See timelapse footage and aerial shots as work completes on New Wear Crossing bridge deck

The bridge deck of Sunderland’s New Wear Crossing has now been successfully launched across the river, with the operation to manoeuvre the 300m deck from the south side of the River Wear to the north side finishing at about 5.10pm on Tuesday.

It took a total of 20 hours to slide the 4,750-tonne concrete and steel structure into its final position over the River Wear between Pallion to the south and Castletown to the north.

The construction team working for Sunderland City Council said it was a seamless operation that began at about 2.30pm on Sunday and continued in stages through daylight hours, finishing late afternoon yesterday.

This new footage released by the team today shows a timelapse of the operation, and includes aerial shots over the structure, showing how work is taking shape.

The project to build the New Wear Crossing got underway in May 2015. Farrans Construction and Victor Buck Steel Construction formed a partnership to create FVB Joint Venture to deliver the bridge on behalf of Sunderland City Council.

It is phase two of the Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor, which is a five-phase plan to improve links between the A19 and Sunderland City Centre and the Port of Sunderland.

Since construction got underway, much of the work has centred on building the cofferdam and pylon foundations within the riverbed, constructing the approach roads on the north and south sides of the River Wear, and assembling the bridge deck.

Roadworks have also been carried out in Pallion and Castletown to connect into the existing road network ahead of the bridge opening in the spring of 2018.

In recent months, work has stepped up on the north side, where the northern approach road and abutment are being constructed and the new alignment of Hylton Park Road is being developed.