Construction consortium Merseylink, who are developing the Mersey Gateway Project, has named the longest bridge-building machine in Europe.

The movable scaffolding system (MMS) was named 'Trinity' during a special launching event at Catalyst Trade Park in Widnes.

The MSS, which spans 70 metres and is 157m long, was made especially to build the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

It has taken construction teams three months to assemble the orange machine, which includes 1,200 components, 3,000 actual parks and is held together by over 60,000 bolts.

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Overall, the machine weighs approximately 1,700 tonnes.

It will build the elevated road viaducts over the Mersey Estuary on both sides of the river, beginning with the north approach viaduct from the launch site at Catalyst Trade Park.

Martin Buckley, operations director at Merseylink: "According to engineering tradition, a machine cannot start work until it is given a name, and the name is usually female. The tradition is carried on throughout the world as a sign of good luck for the project ahead."

Halton Borough Council Leader Rob Polhill added: "This is a special day as it marks another key milestone for the Mersey Gateway Project. The size and scale of the MSS is truly spectacular and it's going to be fascinating to see Trinity in action in the estuary over the next few months."

The Merseylink Consortium is made up of Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Limited, Samsung C&T Corporation and FCC Construcción S.A.

(LM/CD)