urbanglasgow.co.uk

james73 · Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:49 pm Post subject:

Polmadie Road, June 2009

James H

_________________
The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

james73 · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:27 pm Post subject:

90ft crane gives M74 a huge lift (Evening Times)

IT weighs 1200 tonnes and had to be delivered on the back of 45 articulated lorries.
It is the massive 90ft crane which has been drafted in to work on Glasgow's M74
extension project.

It is the largest mobile crane in Europe and travels all over the world tackling
the toughest construction jobs. Last year it was in action lifting the Harthill
footbridge into place over the M8. The crane, dubbed rather functionally the
'Sarens Gottwald AK680-3', takes over a week to assemble on site.

The crane will be used to lift the 232m long bridge that will carry the M74 over
the M8 into place. The three-lane bridge will come in four sections which being
built on site by contractors for the Interlink M74 consortium.

The crane's first job will be to lift the massive steel box girders into place, which
will support the bridge. The 14m wide bridge will link up three intermediate piers
and abutment end supports which are already in place to the newly constructed
slip roads.

In between these sections the crane will lift into place eight massive 200-tonne
girders which will make up the three-lane bridge. The AK680-3 has been brought
in to do the job because it has one of the longest reaches of any crane at 90ft.

It's that massive reach and how far it can swing its payload that make it crucial
to the job. The crane will be manoeuvred by specialist operators John Watson and
Mick Bates, from its hometown of Middlesbrough. The pair have travelled the globe
with the machine, which has been in demand from Argentina to Taiwan.

James H
_________________
The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

Stuball · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:39 pm Post subject:

I was wondering what that was when I saw it from the bottom of Copland Road this afternoon
_________________
Now coming at you with 95% more significance, 1% less salt and virtually fat free!

FLICKR GALLERY

james73 · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:11 pm Post subject:

Bridging the gap (Evening Times)

A MIDNIGHT hush descended on the crowd as they watched Europe's largest mobile
crane gently lower the massive steel beam into place.

They saw the moment when the gap between the M74 and the M8 was finally
bridged.

At the heart of the project was the colossal crane responsible for placing the
beams into their correct positions. At 180ft it weighs 1200 tonnes, takes three
days to assemble, has a 270ft jib and is so big it had to be delivered to the
construction site in 45 lorries.

Standing on top of what is soon to be a slip road of the M74, Scottish Transport
Minister Stewart Stevenson praised the team behind the construction project.

He said: "This a great moment for the people of Glasgow and the whole of Scotland.
Today we are finally seeing the real evidence connecting the M74 and the M8 and
bridging that gap in Glasgow's transport structure.

"Westbound traffic will be reduced, as will the environmental impact of traffic
on the city."

The M74/M8 Link Bridge is being manufactured in 20 sections which, when joined,
forms eight larger beam sections each weighing 200 tonnes and 250 yards
in length. If laid end to end they would be the equivalent length of four football
pitches.

James H
_________________
The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

james73 · Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject:

Halfway to bridging the gap (Evening Times)

GLASGOW'S missing link between the M74 and the M8 at the Kingston Bridge
is halfway to being bridged after another weekend of painstaking work.

And by this weekend the gap will be gone.

The current round of work on the extension has seen four out of eight massive
steel beams lifted into place over the M8 by Europe's largest mobile crane.
The steel beams are part of sections of bridging that will carry the M74 over
the M8.

The crane lifted the beams in the early hours of the weekend to minimise
disruption on the motorway. The beams will join up a series of three support
piers and two abutments already in place to take the M74 sweeping over the
M8 - the missing link - on to the newly- constructed slip roads.

Four more beams will be lifted into place this weekend.

But drivers are again being warned that means sections of the M8 will be closed
this weekend, just south of the Kingston Bridge. The westbound carriageway
will be closed on Saturday, as will the outside lane of the eastbound carriageway.

The Carnoustie Street westbound on-ramp and Carnoustie Street itself will
remain closed until August 14. Polmadie Road will also be closed at the junction
of New Rutherglen Road until August 17, with diversions signposted.

