In one of the longest rail possession ever on the East Coast Main Line, Railtrack, Kvaerner Construction and Cleveland Bridge have this weekend pushed a new 2,500-tonne twin-track bowstring rail underbridge into position at Newark Dyke, Nottingham.
This technically demanding operation began at 1am on Saturday morning at the start of the 76-hour possession. Using twin-bar pulling units, semi-continuous and jack-up sledges fitted with a low friction slide medium, the existing 1,200 tonne, 100-year-old bridge was removed. The new 2,500 tonne structure, constructed on a site adjacent to the existing bridge, was then pushed into position using a twin, long-stroke push-pull system. Bridge sliding operations were undertaken with the assistance of sub contractor Hevilift.
Throughout the 76-hour possession, sub contractor First Engineering, realigned 700 metres of the existing track and overhead electric either side of the new bridge.
The whole operation was completed at 5am on Tuesday (29th August) morning.
Railtrack project manager, Steve Poole, said: “Railtrack and Kvaerner Construction have worked extremely hard together on this project and the success of this weekend’s operation has shown that the partnership has been a successful one.”
Completion of this operation marks a major milestone in the contract, which began in February last year and has been carried out under a partnership arrangement with client and project manager Railtrack London North Eastern, the first agreement of its kind.
The site team will now remove all temporary works on site and carry out finishes ensuring that this section of the East Coast Main Line is capable of sustaining the next generation of high-speed trains which can travel up to speeds of 140mph.
Contract completion is in December.
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