The images - coupled with drone footage - appear to show the bridge slotting together like Lego. Though, of course, there is a little more to it than that.
Engineers VolkerStevin have the contract to create the new bridge, but the mammoth project brings in expertise from far and wide.
Lifting and transport firm Mammoet was brought in to ensure the ‘smooth delivery and heavy lifting of the bridge sections’.
The firm said it faced the challenge of avoiding disruption in the busy city, and allowing the construction to take place using as few modules as possible to keep the project simple.
The 250-meter bridge was fabricated in Ghent, Belgium by Victor Buyck Steel Construction.
Weighing 1,150t, it comprises four sections which needed to be shipped from Belgium and installed in Sunderland.
Working closely with the Belgium-based marine heavy-lift specialist HEBO, Mammoet arranged for the four bridge sections to the shipped via two voyages spaced a month apart.
The firm said the ‘Just-in-Time’ approach allowed enough space for the operations team to install the first two sections and prepare for the arrival of the remaining two, Mammoet said.
The team began on the north side of the river, ready to receive and lift the first two sections from a barge using an LR 11350 crawler crane.
The first two bridge sections were lifted from the barge onto concrete plinths close to the water’s edge.
The team then dismantled the crane and relocated to the south side of the river, ready to receive the second delivery.
One more bridge section was placed on plinths, then the final and largest section, measuring 105 meters, was lifted from the barge using strand jacks connected to the previously installed sections.
The crawler crane came directly from another project at the Port of Nigg, Scotland.
Its parts were transported to Sunderland using 50 conventional trailers, which caused a challenge in scheduling.
Richard Gatenby, project manager at Mammoet, said: “During assembly of a crawler crane, you need to bring in each section as you would build it.
“We needed to make sure that as the crane was coming from Nigg, the trailers were arriving in the right order and there was no breakdown in communication.
“We sent the client our transport schedule and plan, so they were aware of what was moving and when”.
Other challenges facing the team included working around the tidal nature of the river in Sunderland, and the curved shape of the bridge posing height difference challenges both in Wearside, and on canals back in Belgium.
The New Wear Footbridge has a key role in the vision for Riverside Sunderland, a huge regeneration project, with the new crossing connecting pedestrian and cyclist traffic from the city centre to the Stadium of Light and other sites in the Sheepfolds regeneration area.
