£445million road project takes big step forward - but there�s more disruption to come...

THE M74 extension has taken a giant step forward - after workers completed their mammoth mission to carry a six-lane bridge soaring over Scotland's busiest motorway.

But motorists were warned they still face disruption due to the £445 million project to complete Glasgow's missing link' between the M8 and M74. And transport bosses have revealed that work will begin this week on another section of the M8, forcing lane closures.

The delicate operation to build the bridge to carry the M74 over the M8 saw four massive beams lifted into place near the Kingston Bridge. The last one was slotted home over the westbound carriageway of the M8 over Carnoustie Street at the weekend.

The work required the partial closure of the M8, and months of planning included the delivery - in 45 lorries - of the largest mobile crane in Europe to lift the beams into place.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland, which is responsible for the work, said: "While it was necessary to close the westbound carriageway of the M8 for a period overnight on Saturday, this phase of the work went very smoothly and was completed on schedule. Disruption was kept to a minimum.

"This completes the work to erect the beams on the eastbound section of the project and the crane will now move to West Street to begin work on the Port Eglinton viaduct section within the next two weeks."

The M74/M8 link bridge has been manufactured in 20 sections which, when joined together, will form eight larger beam sections each weighing 200 tones and measuring 232 metres in length. If laid end to end they would be the equivalent length of four football pitches. The crane used to lift them is 180ft tall, has a 90m-long jib and a lifting capacity of 1200 tonnes.

The M74 Completion is a partnership project between the Scottish Government and the councils of Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, and should reduce traffic on Glasgow's roads, provide jobs and boost the economy.

Work began in May last year to construct the missing section of the M74 between Fullarton Road and the M8 motorway to the west of Kingston Bridge.

The contractor is Interlink M74 JV, a joint venture of Balfour Beatty, Morgan Est, Morrison Construction and Sir Robert McAlpine.

The road is expected to open in 2011 having cost just less than £445m plus an allowance of approximately £12m for the possible treatment of mine workings along the route.

Meanwhile, work will begin on Friday on another section of the M8, forcing more lane closures. Phase one of a £4.4m resurfacing programme between Junction 5, Shotts, and Junction 6, Newhouse, is set to start on August 14, and will last two weeks.

This phase will see the upgrading of a 2.8km section of the eastbound carriageway.

Work will be undertaken 24 hours-a-day and it is expected that two lanes of traffic will remain open in each direction to minimise disruption.

The eastbound carriageway may be reduced to one lane between 8pm and 6am to allow road surfacing work to be completed. For the safety of workers and the travelling public, a speed limit of 40mph will be in place.

The social networking site Twitter is being used to provide information and advice for users of the M8 to help them plan their journeys while the works are underway.

Follow twitter.com/M8_Jct5_to_Jct6 to receive updates about the works. Drivers can also visit www.trafficscotland.org and www.travelinescotland.com for real-time journey planning advice.

Eddie Ross, Bear Scotland consultancy manager, said: "The upgrade will ensure that this section of the M8, used by 57,000 vehicles every day, continues to operate safely for years to come. We have planned the works to cause as little disruption to motorists as possible."

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said: "The M8 links two of Scotland's major cities and is vital to the economy. This investment is hard evidence that the Scottish Government is committed to maintaining our trunk road infrastructure while delivering the biggest construction programme seen in Scotland in a generation.

"Projects such as this are helping to maintain employment and activity in the sector. Construction employment increased in Scotland by 1.4% in the year to March, a much better position than south of the border."

The upgrade programme will continue throughout the year, with the next phase taking place in autumn. This will see further upgrades on the east and westbound carriageways between junctions 5 and 6.

The upgrades are part of Transport Scotland's investment to rebuild sections of Scotland's busiest motorway.

By the time the current programme for this route is completed in 2011 more than £21m will have been spent on improving the M8 since 2007.

The works, designed and supervised by Bear Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland, are being carried out by CEMEX Surfacing Limited.

M80 update

DRIVERS will also see changes on the M80 north of Glasgow, with work now under way on a new bridge between Condorrat and Westfield.

This will replace the old North Road Bridge, which has been struck by several over-sized vehicles.

Highway Management Group (HMG) carried out the first phase of work, installing a temporary structure known as a Bailey bridge, at the weekend.

Michelle Rennie of the national agency Transport Scotland said: "These works are a milestone for the M80. The Bailey bridge will be a temporary feature on the route until the new bridge is completed."

Hugh O'Connor, general manager of HMG, said: "We are very pleased to have completed this very important element of the works and thank the local community and road users for their patience and understanding."

The temporary bridge will carry a footpath and a single-carriageway road controlled by traffic lights.

The old bridge is due to be demolished in four weeks' time. While this will require further lane closures on the A80, it will be carried out over two weekends in order to maintain one lane of traffic in each direction.

Transport Scotland does not expect any significant impact on congestion during the construction period.

The M80 project will involve new dual carriageway linking Stepps to Mollinsburn, and the A80 between Mollinsburn and Auchenkilns being upgraded to three lanes.