Work is progressing steadily on a major road-building project aimed at cutting congestion and improving links between the city and the motorway.
Cumberland Council’s Carlisle Southern Road Link (CSLR) project is one of the biggest council projects in the north of England, and currently the biggest project in the portfolio of Galliford Try, the engineering company hired to undertake the mammoth £212million mission to enhance connections between the south of the city to the M6.
As of late November 2024, significant progress has been made on the Caldew Crossing, a large bridge crossing the River Caldew and the largest structure within the project.
A Cumberland Council spokesperson said that, on the Cummersdale side of the river, preparation is ‘well underway’ to support the lifting of the large steel beams that arrived a few weeks ago on the bridge.
Over the next few weeks three sets of beams will be lifted into place before the crane needs to relocate to the Durdar side of the river.
The steel beams arrived in sections a few weeks ago and have been assembled by contractor MJ Hughes.
The beams are now being prepared so that they can be lifted into place and worked on once in place.
On the Durdar side, the concrete work is nearly finished, slightly behind progress on the Cummersdale side (three weeks).
Once done, the council will move the crane to the Cummersdale side after lifting six sets of beams from Durdar.
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Three of these beams are the same size as those on the Cummersdale side, while the other three are smaller and will be placed over the river to form the centre span.
The spokesperson added: “While the cold, wet and windy weather has caused some issues, this important element of the project, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our team, remains on target for completion next year.
“Further updates will be provided as the project reaches new milestones.”
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