Planned work to lift 44m-long steel bridge beams into place creating a new bridge at junction 10 of the M6 has been postponed.
Unforeseen changes to the planned delivery route for the bridge beams means that the operation to lift them into place cannot go ahead this weekend.
The M6 was due to be closed in both directions at junction 10 from 8pm on Friday (2 July) until 6am on Monday to enable the work to take place which would see a 50m-high crane dropping the 130-tonne beams into place.
It is part of the £78 million transformation of the Walsall junction which will replace the 50-year-old bridges currently in place across the M6 and double the number of lanes around the junction from two to four.
Highways England and Walsall Council, supported by the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, have joined forces to fund the congestion-busting upgrade. Contractor John Sisk & Son is carrying out the work.
A new date for the beam lift is now being arranged for later next month and will be announced shortly.
The congestion at junction 10 was identified as one of the main transport issues facing the region in the West Midlands Strategic Transport Plan.
As well as work on the junction itself, the westbound carriageway of the busy Black Country Route is being widened from two to three lanes from junction 10 to Marshlands Way.
