Bridging the gap over the River Roch

Monday, 21 August 2023 16:45

By David Murphy

A new bridge for walkers and cyclists has been lifted into place over the River Roch at Gigg Lane.

The 41-metre Roch Valley Greenway Crossing is near Redmere Drive, just north of the privately owned Gigg Mills Bridge which has long been declared unsafe.

The bridge has been funded thanks to £1.1m from the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Challenge Fund and will enable people to cross near to the closed Gigg Mills footbridge.

The new crossing will also provide direct access to Pilsworth Industrial Estate, connect to the Roch Valley Greenway and will join up a network of active travel connections between Bury town centre and the residential areas of Fishpool and Gigg.

The structure was delivered to site in two parts due to the size of the bridge in July. Since then, further works have been carried out to the bridge including welding the sections together, testing, fixing of ancillary steelwork and making good paintwork.

The bridge lift was carried out by A. E. Yates, the contractor for the works, along with CTS, the bridge fabricator.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “This bridge will restore the foot/cycle link between Bury and the existing and forthcoming employment areas at Pilsworth. It’s the only bridge over the Roch between Heap Bridge and White Brow/Blackford Bridge, and we expect it to be well used.”

The new bridge is part of the Bee Network, Greater Manchester’s vision for an integrated London-style transport system. The Bee Network will include the UK’s largest cycling and walking network, connecting every area and community in Greater Manchester with 1,800 miles of safe routes and 2,400 new crossings.