Twitter is tweeting about temporary bridge build
Posted: Feb 18 09:03
Tracking the construction progress of Workington's new temporary road bridge can now be done at the click of a button thanks to Twitter.
Cumbria County Council has set up an account on the popular social networking site to provide people with updates on the building of the bridge across the River Derwent that is set to open to traffic by May 28.
The Bridgewatch account will provide regular updates on the major construction programme being tackled by engineering firm Morgan Est letting people know what's happening and how the scheme is progressing.
Signing up to receive the updates is simple. All anybody interested needs to do is visit the link twitter.com/bridgewatch and follow the instructions.
Once signed up they'll be able to receive the latest construction news and be kept up-to-date on the scheme with regular ‘tweets'.
The county council has also created a dedicated Bridgewatch section on its website (cumbria.gov.uk/bridgewatch) where frequently asked questions, news updates and an aerial plan of the bridge can all be found.
Construction work on the two-lane, 350-tonne bridge got underway last week.
So far ground excavation and stripping of the top soil has taken place and today (Wednesday) major foundation work is beginning on the south side of the river with the driving into the ground of steel abutment piles that will house the concrete foundations for the bridge.
This work requires heavy, noisy equipment so will only be taking place between the hours of 7am and 7pm.
The piling is expected to take between two and three weeks to complete.
Councillor Jim Buchanan, leader of Cumbria County Council, said: "We're very keen to be as informative as possible and provide people with regular updates throughout the temporary bridge construction process.
"Doing this on Twitter means we can get the information out to people quickly and regularly and we're making good use of a medium that's becoming increasingly popular with people of all ages.
"Work on the bridge is really moving forward and the people of Workington are going to see evidence of the project taking shape on the ground with the digging of the foundations."
