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

Work to install the south pylon of the Mersey Gateway bridge has been completed and the occasion marks the project's highest point.

Construction teams are now underway to install the smaller central pylon, which is to be finished in November.

In addition, the new phase of work involves installing steel stay cables to connect the three bridge pylons to the main bridge deck. Work will begin the next couple of weeks.

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The south pylon stands at 125 metres high, while the north pylon will be completed in a few days and measures at 110 metres.

A specialist automatic climbing system is being used to develop the bridge pylons. The equipment builds one vertical five-metre section at a time then repeatedly 'climbs' upwards to create the next section until the structure is complete. A total of 30 sections were used for the south pylon and 27 sections for the north structure. The central pylon will contain 21 sections.

A total of 2,230m3 of concrete was poured for the south pylon and 1,890m3 for the north pylon.

Gareth Stuart, Project Director at Merseylink, said: "Hitting the highest point on the project is a significant milestone and it's a testament to the tenacity and expertise of our construction crews who have worked extremely hard, often in challenging conditions, to get the job done."

The six-lane river crossing is on schedule to open in autumn 2017.

(LM/CD)