Member Article

New Wear Crossing braced for pylon lift in upcoming weeks

It’s been a project of epic proportions for Sunderland but with the New Wear Crossing’s centrepiece now on site the city’s newest bridge is edging closer to completion.

The impressive 100m pylon, which wil be raised in the coming weeks, will form the focal point of the Crossing, after arriving on site yesterday morning.

It took just two hours for the barge, Louis, which carried the pylon, to snake her way along the three-mile stretch of the River Wear to the site between Pallion and Castletown in the city, where the new bridge is being constructed.

She travelled under the Wearmouth Bridge, passed the Stadium of Light – home of Sunderland AFC – before negotiating the tight corner at Deptford Bend, and finally moving under the Queen Alexandra Bridge, before making her way to site.

On arrival, Louis berthed in the middle of the river next to the cofferdam, close to the location where the pylon will be raised into place in a few weeks’ time.

The project team had carefully planned the transportation to coincide with the right tidal and weather conditions, which meant it had to be carried out during the early hours.

Cllr Paul Watson, Leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “It’s great to see the pylon now in its final location on the River Wear.

“A lot of hard work and planning has gone into building the pylon, and getting it to site, and I think we can now begin to imagine just how impressive it will look when it’s raised into position.

“The operation to raise the pylon will be a long process, but much of it will be carried out in daylight hours, so people will definitely have an opportunity to come out and watch then.”

Stephen McCaffrey, Project Director for Farrans Victor Buyck Joint Venture (FVB), which is delivering the project on behalf of Sunderland City Council, said the transportation of the pylon to site had gone extremely well.

He said: “A lot of work has been carried out on site during the last 18 months in preparation for the arrival on site of the A-frame pylon, so it’s great to get it here and focus on the next phases of the project.

“We needed to transport the pylon during a specific tidal window and unfortunately that meant taking it up the river during the early hours.

“However, there will be plenty of opportunities for people to see the pylon on site in the weeks and months ahead – particularly when it is raised into place in a few weeks’ time.

“Nothing of this scale has been lifted in this way in the UK since the London Eye was raised in 1999, and it will be quite something to watch, so we will definitely be telling people when that is happening.”

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