Merseyway Shopping Centre and Car Park

The Merseyway, located in the heart of Stockport town centre is a pedestrianised shopping centre and precinct built upon stilts above the River Mersey.

Running directly above a section of the River Mersey, the Merseyway required remediation works to extend the structure's lifespan. The centre comprises over 330,000 square feet of retail space and is the prominent shopping outlet for the town. Bethell worked with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council ("SMBC") to redevelop and modernise the area, along with vital infrastructure upgrades to improve the lifespan.

The scope of works for this project included:

In addition, we also upgraded the multi-storey car park with jointing and concrete repairs, complete with an RB58 three-part fibre-reinforced waterproofing system.

The completed works enhanced the popular retail centre, transforming it into a vibrant, welcoming and modern space that will attract more people to shop, relax and meet up in the heart of Stockport.

During our 18 months on site, promoting transparency with the public was key to effectively communicating the benefits of the completed works, with the establishment of a public drop-in office allowing concerns or questions to be raised with our site team face-to-face. Greatly appreciated by the public, the amenity enabled Bethell to resolve queries quickly and avoid further escalation.

Our Customer Liaison Manager dedicated a minimum of 1 day per week on-site to liaise with all stakeholders and provide daily updates and assurance to shop owners, recording and addressing all interactions and concerns and communicating with our operations team.

Bethell designed and installed a segregated haul route through the centre of the precinct, in consultation with stakeholders and following public feedback. As the area received heavy footfall, the route was fully segregated with bison barriers and Heras fencing to uphold public safety. In addition, all material movements throughout the day were escorted by a trained banksperson and scheduled during times of low footfall, wherever possible.

Due to the town centre location of the works, a comprehensive pedestrian management plan was developed in liaison with SMBC and the supply chain. Bethell retained footfall by maintaining access to all shops and ensuring hoarding and equipment did not block shop windows from view.

A Trainee Site Engineer was appointed to the project following his 9-week T-Level work experience placement at Bethell. The trainee was given the opportunity to get hands-on experience by shadowing our Site Engineer throughout the project.

To establish time and cost savings for the client, Bethell worked closely with SMBC through Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and provided our expertise to develop an efficient programme for the works required. Through collaborative planning with SMBC and design partners, Bethell proposed to profile plane the existing surface level to suit the new levels, saving the client circa £100k in project costs and reducing the programme by 12 weeks.

SMBC's initial design brief proposed a high-risk activity of using a suspended platform to pump concrete down one side of the riverbank and across to the other bank. From ECI discussions, Bethell advised of the high-risk nature of the activity due to the likelihood of a pump failure or pipeline obstruction and the potential for an environmental accident.

To reduce the risk of the activity, Bethell investigated alternative delivery methods, identifying a surface water discharge gully above ground within a service yard, near the concrete placement area. Therefore, the alternative solution resulted in a shorter distance from the pump to the delivery site by removing the need to cross the river, mitigating the risk of concrete spilling into the River Mersey.

The proposed solution was accepted by the client and executed without incident, showcasing an excellent example of Bethell's risk reduction and value engineering capabilities.