Alderley Edge, UK, Bypass to Close During Essential National Grid Works

May 11, 2012
National Grid is investing £28 million on refurbishing two sections of overhead line which run between Daines near Manchester, Macclesfield and Cellarhead, UK, near Stoke on Trent.

National Grid is investing £28 million on refurbishing two sections of overhead line which run between Daines near Manchester, Macclesfield and Cellarhead, UK, near Stoke on Trent. As part of this essential work, the company needs to close the Alderley Edge bypass for a period of 18 days between Wednesday 20 June and Saturday 7 July to replace wires which help deliver electricity to homes across Cheshire and beyond.

The closure will allow engineers to replace all the wires that are carried on the pylons which span the highway.

These are part of the larger network of overhead lines, underground cables and substations that carry high voltage electricity across the country. The refurbishment work will keep the lines in good working order to ensure that everyone has the power they need, safely, and at the touch of a button.

During the work, National Grid will aim to re-open the bypass between 6:30 pm and 6:30 am each day if it is safe to allow motorists to pass along the road. William Fenton, Project Manager said: “We will be doing our best to keep traffic flowing during our work which is why we have taken the decision to open the bypass through the evening and the night when possible.

“We have looked at all the options to try to keep the bypass open during our work but because of the position and the lay of the land around the towers which cross the road, we aren’t able to use scaffolding and netting or other techniques for replacing the line.

“We were also asked by Cheshire East Council to consider night-time working but after assessing this suggestion decided that this would have been far too dangerous for our workers and for people using the road underneath the line.”

“We would ask people to be patient with us. We’ll do everything we can to get our work completed as quickly as possible. We know that the bypass closure will increase traffic on other local roads but we would stress that our work is vital and means that people will be able to continue to rely on having energy at their finger tips whenever they want it,” he said.

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