The new link road across the Calder and Hebble Navigation is believed to be the biggest civil engineering project ever undertaken by Calderdale Council. Collett delivered four 48m steel bridge sections for the project, manufactured by Severfield, the UK’s top structural steel construction company. The sections were transported from Collett’s facility in Bolton to the A629 Salterhebble Bridge site in Halifax.
Over two weeks, 56-ton bridge sections were loaded onto two Faymonville 8-axle jeep dolly trailers, the latest additions to Collett’s fleet. The trailers feature automatic steering and the option of manual steering and rear steer capabilities. This made them ideal for transporting the 48-meter steelwork, the largest pieces ever to leave Severfield’s Bolton facility. The first two sections, the outer paired girders, were transported under police escort and accompanied by Collett’s pilot cars on two consecutive days. The 40-mile trip to Halifax followed the M62 eastbound and ended at the construction site. Due to the length of the bridges and the road layout, the loaded cargoes had to pull past Stainland Road and reverse 200 meters to the site.
The first two sections safely arrived on site in the evening and were stored on trailers. They were later lifted into position to span the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The trailers returned to Severfield to load and deliver the remaining two sections, the inner paired girders, the next week. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority fully funds this phase of the project through the West Yorkshire-Plus Transport Fund. It includes the construction of a new link road and junction improvements, and is set to be finished later in the year.
