PEOPLE travelled into work in Bolton town centre on Monday morning to find a new landmark on the skyline.

A spectacular 60ft steel arch has been hoisted into place in Newport Street just after 6am in a delicate operation lasting three hours.

The archway will be a new gateway to Bolton, welcoming visitors on their way into the town centre from Bolton Railway Station.

It will support a new £3 million bridge carrying traffic and pedestrians over the railway line through Bolton.

Workmen took over the track at Bolton Station at 10 pm on Saturday to undertake preliminary work. Train services were suspended.

A 50-metre high crane - used previously in the construction of Arsenal Football Club's new 60,000-seater stadium being built in North London - was brought in to hoist the 70-tonne arch into place. A handful of people gathered to watch the operation and the crane began to lift its huge load at 3am.

For the next three hours, the structure was edged into place inch by inch, so slowly that at times it seemed to be motionless in midair.

The arch was manufactured by Watson Structural Steel Ltd, of Lostock, and had been assembled on a nearby car park.

Project manager for contractors Gallifordfry, Phil Lloyd, said: "The crane could only travel at one mile an hour to bring it to the site from the neighbouring car park. From there, computer technology was used to place it in position."

Once the arch had been successfully lowered, 24 steel pins bolted it into place.

Mr Lloyd said: "Everything has gone as planned . . . there was heavy rain earlier on, but later we could not have asked for better weather conditions. The operation would have only been cancelled if it had been windy."

The arch was chosen as the most efficient method of supporting the new bridge over the railway.

Dave Shaw, project manager for Network Rail, said: "We had looked at a number of traditional designs for the bridge, but this emerged as the most cost-effective. At the same time, it has the added bonus of being a spectacular landmark."

Workmen, working in shifts of 12 hours, were still on site until sunset on Sunday. The bridge is expected to be opened in August, when lights will be switched on to illuminate the arch at night.

It will give the impression that it is floating with a design concept taken from Gateshead's Millennium Bridge.

Ron Bryant, who watched the operation unfolding from his flat in Newport Street said: "It looks superb, it is a fantastic structure."

The leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Barbara Ronson, spent an hour marvelling at the arch after making her way to the site just before 7am.

She said: "It is a structure to rival those in big cities. I stood there fascinated by it. I am thrilled to bits with it."

The ambitious design was drawn up by Bolton Councils engineering projects and Gwent based specialist design consultants Cass Hayward.