WORK on the Bingley relief road is on track to be completed around this time next year following the success of a major milestone in the £47.9m project.
The final beam has just been lifted into place on the £3m Cottingley viaduct which spans the river Aire near the Bankfield Hotel. The final central span of the 264-metre long bridge was a 62-tonne girder which has just been lifted into place.
Th
e relief road will be a 5km stretch of dual carriageway from Crossflatts roundabout to Cottingley Bar and aims to remove queues of cars and lorries from Bingley's congested town centre.
It is on schedule for completion during autumn next year.
The route is one of Yorkshire's most technically challenging, with 26 structures needed, including the bridge spanning the Aire and a low-level bridge crossing Bingley South Bog.
Contractors are said to making good progress overcoming the obstacle of Bingley South Bog, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. A jetty is being used to build the road across the bog.
Work is also about to begin on constructing the first half of the new Keighley Road bridge.
This first half should be completed by Christmas. Traffic will then be diverted onto the new section of bridge before work starts on the second half.
A section of the Leeds and Liverpool canal will have to be drained in November to allow further work on the construction of Ferncliffe Road bridge.
One section of the canal was drained in November last year to allow work on the foundations for the new bridge.
