in from Europe, it would have been here last week but I presume the weather has put that back. Its a bit annoying that Birkenhead used to specialise in having big floating cranes, another specialism that has wasted away from the area.

Planning permission has just gone in to do with some dock walls, I'm not sure if it was in connection with the bridge, I've not read it yet

I thought the Beaufort Road cycle markings had been done?

Wasn't the soil for the tree lined avenue look that Peel Holdings were trying to get the credit for, even though it wasn't their money that was paying for it?

I had a thought the other day, that as the Council was doing all this work along the road, and taking away the old railway bridge etc, the last thing they needed was the traffic flowing though, so hold back on the bridge till the road works are finshed then lift the bridge into place, open to traffic?
Or am i watching too many X=Files programmes! Its coming up to nearly tens months since the start of the work.

Rode passed on Friday 16th, I see this walkway/cycle route is being topped with red paving brick, so the Council was going for the quick cheap option here!

The cheaper option would be tarmac.

Jumping form one bridge to the other, i see the Council have been busy again, this time on Duke street bridge, on the Birkenhead side they have painted white road markings on one side of the road, at first i thought these where cycle lane markings but lookng last night they seem to be something to keep the traffic in a single file as you drive over the bridge!
But what i want to know is where are all the big HGV's going to wait, as most nights they used to be two or three rigs parked there, [ unless they have moved them else where!] my moan is they can spend time and money like this but fail to fix broken street lights or fill pot holes!

Noticed Thursday men working on the bridge, No! Its no lie, men were working on the bridge, but as its now April 1st, the date has passed for it to be finished by March then!
When you think of the time to build the Forth Railway bridge, and the length of time to do our little one do you think having a name like Four/Forth has something to do with the delays?

I spoke with one of the construction crew earlier this week. He said the bridge is scheduled to be lifted into place on the 28th April and finishing work should be completed about a week after that, so expect the route to open mid May. (Which year he meant, I have no idea).

Thanks for sharing

They certainly seem to be doing some landscaping along the dock rd by the mills. A coat of paint on the bridge too. Wonder how the Duke St work will pan out, they've certainly ruined Duke Street as a thoroughfare.

Time to ready my drones for footage!!!

One can hear the music begin as you start your drones, Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner

What the hell has the Council done to Duke street Bridge road?, laying that silly cycle lane stuff down, no one uses cycle lanes, fill the pot holes in!

What the hell has the Council done to Duke street Bridge road?, laying that silly cycle lane stuff down, no one uses cycle lanes, fill the pot holes in!


Ermm... I use the cycle lanes on Duke St (at least whilst the Four Bridges are closed) and I pay council tax too. Not that they're much use as some bugger always parks in them especially the stretch near Park station.

I live round the corner from Dukey and it has been totally ballsed up with regard to traffic, pedestrians and the local residents. The Council Planner haven't got a clue about anything, anywhere. Lovely pathway being built along the dock road, approaching the four bridges from the flour mills. What is that all about?

In place ...

damn, size of those rams

No idea why they are so big, the whole idea is that the bridge is balanced by the counterweight box. The old bridges had remarkably small electric motors iirc.

What no fan fare?, no trumpets or marching bands?, after twelve months the bridge is in place.
Wonder how long it will be before it breaks down?

.it passed its first lift test.

I’m sure there will have been a champers and giggle meeting somewhere.

I wonder who is going to be the first person to get their car trapped under the counterweight when the bridge is up.

Somebody said on Monday that there was going to be a 50p toll to cross the bridges. Please tell me he was mistaken.

I saw that someone had put a notice up but someone else said it was an April fools joke.I hope it was not paying a pound every time I want to go to New Brighton. Wouldn't put it past our council though.

Yes, somebody put up a bog standard poster saying:

10p pedestrians
25p cars
40p vans/ lorries to cross the bridge

and people believed it. and there was 'uproar'. It was A JOKE. FFS

That looks rather small, it looks like a single lane bridge.

You're right, it looks a very tight, the original artwork showed a double centre line but its strange they haven't painted the centre lines on???

I don't fancy passing a lorry on that. If it is single lane controlled by lights the Wheatland Road junction is going to be chaos!

I meant Kelvin Road doh!

When i went past this the other day, as Duke street bridge is just blocked with traffic with people trying to get to work or home, said to myself the new bridge looks narrow, and if that is indeed true and its a one lane bridge, then Wirral Council have made one big cock up? Unless their plan is to get everyones backs up waiting their turn to cross the bridge they go the Duke street way, and i still say it won't open till all the work on this foot path is finshed by the looks of things that could be in years yet, as for the other roads around the dock area the cycle lanes are just a waste of time and money,[ just like Wirral Council] and the pot holes that could have been repaired in the meantime!
And everyone one went like sheep to vote them back in again last week, BARrrrrrr

Do you think a tory Council would be any different, we had them in power for 11 years and what a mess they made at a time when the Council wasn't short of money.

