A WORCESTER bridge has been removed as engineers continued their progress on the £16m Tallow Hill development.

The humped-back bridge in Tallow Hill, which spanned the Worcester & Birmingham Canal for more than 65 years, was lifted away yesterday in readiness for the siting of a flatter "car friendly" version.

The original bridge, which was built in 1936, is believed to be one of England's earliest "cast-on-site" constructions.

It was cut into six sections by civil engineering firm CJ Pearce and slowly moved out piece by piece to avoid dropping any rubble into the canal below.

The outside cladding of the old structure were also delicately removed.

The whole operation took just over an hour, minimising the disruption to canal users.

The new flat bridge is likely to be in place by the end of October, and will improve road visibility for vehicles, which previously had to negotiate the twisting road over the canal bridge.

A straight road will now run from the bridge up to Shrub Hill Station, creating better access for the Tallow Hill Development.

"We've worked in conjunction with British Waterways to keep disruption for holiday makers on the water to a minimum." said Charles Coward, managing director of CJ Pearce.

"We've just been short listed to the last four in the Civil Engineering Contractors of the Year Award, and this and the bridge are both successes we're proud of."

Building structures are also starting to spring up on the Tallow Hill site as part of further regeneration work carried out by St Modwens Developments Ltd.

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