Gateway Project, North Manchester Business Park, Manchester (United Kingdom)

Bilfinger Berger was awarded this contract in joint venture. Facilities provided consist of: a railway underpass for a 4-lane road; a 155 m metro-link bridge across a 4-track railway line; a 90 m metro-link bridge; a suspended canopy roof for a metro station; landscaping, roads and paved areas. The 155 m metro-link bridge is a post-tensioned concrete bridge in an S-shaped curve and has a continuous two-span deck with a central finback feature which houses the post-tensioning tendons. The railway underpass consists of a concrete frame which was prefabricated beside the railway and jacked over a distance of 37 m underneath the railway line in a 14-day operation. The frame weighed 6,000 t which required 12 jacks with a capacity of 500 t each and, during installation, rail traffic continued on a custom-designed track support consisting of a steel grillage and track plates. The metro station is situated on a 90 m bridge and covered by a canopy 50 m in diameter, suspended by cables from a 55 m high pylon.