Going, going, gone! Footage shows old bridge being demolished as part of major £282m upgrade to M42

Published

09 May 2023

Press Release

Going, going, gone! Footage shows old bridge being demolished as part of major £282m upgrade to M42

Specialist teams worked over the Coronation Bank Holiday weekend when the road was quieter to safely remove the old Solihull Road bridge across the M42.

New time-lapse footage shows the moment an old road bridge spanning the M42 in Solihull was demolished as part of a major upgrade to junction 6 worth £282m.

Specialist teams worked over the Coronation Bank Holiday weekend when the road was quieter to safely remove the old Solihull Road bridge.

To complete the work safely, National Highways had to close the M42 to keep motorists and construction teams safe.

The M42 re-opened some 22 hours earlier than planned with closures removed from 7am onwards on Sunday morning.

This demolition of the old bridge means National Highways can now start work on the construction of slip roads for the new junction 5a on the M42.  

National Highways programme lead, Jon Slemmonds, said: “This new time-lapse footage shows the methodical and complex work of removing the old Solihull Road bridge as part of our upgrade at junction 6.

“Given the scale of the task involved, the bridge was removed using specialist equipment.

“We’re making good progress on the upgrade and once the work is complete, it will alleviate congestion at a well-known bottleneck on the M42.”

The scheme is part of a congestion-busting upgrade to alleviate queues for drivers.

The website https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/west-midlands/m42-junction-6/


Notes to Editors

National Highways is the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and major A roads.

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