Engineers are preparing to launch the 300-metre bridge deck of the £117 million New Wear Crossing in Sunderland.

The deck will be slowly pulled out across the river by hydraulic jacks in an operation that is likely to take two days.

Recently, the legs of the 100m-tall centrepiece have been secured to the foundations in the riverbed, with the bottom of each pylon leg filled with 175 tonnes of concrete. Paintwork on the bridge deck has also been completed.

Once in place, a further 40 metre section of bridge deck will be built over the summer months on the north side in order to complete the full length of the bridge.

Stephen McCaffrey, Project Director for FVB Joint Venture, said: "The pylon is now secured and free-standing, but there is still a bit of work to do to remove all of the rigging used in raising the pylon, as well as some of the scaffolding.

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"We have been hampered slightly by strong winds during the last week or so, but provided the weather calms down, we should be able to have everything ready for the bridge deck launch fairly soon.

"At 300 metres long and weighing 4,750 tonnes, launching the deck across the river will be a very slow and steady process. People probably won't be able to actually see the bridge deck physically move, but over the course of time its progress will be visible. It will be great to see the deck take its final position."

Council Leader Paul Watson said: "During recent weeks and months, we have really seen progress on the site of the New Wear Crossing, with the first section of bridge deck pulled a short way across the river last October and then the arrival and raising of the impressive white centrepiece earlier this year.

"Once the deck is launched across to the north side we will be able to get an indication of what this new bridge is going to look like when finished and the impact it will have on Sunderland."

(LM)