![Mersey Gateway at dusk](https://www.jacobs.com/sites/default/files/styles/media_component/public/2022-04/iStock-882874346.jpg?itok=-wmjB8hg)
Since its opening just over eight months ago, the Mersey Gateway Bridge has welcomed more than 10 million travelers and now in the second half of its inaugural year, the bridge can add one royally awesome journey to its list.
On June 14, Her Majesty The Queen and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex officially opened the Mersey Gateway Bridge, marking their first joint event together.
The bridge, owned by Halton Borough Council, is a north-south transport link providing a new crossing of the River Mersey in Halton, England and is an essential link between the Merseyside area, North Wales and Cheshire.
The new 2.2-kilometer-long estuary crossing includes a majestic 1000-meter-long cable-stay bridge that is relieving congestion in the area and will allow the aging Silver Jubilee Bridge once it has been refurbished and modified to become a new crossing for local traffic.
Providing strategic procurement advisory services to Halton Borough Council since 2007, Jacobs supported many aspects of the development and delivery of the public-private partnership initiative, including acting as the council’s technical and contractual advisors during design and construction.
With travel times reduced by up to 20 minutes in peak times, the NCE100 award-winning Mersey Gateway provides more journey reliability for 70,000 daily trips – and with less congestion comes lower carbon emissions and fewer accidents.
Almost five million hours went into the construction of the new crossing, which will also support sustained growth at Liverpool Ports and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and improve business productivity throughout the Mersey corridor. The council estimates that the Mersey Gateway will produce more than 4,000 permanent jobs for the region, generating about £61 million a year by 2030.
More than just a vital piece of infrastructure, the Mersey Gateway Bridge is truly an engine for connected, sustainable growth across northwest England and demonstrates Jacobs’ promise to deliver fresh opportunities in the communities it serves.
For more about the new opportunities for environmental, economic and social development delivered through this iconic effort, click here, and watch footage from the royal visit to the Mersey Gateway Bridge, in the video below.