Gateshead Council aim to get contractors on flyover site by Saturday
Gateshead Council is aiming to get contractors on site to help stabilise the A167 flyover by Saturday, says the authority leader.
Gateshead Council is aiming to get contractors on site to help stabilise the A167 flyover by Saturday, says the authority leader.
The leader of Gateshead Council said the local authority is aiming to get engineers on the site of the ailing A167 flyover by December 28 to help re-open the suspended Metro line between Heworth and Monument in the new year. This comes following a meeting between council bosses, North East Mayor Kim Mcguinness and the Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander on Monday night in an attempt to find a path to rectifying the infrastructure crisis.
The Gateshead flyover was cut off to traffic on December 13, following the discovery of serious concerns over a supporting concrete pillar, which helps to prop up the road. Since then, fears around the structural integrity of the flyover forced Metro operator Nexus to suspend services between Monument and Heworth.
Council leader Martin Gannon said: “We laid out the timescale for the phases we need to go through. At the moment, the latest word I’ve had is that contractors will be on site on the 28th of December.
“There is a part that needs to be manufactured to keep the pier up and that is being manufactured as we speak. We are hoping for installation from the 28th and it could take up to three days.
“The aim is to get that approved, installed, and the Metro operating early in the new year.”
According to the Deckham councillor and leader, the parts and installation are likely to cost the authority somewhere in the region of £2m to £3m. However, Coun Gannon emphasised getting the flyover stabilised and the Metro operating back to normal was “the immediate priority”.
Beyond this, Coun Gannon said the next phase the council is working on is working out the costs to demolish the flyover. The phase after that would be to modernise the road underneath the flyover, however, exact financial figures have yet to be confirmed for this.
Previous estimates to replace the flyover have ranged between £13m and £74m. The authority has sought to replace the flyover since 2008, however several bids for Government funding were not successful.