M63 WIDENING AND IMPROVEMENT JUNCTIONS 3 TO 5. PART 1 - PLANNING AND DESIGN

This article describes the widening of the M63 Stretford-Eccles bypass from the south end of Barton Bridge (Junction 3) to Stretford Rd (Junction 5), which is the last of 4 improvement schemes to widen the whole M63 (originally opened in 1961). The stage 4 design was commissioned in 1983, by which time daily traffic flow was 64000 vehicles in a 16 hour day. Fairclough Civil Engineering won the tender for 18.2 million, and work started in Jan 1988. The contract included the following major components which are described in some detail: (a) provision of a third lane throughout the length of 3500 m; (b) reconstruction of 2 bridges at Junction 3, 2 at Junction 4, 3 over side roads, and the British Rail Cheshire Lines bridge over the Liverpool-Manchester line; (c) reconstruction of an accommodation road bridge and lengthening of a pedestrian subway; (d) protection works to North West Water's Thirlmere Aqueduct, and to the main sewers serving Davyhulme sewage treatment works; (e) diversion of the 36 in diameter North West gas main, and (f) inspection of all sewers, drains and pipelines crossing under the motorway, with improvement and strengthening where necessary. There were constraints concerning traffic management, single lane traffic, slip road closures, motorway closures, site access, noise, and working hours for piling operations. Setting out was controlled via a network of 3 major stations referenced to the National Grid. Bridges were widened by extending abutments, breaking out existing beams, deck and bearing shelves and then providing a new bearing shelf to support new steel beams and reinforced concrete deck designed to act compositely. Part 2 of this article is abstracted in IRRD 829914.