FP McCann is delivering a replacement bridge and access lane off Belfast Road, Muckamore, as part of Northern Ireland Railways' programme to enhance safety at User Worked Crossings.

The scheme will provide an alternative, grade-separated route over the Belfast to L'Derry line, enabling the closure of two existing User Worked Crossings and maintaining safe access for residents, agricultural landowners and NI Water.

The structure comprises precast prestressed concrete beams with an in-situ concrete deck. These are supported on abutments formed from an in-situ reinforced concrete capping beam, sleeved in-situ reinforced concrete columns and in-situ reinforced concrete pad foundations. Reinforced earth walls at each abutment will retain the new lane and associated embankments.

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Works completed to date include protection fencing around ecologically sensitive areas; shuttering and pouring of the bridge foundations, abutment columns and abutments; and installation and testing of a crane pad ahead of lifting operations. The footprint of the concrete lane has been stripped, aggregates laid and compacted, with more than 200 metres now surfaced in concrete. Reinforced earth embankments north of the railway have been formed, with those to the south approximately 90% complete. Precast bridge beams have been installed using a 650t mobile crane, and the deck reinforcement has been tied ready for a ready-mix concrete pour on the 23rd.