Queensway Mersey Tunnel

13 September 2016

Bagnalls undertook the specialist coating works to the ceiling (or crown) of the Queensway Mersey Tunnel, for Balvac (Balfour Beatty). The four lane, two-mile long road tunnel passes under the River Mersey and connects Liverpool to Birkenhead.

As the tunnel is active 24 hours a day the planning of this project had to be meticulous. The works were completed during night shifts as the tunnel was closed for four nights every 3-4 weeks over a period of nine months. Typically, the tunnel was closed between the hours of 9pm – 6am although sometimes Bagnalls possession times were shorter due to evening football matches being played at the home grounds of Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere Rovers, meaning the tunnel had to remain open later for travelling fans. It was imperative that Bagnalls were off site by 05:30 in time for the tunnel to reopen for the early morning commuters.

The four lane single carriageway was split in half completing the ceiling over two lanes while keeping the other two lanes open for emergency access.

All works to the ceiling had to be undertaken using scissor lifts, and at any one time there were between 12-15 scissor lifts in operation working across two lanes of the carriage way.  A Johnstone’s Stormshield Masonry Paint specification was used on the crown and Interseal/Interthane products on the curb chevrons.

Bagnalls’ operatives ensured that the site was kept safe and tidy at all times. To prevent environmental contaminants falling on the road surface, the roads were sheeted during the works.  In total over 7,500 litres of paint were used to paint the crown of the tunnel and all empty paint cans were taken to the local Johnstone’s decorating centre to be recycled.