The eastbound Paisley Road off-ramp is also expected to remain closed until
Friday. The total cost of the work is estimated at £445million and it is scheduled
to open in 2011.

James H
_________________
The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

Stuball · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:53 pm Post subject:

West Street

The Crane

_________________
Now coming at you with 95% more significance, 1% less salt and virtually fat free!

FLICKR GALLERY

cybers · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:12 am Post subject:

Great pic Stu ... I passed that crane the other night .... that is some boom on the thing...
_________________
MY FLICKR
"At least on the internet the pages are not all stuck together"

james73 · Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:49 pm Post subject:

Bridging the M74 gap (Evening Times)

THE M74 extension has taken a giant step forward - after workers completed their
mammoth mission to carry a six-lane bridge soaring over Scotland's busiest motorway.

But motorists were warned they still face disruption due to the £445 million
project to complete Glasgow's missing link' between the M8 and M74. And transport
bosses have revealed that work will begin this week on another section of the M8,
forcing lane closures.

The delicate operation to build the bridge to carry the M74 over the M8 saw four
massive beams lifted into place near the Kingston Bridge. The last one was slotted
home over the westbound carriageway of the M8 over Carnoustie Street at the
weekend.

The work required the partial closure of the M8, and months of planning included
the delivery - in 45 lorries - of the largest mobile crane in Europe to lift the beams
into place.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland, which is responsible for the work, said: "While
it was necessary to close the westbound carriageway of the M8 for a period
overnight on Saturday, this phase of the work went very smoothly and was completed
on schedule. Disruption was kept to a minimum.

"This completes the work to erect the beams on the eastbound section of the project
and the crane will now move to West Street to begin work on the Port Eglinton
viaduct section within the next two weeks."

The M74/M8 link bridge has been manufactured in 20 sections which, when joined
together, will form eight larger beam sections each weighing 200 tones and measuring
232 metres in length. If laid end to end they would be the equivalent length of four
football pitches. The crane used to lift them is 180ft tall, has a 90m-long jib and a
lifting capacity of 1200 tonnes.

The M74 Completion is a partnership project between the Scottish Government
and the councils of Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, and should
reduce traffic on Glasgow's roads, provide jobs and boost the economy.

Work began in May last year to construct the missing section of the M74 between
Fullarton Road and the M8 motorway to the west of Kingston Bridge.

The contractor is Interlink M74 JV, a joint venture of Balfour Beatty, Morgan Est,
Morrison Construction and Sir Robert McAlpine.

The road is expected to open in 2011 having cost just less than £445m plus an
allowance of approximately £12m for the possible treatment of mine workings along
the route.

James H
_________________
The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

james73 · Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:40 pm Post subject:

Giant new viaduct will bridge M74 gap (Evening Times)

WORK has started on a crucial section of the M74 extension, with the project's
largest flyover now taking shape.

The new Port Eglinton viaduct is a major part of the project to link the M74
with the M8, completing the vital missing link in Scotland's transport network.

The Port Eglinton section will be 730metres long and is being constructed from
14,500 tonnes of steel.

It will span not only the main West Coast rail line and the Subway line near
West Street Station but also the Paisley and City Union rail lines and Eglinton
Street itself, one of the busiest routes in to and out of Glasgow.

Transport Scotland, which is behind the project, are having the giant steel box
girders for the bridge brought to the site in sections before they are welded
together at two assembly points.

The steelwork for the section of the viaduct which crosses the Paisley and SPT
lines - a total of 18 70m long girders, weighing up to 200 tonnes each - will be
lifted into position by a massive 1200 tonne capacity crane, the largest of its
type in Europe.

A few hundred metres away, large box girders, measuring 5.5m wide by 4.5m
deep and 20m long and weighing 150 tonnes are also being assembled.

Before the bridge sections are lifted into place, the concrete deck will be added,
bringing each fully assembled unit's weight to 4300 tonnes.

The whole viaduct is expected to take over 18 months to complete.

James H
_________________
The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

fastnet · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject:

Took a wee trip to west st today.