FINE weather last month proved a boost to the construction of the £2.1-million Gem Bridge, currently being built at Grenofen.

The dry weather at the start of the month allowed steel fabrication contractors Tema Engineering the opportunity to complete on-site painting of the main bridge span. The 45m long steel truss section was then ready to be lifted into place and be bolted to the cantilever section, on the north side of the river, that had been previously installed.

Ben Naylor, project supervisor, said: 'The size and weight of the main span required the services of a 500-tonne mobile crane.

'The crane was positioned at the bottom of the valley while its 165-tonne counter weight was loaded out. This allowed it to reach out 38m with the 35-tonne steel section and hold it in place while the fabricators tightened the 200 bolts required to secure it in place.

'Dawnus Construction, our main contractor, also took delivery of a number of the preformed concrete deck units. Over the next month, 167 of these units will be lifted into place on top of the steel truss sections to form the basis for the bridge surface.

'The exposed edges of these units have been finished with exposed Granite aggregates to improve the visual appearance of the concrete surface. They also provide a visual break between the steel truss and the steel parapets.'

The temporary bridge that crossed the river Walkham and enabled this section of the Route 27 cycle path to be popularised over the last four years has now been removed and will be re-located to a cycleway scheme in Exeter.

Mr?Naylor said: 'We have been able to reuse all the excavated material on the south cutting to form a viewing area at Magpie Viaduct.?We will be re-using a number of the large granite plinths from the original Brunel Viaduct to form picnic areas and for portals as you access the main bridge.

'We will be surfacing the route with re-compacted re-cycled road planings, a common practice for all cycle routes around Devon.'

Mr Naylor said it was the contractor's intention to have all the steel bridge truss sections in place and all deck units positioned by Christmas, allowing them to begin the installation of the bridge parapets and earth embankments in the New Year.'

Gem Bridge is due to be open to the public in the spring.