Work begins today on the demolition of the old Mossband Viaduct which carried the A74 over the West Coast railway line.

Thousands of tonnes of concrete and steel will be removed from over and near the railway line by giant multi wheeled transporters.

The A74 is being upgraded to motorway standard through the £174 million M6 Carlisle to Guards Mill improvement.

A new viaduct is now carrying traffic over the railway line allowing the old viaduct to be demolished in a major engineering project. The Highways Agency and its contractors have been working closely with Network Rail to ensure the demolition proceeds safely and with as little disruption to rail travellers as possible.

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The old viaduct was built in the early 1960s. It is five metres high, 250 metres long and 23 metres wide and made of reinforced concrete. The old viaduct consists of nine 900 tonne bridge sections - the equivalent of 20 fully laden juggernauts - 45 metres long and seven 500 tonne bridge sections 25 metre long.

Four 900 tonne sections and two 500 tonne sections lie directly over the West Coast Main line.

They will be removed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year when there are no trains. Tidying up for the next two days will keep the line closed for safety reasons until it reopens at lunchtime on Sunday 28 December.

David Brindle, Highways Agency project manager, said: "Months of careful planning have gone into preparing for the safe demolition of the old viaduct.

"It is a particularly difficult job considering most of the work will be carried out while 125 mph trains continue to use the railway line."

He added: "When finally complete in early December it will be possible to drive by motorway from Scotland to London and the south of England."

(JM)