A major milestone has been reached on the £600 million Mersey Gateway project.

A 77 metre-long centre section of the Movable Scaffold System (MSS) bridge building machine was lifted into place last week in Runcorn.

One 700-tonne crane and another 750-tonne crane were used to complete the operation, which forms the biggest crane lift that will take place on the project.

Two MSS 240-tonne main girder sections were lifted over 40 feet into the air and on to landing skids on the first pier of the approach viaduct being built over the Astmoor Industrial Estate.

Work is now underway to assemble the MSS, which will be completed and launched into action across the Manchester Ship Canal and towards the River Mersey in September.

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Declan Cannar, MSS Build Team General Foreman, said: "The whole team did a great job – it was very important that everyone worked together to ensure the lift was achieved safely and without a hitch. It is a delicate process with some very heavy machinery, and effectively the two pieces fit together like a jigsaw 40 feet up in the air."

Hugh O'Connor, General Manager for Merseylink, added: "The engineering technology we're bringing to this project is quite incredible, and it is going to be wonderful to see these two giant bridge building machines in action at the same time. Lifting the MSS 40 feet into place is a delicate task with significant safety risks, so we're very pleased it has been completed successfully."

The project milestone follows on from another key phase last week, which saw two out of the three cranes being used on the project reaching their maximum height.

The north crane, closest to Widnes, is now at 129 metres high while the largest south crane stands at 146 metres.

The 1,000 metre-long Mersey Gateway Bridge forms the centrepiece of the Mersey Gateway Project, which covers around nine kilometres of road improvements and a series of major new junctions running throughout Runcorn and Widnes.

The bridge is on schedule to be open in autumn 2017.

(LM/MH)