What a shame Corbyn didn't split from the blairites.

It doesn't look like a one lane bridge on this mock-up, you can see the central carriageway dividing line.

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/1...bridges_between_Wallasey_and_Birkenhead/

I'd imagine the plans are available on the council planning portal.

Spent ten fruitless minutes on Google, trying to find an update for when the Bridges are re-opening, then I tried the online "Chat" facility with Wirral Borough council. After 15 minutes, I got fed up waiting for them to find a free operative so I decided to phone the council instead. What's the point of having a dedicated phone number for road repairs, if you still have to plough through 5 layers of robotic menus to reach them? Undaunted and determined to find an answer, I listened to 14 consecutive poor quality renditions of "Classical Gas" only to be told "the man that deals with it" wasn't in. After leaving my name and number they promised to get him call me back within 15 days.

Watch this space! . . . . . .

Still not had the final road surface laid on the bridge yet.

Must be getting close to opening, I drove past today and noticed those concrete barriers across the entrance of the A554 road leading to the Bridge have been removed. Shouldn't be more than another 18 months before it's open.
The new bridge has been in the UP position for that long now, I bet it's rusted and stuck fast!!!

I'd have thought that with the hot weather they would be testing it for possible expansion problems but I've not seen it move for ages.

If Wirral Council have anything to do with that, I expect they will wait until the temperature drops really low again, and then decide to test it!

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/16283306.Planned_new_date_for_Tower_bridge_reopening/

"Subject to satisfactory testing – which is ongoing – final safety works and acceptance by Peel Ports, we hope the bridge can be opened to traffic before the end of June."

Doesn't state what year though.

I’m sure it’s tricky installing a bridge, but it’s eight months past the completion date.
Why is attention to these delays always discarded by WBC? We’re always synonymous with delays and failures thanks to developers and contractors.

Three questions come to mind,

1. Exactly how much over budget has this project ended up?

2. Are the contractors paid by the agreed price of the project or the length of time it's taking?

3. I wonder if the Council have insisted on a penalty clause in the contract?

So basically who's ending up paying for the delays?

I admit its difficult to insist on proper penalty clauses in specialist contracts, if you ask for them nobody bids for the work.

Eight months past its completion date? Try TWELVE months.

The road closure sign for this route said -
"Road closed here 28/3/17 for 3 Months. Delays possible"

You can check it on Google Street view.

Perhaps they are going for its anniversary in a couple of weeks, when the entire route across the bridges will have been closed for FIFTEEN months.

Isn't there something about councils having to be truthful, open and honest about their signs and documents?

And if a penalty clause won't work, why not try a class action against the contractors, for fuel, time etc. so keeping the council and its contracts out of the equation? At least we can wish...

... maybe the owners of Peel Developments and the leaders of WBC are actually chums IRL? Crazy thought.

I stopped and spoke to one of the workmen and asked him WHEN? He told me the footpaths had to be finished by Wednesday 20th so he imagined (Note the word imagined) the Bridges would be open by then.
While I was there ,I did notice the guy with the traffic cones had been out placing them all over the roundabout. Whether that was just for something to do or just to confuse the motorists, I couldn't say.

I'm still waiting for the council to ring me back with an opening date.

We should run a lottery on the opening date and another on whether the council actually bother to ring back.

Maybe they’re going to charge a toll so we get ‘value for money’.
Only joking, they’d never think of that.

Centre line of the bridge was painted a few days ago and the bridge was actually down today as well. Lanes still look narrow.

Apparantley the bridge is open at long last

4pm today! Video:

https://www.facebook.com/wirralcouncil/videos/1990236114355064/

It was still closed at 4:30pm (following a great tradition of delays), however it was open by about 5:30pm

Following others down long forgotten trails, spoken only of in legend, I crossed the fabled bridge today into a strange land, that hasn't been seen by man in an eternity. The pristine roads soon gave way to litter strewn streets and strange hooded beings skulking furtively in shadowy corners.

Been over it a few times now, it actually seems wider than the old bridge. I'm a bit concerned about the hydraulic pipes and other technical bits being unprotected.

The fixed bridge that was replaced appears to have a droop in the guard rails on the river side.

If it works in this heat be interesting to see what will happen when it contracts