New bid to put bridge work back on track after delays

Doncaster Council and its contractor Balfour Beatty were left frustrated on Christmas Day when work to lift the bridge beams over the East Coast main line was halted because of high winds.

It had been hoped to have the entire job complete within a 48-hour window on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but yesterday work on the scheme was still at a standstill.

Doncaster Council said it was hopeful that yesterday’s talks with Network Rail would lead to an agreement which would allow work to complete the bridge to restart in the “near future”.

So far just one of the six beams needed to support a new road has been lifted into place, while one of the largest mobile cranes in Europe remains idle on site. The council could not say how much the delay had cost or who would be responsible for meeting the bill incurred.

Once complete, the bridge will form part of Doncaster’s A6182 White Rose Way and will sit next to an old bridge to make the current road a dual carriageway.

It is part of the wider Doncaster Southern Gateway Improvement Scheme which has been supported financially by the European Union.

To date, the project has attracted £4.6m of European funding through the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The council said the project should be complete in 2013, subject to additional ERDF funding being secured.