THE search has begun for hundreds of staff to help deliver the £600m Mersey Gateway Project.

Merseylink – the consortium named as the preferred bidder by Halton Borough Council for the contract to build the new Mersey Gateway bridge, artist’s impression right, over the river between Runcorn and Widnes – has started a drive to recruit a number of key positions within the early delivery team.

Preparatory work on the project has already begun, and construction starts in earnest this spring.

Steve Cardwell, project director of Merseylink, said: "Delivering a project of such magnitude, which will bring clear benefits to local communities and the region as a whole, requires the strongest possible team.

"This will be one of the largest civil engineering projects in Europe over the next three years, and I'm confident we will be able to bring together highly motivated staff to bring the project to fruition.

"At our peak we will be employing more than 500 people to work on the project."

This early drive is to look for staff in a number of disciplines, including project managers, site managers, section managers, procurement and commercial managers, quantity surveyors, general foremen and section foremen, site engineers, land surveyors, buyers, materials engineers, planners, project and cost controllers and administration staff.

Steve Cardwell continued: "We have a wide range of opportunities here, and we are expecting to see a great deal of interest in working on this iconic bridge, from people with experience in the delivery of major roadwork and structure projects."

The cable stay bridge, which will provide a major new strategic transport route, will be completed in 2017.

Applicants can register their interest by sending their CV to opportunities@merseylink.com

Merseylink Civil Contractors is a joint venture between Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Limited, FCC Construction SA and Samsung C&T ECUK Limited.