New Medway bridge Building the bridge
TWO coffer dams – watertight boxes resting on the riverbed – enabled site teams to build the two supports for the new bridge Each support has 15 piles run-
ning 48 metres down through the riverbed into rock to take the weight of bridge and the road- way.
Industrial heritage of
new village PETERS Village is designed as a self-sufficient community with a village hall, playing fields, pri- mary school, medical centre and shops. It is being built on the massive
brownfield site of Peters Lime and Cement Works, which employed 1,000 people and operated 80 barges at its peak before closing in the 1920s. Trenport has invested £50 mil-
lion in the development, including £19.5 million of loan funding from the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), needed to create the roads, river bridge, a road bridge over the west bank rail line and other in- frastructure. Amix of private and affordable
homes is being built. Two house- builders, Bellway and Orbit, are al- ready on site, and all properties are expected to be complete by 2022.
Communities brought together by £19m bridge
THE new road bridge over the River Medway is expected to be fully operational by September. The £19 million bridge con- structed by developer Trenport In- vestments Ltd is seen as the key to the new 1,000-home community named Peters Village, which is being built on the site of a former cement works and quarry at Wouldham. It will link the area with the
Medway’s west bank and the main A228 at Snodland and Halling, and will be the first time the two banks have been linked since a military Bailey Bridge was erected during WorldWar II. A further bridge has been built
over the railway on the Snodland side of the river to connect the road at the Halling roundabout. This replaces an old brick and steel bridge which was built to provide access when the cement
‘Jobs, education and recreation will be boosted for local people’
Tony Parson, Trenport’s managing director
industry was alive but would not cope with the traffic volume when the main bridge is open. Work on the two bridges and as- sociated new roads began two years ago and will finish on sched- ule. Both new bridges include footways and cycleways. Trenport director Chris Hall
said: “We’re particularly proud of the new bridge. It is not only an elegant structure, but has been built onsite rather than through pre-cast sections being trucked in, risking road disruption to the sur-
rounding area.” Tony Parson, Trenport’s manag-
ing director, said the bridge “sig- nals the rebirth of a stretch of brownfield land, once home to the derelict Peters Lime and Cement Works. “But it isn’t only Peters Village
that benefits from the new cross- ing. Neighbouring settlements on both banks – Wouldham, Burham, Eccles, Halling and Snodland – also gain greater access to the wider region, including London, thereby boosting job, education and recreation options for local people.” The opening of the major trans-
port link follows the launch of a new high-speed rail service for Snodland in January last year, pro- viding three trains to and from St Pancras during each of the morn- ing and evening peak hours from Monday to Friday.
Town has the right connections to prosper continued from page one Alan Totham, who runs Home
and Hobby DIY shop in Malling Road, also believed the town will
benefit.Aformer chairman of Snod- land Chamber of Commerce, he said: “With the high-speed rail link and the new housing at Holbor- ough, I think the bridge is going to be good for all the businesses.” Robert Beswarick of Hicks estate
agents predicted an increase in house prices. He said: “Snodland was very industrial but the town has changed hugely in the last 40 years I have been here.We are a cosmopol- itan town because we have new housing and fantastic motorway
connections.Alot of people in Snod-
8 Malling July 2016 Alan Totham, Robert Beswarick and Snodland Town Cllr Anne Moloney
land work at Gatwick and a lot more people are now working in London because of the fast train link. The bridge will open up transport links and will attract more people to the town. I think house prices will in- crease and hopefully we will also
have a lot more lettings once the bridge opens.” The bridge has beenwelcomed by councillors as bringing great benefits but concerns were expressed about the potential traffic increase. Snodland Town Cllr Anne
Moloney said: “The completion of the new bridge over the Medway is a long-standing need for the local communities and I believe it will bring significant trade into Snod- land, new opportunites for both sides of the river and of course for the railway. “While these arewelcome,we are concerned about the increase of traffic on the A228 and access roads in and out of
Snodland.As the road gets more congested, it really does need an urgent review of the traffic management on this part of A228, and the need for a further pedes- trian bridge and the town council will bewanting to move this up on the agenda for Kent Highways.”
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