A floating pontoon and linkspan bridge are central components of a new $40m roll on/roll off ferry terminal being built for the Mersey Docks & Harbour Company at Wallasey Dock in Birkenhead in the northwest of England. Both structures were fabricated by the Harland & Wolff shipyard across the water in Northern Ireland under a $3.8m subcontract to main design and build contractor Amec. The 1,200t steel pontoon, which is 70m long and 42m wide, and the 450t, 85m-long linkspan bridge were towed from the shipyard down the River Lagan, across the Irish Sea and up the River Mersey. After the pontoon was floated into place in November, the linkspan was lifted into place using a 600t capacity floating crane, Uglen, which was brought in from Norway for the project. In a two-hour night-time operation, Uglen lifted the bridge from the pontoon and – with the wind rising and the river swelling – relocated it onto monopiles in the riverbed.
