Metrolink depot takes shape with steel

Construction work on a new second depot for Manchester’s Metrolink is continuing apace, with some of the tracks and the main frame of the workshop already in place.

The main depot building required 140t of structural steelwork – erected by Atlas Ward Structures – and measures 85m long x 35m wide and 10m high.

The depot, built on land between the Trafford Bar and Old Trafford stops on the Altrincham Metrolink line, will be able to house trams from early this year. It will only be fully operational by 2011, when it will also be used to carry out light maintenance.

Simon Russell, Project Leader, MPact-Thales, said: “After months of intensive work preparing the foundations, drainage and other key services on or below the ground, it’s good to see the depot buildings begin to take shape above the ground.”

The MPact-Thales consortium is made up of Laing O’Rourke, VolkerRail and Thales UK, and has been appointed to design, build and maintain the new Metrolink extensions.