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Local people are getting another chance
to become part of Halton’s history by joi-
ning the volunteer team working with the
Mersey Gateway Project.
The Merseylink Consortium continues to
develop its volunteer program which has
contributed to the training of approxima-
tely fifty local residents It is currently loo-
king for more passionate and enthusiastic
local people who want to help tell the story
of Volunteers are a key part of the project.
They work within the project’s visitor cen-
tre to help explain how the bridge is being
built and help to deliver talks, presenta-
The
Mersey team
is carrying
out a new campaign as part
of its permanent
volunteer programme
United Kingdom
tions and temporary exhibitions in local
community venues, schools and colleges.
Participants will take part in a four-week tra-
ining programme, where they gain the skills
and knowledge required to tell the story of
Halton’s new bridge and road project.
Louise Cash, Merseylink’s volunteer coor-
dinator, said: “The Mersey Gateway is one
of the largest building projects currently
underway in the UK, and it’s not every day
you get to volunteer on a scheme of this
size and scale. People really do have the
opportunity to get involved with something
amazing that will leave a legacy for Hal-
ton.”
Malcolm Findlow and Peter Milward are
two of Merseylink’s longest serving volun-
teers. Malcolm said: “Being a Mersey Ga-
teway volunteer is a fun and rewarding
experience. We have learnt about the his-
tory and heritage of the area, the wildlife,
ecology, environment and the construction
process for the bridge and roads.” Peter
added: “We are here to answer questions
about the project. It’s great fun and an
amazing way to learn about what is hap-
pening right here in Halton.”
The Mersey team has been sharing its civil
engineering expertise on an international
scale with the army of engineers working on
building the biggest bridge in Bangladesh
over the River Padma.
The team, comprising four senior army en-
gineers: General Abu Syeed Masud, Briga-
de General Abdul Mukim Sarker, Coronel
Monirul Haque, Lieutenant-coronel Mo-
hammad Mahabubul Haque, accompanied
by engineers from IMC Worldwide (an inter-
national consulting firm) wanted to learn
more about the construction process of the
Mersey Gateway Project, one of the largest
infrastructure projects being currently ca-
rried out by FCC in the United Kingdom.
The group was taken on a tour of the mova-
ble scaffolding system, which will be used
to build the elevated road viaducts on each
side of the Mersey Estuary, and visited the
Sharing experience with the engineers of the Padma Bridge,
the biggest one in Bangladesh
project’s 1000m long trestle bridge where
work is underway for the three bridge
pylons.
The engineers also heard from the project
team about how Merseylink is handling en-
vironmental issues, traffic management
planning, stakeholder engagement and pu-
blic relations.
Mike Hughes, principal engineer at IMC
Worldwide, said: “As a part of our training
course, we wanted to demonstrate the mo-
dern holistic approaches to civil engineering
projects undertaken in the UK, and the at-
tention to detail required in site safety and
site access control. The ongoing discus-
sions with the local community and recog-
nition of the environmental requirements
were very useful pointers as to how to suc-
cessfully construct a major project.”
Hugh O’Connor, general manager of Mer-
seylink, said: “The Mersey Gateway Project
is a major infrastructure scheme, combining
UK highways construction knowledge and
international bridge building expertise of the
highest level. We’re delighted to be able to
share our knowledge, experience and lear-
ning with fellow engineering professionals
from around the world.”
See Lin
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