Leading support services and construction company Carillion and its client Network Rail have successfully carried out a bridge lift on the River Tees.

The bridge which was erected in 1880 is being demolished and rebuilt as part of a £4.5m design and construct contract awarded to Carillion by Network Rail in October last year with site works starting in January.

Lifting the bridge took just over a week to complete and was a success due to the collaborative working of all those involved.

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Pontoons were used to carry beams from one side of the River Tees to the other as the constraints of the railway only allowed delivery of the beams from one bank.

The works were carried out next to the operational railway however, due to the rigging arrangements, train services were able to run as scheduled throughout the work.

The cranes used were 800t and 500t - all beams had to be delivered to the west abutment where the 800t crane lowered the beams to the barges for sailing across the river.

At this point the 500t crane would pick up the beam and land it onto the abutment.

In total 18 beams were lifted in to place.

David Diskin, Carillion Project Manager said: "This has involved a lot of team work and collaboration. Our Site Agent John Billcliffe has constantly been liaising with British Waterways for closures of the River Tees with minimum disruption to the River users. We're delighted with the result and are pressing on with the rest of the project."

(CD/JM)