Highways Agency hires contractor to strengthen box girder bridge at Birkenhead

Contractor Costain has won an £85m contract with the Highways Agency to strengthen the Bidston Moss viaduct on the M53 in Birkenhead.

The viaduct is a 730m-long box girder bridge and is the main route into the Kingsway Tunnel under the river Mersey to Liverpool.

Design work will start this month, with construction commencing in summer 2010, and completion in early 2012.

Andrew Wyllie, chief executive of Costain, said: “This contract award further underlines our position as one of the leaders in the construction and maintenance of highways in the UK.”