The £14 million project by Network Rail to completely restore Leven Viaduct in south Cumbria has won a prestigious engineering award.

The viaduct was nominated for the Merit Award for Engineering Excellence in the Institution of Civil Engineers North West Region, beating off stiff competition from Liverpool South Parkway station, the M60 junctions 5-8 widening scheme, NV Buildings, Manchester and Ridgaling Water Treatment Works.

Speaking after the awards ceremony at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, Network Rail's Territory Civil Engineer, Tony Wilcock said: "It is an honour to have won this award, particularly when we were judged against such worthy projects as the new station at Liverpool South Parkway. Working with our contractor Carillion, we were able to halve the amount of time we originally envisaged for the project, which was delivered on time and within budget. This was achieved by the use of an innovative track and gantry system erected on the 49-span viaduct over the Leven Estuary to lift out the old viaduct deck and bring in the new steel deck units. It is a credit to everyone involved in the project that, in spite of some appalling weather that delayed work for a couple of weeks, the programme was rearranged and we all pulled together to get the job done on time."

The Merit Award recognises and encourages excellence and innovative concepts in Civil Engineering practice within the ICE North West Region. The judging panel weighted the short listed projects in terms of design, construction, and research and development.