THE main span of a new active travel bridge over the M8 at Sighthill is to be installed at the end of the month.

During the operation, a section of the motorway will close in both directions for 14 hours — from 9pm on Saturday 31 July until 11am on Sunday 1 August.

The bridge be part an active travel route between Sighthill and Glasgow city centre and is expected to open in the early months of 2022.

The M8 was successfully closed in the summer of 2020 to facilitate the removal of the old footbridge, and over the past year the new structure has been fabricated alongside the westbound carriageway of the M8.

Work has also begun on the steps, ramps and concourse that will form the approaches to the structure.

Preparation for the installation will include motorway lighting masts and barriers being removed.

The 1,000-tonne bridge span will be bolted to a specialist trailer and moved along the M8 in an operation taking between four and six hours. The team will then use hydraulic jacks to lift the bridge into place.

The project is part of the £250million regeneration of Sighthill, a partnership between Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Housing Association, and the Scottish Government, with additional funding from the Glasgow City Region City Deal, which is funded by the Scottish and UK Governments.