When huge RAF Burtonwood Bolt of Lightning sculpture will be installed

As previously reported, Bolt of Lightning will be built close to junction eight of the M62 as the centre point of Mountpark roundabout, within Omega South on Skyline Drive in Warrington.

The highlight of the art piece will be an iconic Second World War American aircraft – the Lockheed P-38 Lightning – which would be illuminated and bathed in wartime searchlights at night.

The sculpture will honour RAF Burtonwood airbase, with many warehouses and homes in the Omega vicinity – and the M62 itself – built on land formerly occupied by the base.

It will measure 22.8 metres, making it larger than the Angel of the North near Newcastle.

Work began on the structure earlier this year, with the main piece being fabricated in Hull and transported to the site in sections.

Completion is scheduled for August, and as part of the process, Warrington Borough Council has published a road closure notice for Skyline Drive.

There will be a prohibition of driving on Skyline Drive, from its junctions with Burtonwood Road and Fairchild Road, to allow for the installation of the art sculpture.

The closure will be effective from July 25 for a period of 4 days, between 7pm and 7am, as and when signed on site.

Access will be under the control of the relevant contractor for the duration of the works.

The alternative route will be via Burtonwood Road, Whittle Avenue, Lingley Green Avenue, Omega Boulevard, Skyline Drive, and vice versa.

During the earlier planning phase, it was said that the long-term vision has always been to install an ‘iconic and major piece of public art’ to celebrate the history of RAF Burtonwood.

The airbase opened in 1939, just in time for the crucial Battle of Britain, and it played a vital support role for the war in Europe when the United States Air Force took over in 1942,.

The site also played a vital role in the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and throughout the Cold War era.

In 1967, Burtonwood became the largest US base in Europe, having expanded to cover a 15-mile site between 1948 and 1958, but once the US Army pulled out of the base in 1993, its fate was effectively sealed.