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Thursday 29 Jun 2017

Ordsall chord project wins Railway Industry Innovation Awards

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

On Friday June 23, the team behind the Ordsall Chord were named winner of the prestigious Major Project award at the Rail Industry Innovation Awards 2017.

Mike Heywood, project director for Network rail and alliance manager said: “I am thrilled that the alliance which has built the Ordsall Chord has been recognised for the innovation which has gone into building this structure which is the first arch bridge of its kind in the UK.

“The design uses inclined hangers which cross each other at least twice instead of vertical hangers, which allows for a more elegant design that is thinner and uses less material.”

The  Ordsall Chord is the flagship scheme in the Great North Rail Project, part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan, linking Manchester’s three main railway stations - Piccadilly, Oxford Road and Victoria, bringing transformative benefits to train customers across the North of England.

The 300m chord will also create new direct links to Manchester Airport from cities such as Bradford and will reduce congestion at Manchester Piccadilly meaning more trains will be free to stop there.

By reducing railway congestion by 25% in the railway hub of Manchester, the chord will reduce journey times and enable faster, more frequent services to run through the city to and from other major economic centres in the north.

The Ordsall Chord is being constructed as part of an alliance between Network Rail, Skanska BAM, Amey Sersa and Siemens as well as involving sub-contractors BDP, Severfield, AECOM Mott MacDonald and Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The Railway Innovation Awards celebrate the achievements of those companies and individuals who are pushing the industry forward by developing innovative ideas.