Drone images show milestone in third crossing project

The pictures by Oliver Bolton shows how four nights' work is being carried out along a 130m section of Southtown Road.

The bridge work is captured by a drone (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

This week's work sees 11 beams of the road bridge section which will take traffic crossing over the River Yare put in place.

The delivery of the smaller road bridge section, which will form the Southtown Road underpass, has been described as “a key milestone” for the project, which is led by Norfolk County Council.

The latest stage of the project. Construction started in January 2021 and it is due to open in early 2023. (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

The night work started on Monday and was due to be completed by 6am on Friday.

Giving an update on Wednesday afternoon, Norfolk County Council’s assistant project manager, Laura Anderson said: “We are on track to hit a key milestone by the end of this week with the successful installation of the precast concrete beams required to bridge over Southtown Road.

The road section is in place (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

"Eight of the 11 26.8m long beams have been installed during the first two overnight closures and the final beams will be installed tonight.

"Following successful installation of the precast beams the remaining surrounding structures can be constructed and will be completed by 6am Friday morning.

A bird's eye view of the latest stage of the third crossing work (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

"We would like to thank local residents and businesses for their patience and understanding whilst these vital works have taken place”.

Once complete the third river crossing will link the A47 at Harfrey’s roundabout to the port and the enterprise zone via South Denes Road on the other side of the River Yare.

The road sections are taking shape (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

Construction on the crossing project started in January 2021 and it is due to open in early 2023.

It is said the bridge will ease traffic congestion, shorten journey times, and improve journey reliability, as well as provide a boost to the local economy.

Lorries carry part of the new bridge sections (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

More than 100 unique name suggestions have been put forward for the new crossing with the public being asked to choose a favourite from a shortlist by the county council.

The new bridge will help ease congestion in the town (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)

Over the weekend a 1,400 tonne bridge span section was put in place for the Lowestoft third crossing project.

A bird's eye view of the ongoing work (Image: Oliv3r Drone Photography)