The first of two 30m (100ft) lifting ‘sail’ sections of a £37 million
lifting bridge in Poole, Dorset, have been manoeuvred into place.

The Twin Sails Bridge – its two triangular-shaped lifting leaves
symbolise the sails of a yacht – 
will span the Blackwater Channel between Poole and a brownfield
regeneration site at Hamworthy where around 2,000 homes will be built and up to
5,000 jobs created.

The bridge deck and lifting leaves are made up of 41 separate sections
of steel which have been welded together on the Hamworthy quay over recent
months.

Poole Borough Council’s strategic director, Jim Bright, said moving more
than 500 tonnes of steel safely from dry land to the Backwater Channel is a
huge technical challenge.

‘The sheer scale and complexity of this engineering operation is
remarkable,’ he said.

Poole’s Backwater Channel will be closed to marine traffic between 0800
and 1800 tomorrow (Wednesday, 20 July) while the second lifting section is
manoeuvred into place.

Following 20 months of construction the new bridge is scheduled to open
for use early next year.