VIDEO: Bridge for Colley Lane link road put in place

These were the words of Bridgwater resident Lin Caddick, who was one of the members of the public gathered to watch an impressive feat of engineering today (Thursday, October 25).

Bridgwater will imminently be home to the longest single-span bridge in the Somerset and today large cranes were on site putting in place huge steel beams that will span the River Parrett and form part of the much-anticipated Colley Lane Southern Access Road.

Cllr John Woodman, Somerset County Council cabinet member for Highways, said: "It is an excellent day to be here and see this milestone.

"This will be the longest single-span bridge in Somerset and one of the longest in the# South West at 52 metres long.

"It has taken 45,000 man hours to get to this point of this fantastic project which will be a really key piece of infrastructure for Bridgwater.

"It opens up opportunities for further development and will create a fast route from J24 through to the Colley Lane Industrial Estate."

Cllr Woodman said he was pleased that the project was being delivered on schedule and was due to open in September 2019.

The £18.4m Colley Lane Southern Access Road (CLSAR) plans include two new bridges, 840 metres of carriageway and new cycle and footways.

The scheme will help ease congestion along Taunton Road and Broadway by connecting Parrett Way to Marsh Lane and providing access to the Colley Lane Industrial Estate from the south.

It will also open up brownfield development sites between the River Parrett and the Taunton and Bridgwater Canal.

The project will use innovative engineering solutions to overcome some of the challenges on site, such as poor ground conditions between the canal and river.

To minimise loading in this area, high density polystyrene blocks will be used as a lightweight alternative to conventional quarry materials.

This has an additional benefit by reducing the number of vehicle movements to site by 90 per cent – saving around 500 truck deliveries.

Lin and Dave Caddick were two of the local residents who had come down to the riverside to watch the bridge be put in place.

"We have been down here since this morning. It is really impressive to see it being put in place," Mr Caddick said.

"We feel we are watching a little bit of Bridgwater history in the making," Mrs Caddick added.

Gordon Elkins, who lives in Taunton Road, felt optimistic that the road would make a big contribution to helping Bridgwater's traffic problems.

"It will not solve it - there will still be a lot of traffic coming down Taunton Road heading for Hinkley but it will certainly help," Mr Elkins said.

"At the moment you have one car pull in or out of the doctor's surgery and it can hold everything up."

Wills Road resident Rosemary Carr added: "It is absolutely wonderful to come and see this put in place - it will no doubt out-live us and it is amazing what they can do."