9:43am Wednesday 4th June 2008
By Ben Frampton
ESSENTIAL work on dismantling parts of the Foundry Bridge in Abertillery was completed.
Concrete beans, each around 100 ft long and weighing several tonnes, were lifted from the piers of the 60-year-old bridge and lowered into a concrete crusher.
A crane was erected last Wednesday, with work on removing and crushing the beams beginning on Thursday, and the last beam was removed on Sunday.
Now Blaenau Gwent council and contractors Balfour Beatty will begin work on preparing the housing for the new steel structured bridge once the dismantling and demolition of the remainder of the old structure is finished.
While the work was being carried out on the £2.5 million project, a temporary diversion of traffic through the town centre was set up as the junction of Alma Street with Foundry Bridge was closed while the work was carried out.
The traffic lights which were installed along the High Street to allow traffic to travel in both directions have now been removed and normal one way traffic is back in operation.
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