A NEW £1m bridge over the Oxford Canal has opened the door on business development which will provide jobs for 500 people.

The 1,000-tonne bridge, near Langford Lane, Kidlington, leads to a new 17-acre business park, being developed by J.A. Pye (Oxford) and marketed by joint agents FPD Savills and Benedicts.

Vivienne Spurge, of FPD Savills, said the Langford Locks Business Park, which has planning consent for offices, warehouses and factories, had already attracted considerable interest.

She said: "We hope to be in a position to announce a number of major transactions within the next few weeks involving 12 acres out of a total of 17."

The first company taking space on the new business park is construction firm Kingerlee.

The new bridge leading to the park was built using pulverised fuel ash from Didcot Power Station reinforced with plastic net, a technique only recently introduced in the UK.

A massive crane was used to put the 13 pre-cast 32-metre long beams, each weighing 60 tonnes, into place.

The bridge was built in eight months by Fergal Contracting of Standlake and designed by WSP Consulting Engineers, of Basingstoke, under the supervision of J.A. Pye's resident engineer Andy Smith. It can cope with the largest 40-tonne trucks.

It is clad in red brick to match the traditional arch bridges along the canal.

Story date: Friday 09 April

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