A new 37-metre-long footbridge over the A63, part of a £355m investment into Hull city centre, is set to be winched into place.
National Highways and its partners will install the city's newest structure next month, providing a pedestrian route over Castle Street from Porter Street on the north side of the major route to St James Street to the south.
More than 500 cubic metres of concrete went into the 55-tonne footbridge’s foundation and up to 140 tonnes of steelwork are to be used to create the ramp and stairs.
Three weeks of overnight closures of the A63 between Daltry Street and Roger Millward Way, from Monday 7 March to Friday 25 March, will be needed to ensure the structure is winched into its new home safely.
During the first week, the road will be closed overnight to remove the current temporary traffic management to allow access for the cranes that will be doing the heavy lifting.
From Monday 14 March the bridge will be lifted into place with a 200-tonne crane while the two stair sections and seven ramp sections weighing up to 12 tonnes will be installed to the north of the A63 using a 100-tonne crane.
In the third and final week, the two stair sections and seven ramp sections will be installed to the south of the A63 and the temporary traffic management replaced.
The footbridge will sit close to where major improvements are being carried out to the Mytongate junction.
National Highways described it as 'an integral part of the overall A63 Castle Street major project, which will support Hull’s economic growth, improving journeys to and from the city centre, and will help the nearby port to thrive'.
Fran Oliver, project manager at National Highways said: 'The new Porter Street footbridge, like the popular Murdoch’s Connection to the east, will allow pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the dual carriageway and ease congestion on the A63.
'I would like to thank everyone for their patience while we have carried out this work since last summer. We’re almost there with our new emerald green structure which has been welded together nearby and once in place I hope, like the rest of the Castle Street improvements, will have huge, long-term benefits for the city.'
All closures take place from 8pm to 6am the following morning. In the event of high winds, the lifting operations will be rescheduled for safety reasons.
The bridge is due to open to pedestrians and cyclists by April.
