This incredible drone footage gives a stunning new perspective of the huge project taking place to bring down Liverpool's Churchill Way Flyovers.
The footage, taken by drone operator Christian Smith, shows the scale of the work taking place in the city centre of Liverpool as council contractors continue the mammoth task of taking the failing structures apart.
The dramatic deconstruction of the flyovers moved into a major new phase this weekend as a key central section was removed.
The mammoth 70 foot long concrete span, weighing close to 600 tonnes, was sat 50 feet above Byrom Street and the traffic using the nearby Birkenhead (Queensway) Tunnel - which was forced to close all weekend.
The central section of the northern flyover was removed three weeks ago and the connecting footbridges have also been dismantled.
The highly complex removal of the 50-year-old flyovers - each of which are more than 240m in length - requires a total of 20 spans to be removed in a pre-determined sequence to reduce the impact on a very busy part of the city centre.
Flyover deconstruction - the process
The four month-long deconstruction programme was agreed on by Amey Consulting, GRAHAM and their specialist contractors.
The phased dismantling of two flyovers - which connect Lime Street to Dale Street and Tithebarn Street - have also been devised to minimise vibrations to protect antique art and cultural collections, as well as wildlife housed at the Walker Art Gallery, Central Library and World Museum Liverpool - all of which sit next to the south flyover.
Liverpool City Council approved this hyper-sensitive approach at a cost of £6.75m, after the two-lane highways were closed at the end of September 2018 following the discovery of construction flaws.
Once the deconstruction is completed in December, alterations will be made to the highway layout around the Hunter Street – Byrom Street – Queensway Tunnel entrance, to improve traffic and pedestrian movements.
The site compound at Fontenoy Street, at which the sections are cut into smaller pieces, has required tree removal, but the city council has plans to double tree numbers as part of a new post-flyover masterplan for the area.
Councillor Sharon Connor, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet member for Highways, said: “The deconstruction of the Churchill Way Flyovers is such a complex process and I’d like to thank the engineers and the teams on the ground for their work to date in what has been appalling weather.
“Disruption is unfortunately unavoidable but a lot of thought has gone into the methodology to ensure the inconvenience to city centre traffic and surrounding buildings is kept to a minimum. Public transport will be the best option this weekend and we urge people to plan ahead when thinking about journeys to the city centre at these times.”
