Bridge beams to help traffic flow

Twelve giant concrete beams, guaranteed to last at least a century, have been laid at a Black Country bottle-neck to support a two lane bridge which will ease traffic jams at the busy spot.

A specialist team used a crane with a 500-tonne capacity to lay the beams which are 72 feet long and weigh 38 tonnes each. Experts worked from 1am on Saturday until 8am yesterday to complete the work at Littleton Street West in Walsall, and the hours were chosen to create as little disruption as possible to drivers.

The beams will eventually carry a two lane bridge which will serve traffic travelling towards Walsall Arboretum.

Motorists heading in the opposite direction, towards Green Lane, will use the existing stretch of road, which already bridges the railway running below. The work is part of the town's £16million ring road development, designed to ease congestion.

Its two lanes currently carry traffic both ways but the route will become a dual carriageway when the new road bridge opens.

The ring road is designed to ease congestion, improve road safety and cut pollution.

Councillor Mohammed Arif, Walsall Coun-cil cabinet member for procurement and member for St Matthews where the bridge is being built, was on hand to witness the work. He said: "This is excellent news."

The overall ring road project – known as the Town Centre Transport Package – is due to be completed in the autumn.

Steve Pretty, Walsall Council head of engineering and transportation, said he was very pleased with the work. He said: "Work like this is dependant on other factors being right such as the weather conditions but it was good to see things going so well."

Months of roadworks have turned some Walsall routes – including Wolverhampton Road leading to and from Junction 10 of the M6 – into a sea of orange cones, tailbacks and confusion.