Timelapse footage shows the moment two new bridges weighing a total of 2,050 tonnes were moved into place as part of a £282million upgrade of the M42.

National Highways is currently building a new junction (5a) "to allow smoother journeys on and off the A45 while also supporting access to Birmingham International Airport and train station". 

To create the new junction two new bridges were installed across the M42 earlier this month, with the road closed across the weekend.

The project was supposed to take place over the first weekend of the month but had to be postponed at the last minute after engineers found a fault with the bridges.

National Highways senior project manager, Leyton Rahman said: "This new time-lapse footage shows the methodical and complex work of putting the new bridges into place as part of our upgrade at M42 junction 6.

"Given the scale of the task involved, the bridges were moved into place using specialist equipment and we needed to do this using as full carriageway closure. We're grateful to drivers for heeding our advice and planning their journeys before setting off and we'd like to thank them for their patience.

"We're making good progress on the upgrade and once the work is complete, it will alleviate congestion at a well-known bottleneck on the M42."

Chris Good, prroject director from Skanska - the contractor responsible for building the project - added: "This was a major milestone in the M42 upgrade and we've worked closely with National Highways to plan this work carefully to keep disruption to a minimum.

"Safety is always paramount especially with this type of complex operation and we're pleased to see both structures now safely in place across the M42.

"We also know that the M42 is an incredibly busy part of the Midlands motorway network and by doing this work under a full road closure, we could move two bridges into place during one weekend rather than having closing it again in the near future.

"We're grateful to motorists for their patience while we carry out this vital congestion-busting upgrade."

The major upgrade also includes building:

• a new 2.4km dual carriageway link road, aligned to the west of Bickenhill.
• a new junction (5a) on the M42 motorway, approximately 1.8km south of the existing M42 Junction 6 (Solihull).
• two new roundabouts north of the B4102 Solihull Road on either side of the M42 motorway.
• a new overbridge above the A45 near the Arden Hotel forcyclists and walkers.