Lift-off for 100-tonne Northumberland road bridge

Brenkley Lane surface mine bridge successfully removed as part of site restoration work

A 100-tonne bridge that spanned a Northumberland country road is on its way to a new home after being lifted out of place by a large crane.

Banks Mining had been preparing since mid-May to remove and recycle the 32m long bridge, which sat above the link road between their Brenkley Lane surface mine, near Dinnington, on the Newcastle/Northumberland border, and the site compound on the other side of the C357.

The family-owned firm commissioned Northumberland County Council’s construction team to work on the bridge removal, which included building of a temporary road alongside the C357 to allow traffic to continue to use the route during the project.

Work to reopen the main road as well as on other aspects of the project, which included the creation of a temporary footpath around the bridge area and the redirection of the site’s utilities, is expected to be complete before the end of the summer.

Jeannie Raine, community relations manager at the Banks Group, said: ‘Despite challenging weather conditions at times, our preparations for removing the bridge went well and seeing such a sizeable structure lifted into the air was quite a sight to see.

‘The bridge served our operations well for more than a decade, enabling large vehicles to move freely between the site and the compound without disrupting other local traffic, and it’s great to know that it will be recycled and reused elsewhere.

‘Northumberland County Council’s expert construction team have done an excellent job on the project, and we’ll continue working with them to complete operations as quickly as we can.’