Bridge marks key phase in Liverpool shopping project

10 Dec 2007 

THE construction of the Liverpool One complex came a dramatic step closer to completion this weekend, as an eye-catching connecting bridge was put into place.

New bridge over Grosvenor development

The bridge, to link the nearby multi-storey car park to the brand new John Lewis store, was installed in three sections over Saturday and Sunday.

The complex structure was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, which also designed the car park and new Paradise Street bus interchange, and was engineered by Arup.

Two temporary supports on the bridge will be removed early next year.

The completed bridge will weigh more than 150 tonnes, span 65 metres and be supported at each end.

Mark Ellison, Grosvenor’s Project Manager for the bridge, said: “This is a remarkable piece of engineering that will complete the dramatic group of structures that we are building at the south west end of Paradise Street and will be an impressive gateway into the regenerated city centre.”

When Grosvenor's Paradise Project reaches completion during the course of 2008, it will have re-created 42 acres of Liverpool city centre, which will be called Liverpool One.

Some buildings are already complete – new homes for BBC Radio Merseyside, the Quakers and Herbert the Hairdresser, a new bus station, ticket and information centre, a multi-storey car park and a Barclays bank.

In May, 2008, the new John Lewis and Debenhams store alongside 80 shops will open, spanning 1million sq ft of new shopping space.

In September, a further 600,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants, cafés, bars and over 600 flats, offices and a nursery will be complete, followed by a Hilton Hotel and Novotel in early 2009.

The entire Grosvenor project, from inception to completion, will have taken just nine years. by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

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