Footage shows progress on long-awaited A417 scheme

Ten beams - weighing 100 tonnes each - are being lifted into place to build the largest environmental bridge in the UK.

The £460m A417 Missing Link Scheme in Gloucestershire will create a three-mile (4.8km) dual carriageway on the A417 between Gloucester and Cirencester.

As part of the project, 10 steel beams are being lifted to create the base of the Gloucestershire Way bridge at Shab Hill.

The crossing - which will be 197ft (60m) long and 121ft (37m) wide - will serve walkers, cyclists and horse riders, in addition to providing better connectivity for wildlife, National Highways said.

Gavin Jones, Kier's project director for the scheme, said: "The green bridge is the centrepiece of the scheme, linking up habitats and the landscape on one side of the road to the other."

"The focus is the ecology, the animals that are going to use it, but not forgetting the people - it's going to be a footpath as well.

"We're on budget, ahead of programme, and [have] a good safety record. I couldn't be prouder of the team," he added.

As part of the project, 89ft (27m) of calcareous grassland and hedgerows will be planted on the Gloucestershire Way bridge to mirror the surrounding landscape.

Deer, badgers, voles, insects and birds are hoped to be among the fauna to make use of it.

The Cotswolds' heritage will also be a part of the project, with each member of a stonemasonry team building about 8ft (2.5m) of traditional drystone wall each day to contribute to the eventual 4.3 miles (7km) finished product.

Bernard McEnroe, manager of Master Stonemasons, said: "It's integrating the new with the old.

"You have a beautiful, brand new road - a fantastic thing. And then you look up and see what defines the Cotswolds: the dry stone wall."

The scheme is due to be completed in 2027.

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