East Coast Mainline Blockade for Werrington Junction diveunder

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, Crun said:

I was going to visit this at the end of my usual cycle ride with Peterborough Cycling Club this morning but will delay my start as I've had a warning of icy conditions on the roads. Several people came off their bikes yesterday I have learnt. Must explore this bridge when safer. Thanks for the news Mick.

 

Good call, I was out a 0600 for my taxi to the airport and it was -2deg with hard frost

[jamie92208]

Just a quick reversion to the Bailey Bridge saga.  According to Wikipedia the sections were designed by Bailey to be able to be carried by a squad of 6 men, they weighed IIRC just over 200kg each.  I dread to think how many people would be needed nowadays to lift one under modern elf and safety rules.

 

Jamie. 

[Richard E]

37 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Just a quick reversion to the Bailey Bridge saga.  According to Wikipedia the sections were designed by Bailey to be able to be carried by a squad of 6 men, they weighed IIRC just over 200kg each.  I dread to think how many people would be needed nowadays to lift one under modern elf and safety rules.

 

Jamie. 

 

260kg a section, each section 10' long and 5' high

.

[Donington Road]

Popped out this afternoon to see they have smuggled the pile driver into the centre.

All the track from the down Stamford that was stacked up around the site has been removed by road. (I hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to me by someone else, I mean, there was so much you couldn't fail to miss it  )

The main site to the west looks to have had a bit of a tidy up since the track has gone (now why didn't I take a photo?  )

All the Up Stamford track is still stacked up in the centre between the two live lines.

 

[melmerby]

This morning I noticed that for some hours the Down Stamford had "LB" (Line blocked) in a signal berth and freights going North on the ECML were using the Down Main.

This afternoon it was back to normal.

I wonder whether is was while they moved that pile driver into position?

[Donington Road]

59 minutes ago, melmerby said:

This morning I noticed that for some hours the Down Stamford had "LB" (Line blocked) in a signal berth and freights going North on the ECML were using the Down Main.

This afternoon it was back to normal.

I wonder whether is was while they moved that pile driver into position?

 

Could well have been the reason, there is a crossing near the underbridge over the Stamford lines that was most certainly used.

 

[Richard E]

Been over late morning after popping in to see my daughter.

 

Starting with the Joint Line works it was cold last night and one of the dumper trucks being used to move the lime was in need of some help in starting! It didn't seem to be terribly effective though. When they turned the dumper on the left around to face nose to nose it was evident that these are 6x6 beasts.

 

 

Quite a bit of heavy kit here now and some work in evidence. there was a bulldozer being fuelled just out of shot to the left as well, hand cranked pump from a fairly large tank. Some of the kit is from local companies, not just big nationals. This side is pretty wet underfoot at the moment.

 

 

They've got pumps on Morgan Lake too.

 

 

There are still plenty of old track panels on site stacked along the old Stamford up line.

 

 

And they are very much working between live running lines.

 

 

The work on this side seem to be concentrated on digging out the access 'tunnel' under the new up and down Stamford lines. the second of these pictures shows that this side of the site is still pretty wet in places.

 

 

 

Finally back to the underbridge on the A15 and there is evidence of the raised walkway location. The raised area visible appears to be for services but to the right of that can be seen, at ground level, a further concrete plinth which I assume will be the line of the footpath. Some rebar is visible sticking up vertically about 6" further out, I assume that this is in place as alignment markers, I can't see any other reason for it being there.

 

 

They also seem to monitoring the bridge itself for movement, there are 6 of these detectors on the bridge piers, three each side of the bridge. One is also visible in the picture above.

 

 

And finally, just by the path from Stirling Way to Cock Lane footbridge there are some final drainage pipes going in.

 

 

Hopefully all this is of interest, progress seems slow at the moment so I've not really bothered going out much recently.

[Crun]

20 hours ago, Donington Road said:

Popped out this afternoon to see they have smuggled the pile driver into the centre.

All the track from the down Stamford that was stacked up around the site has been removed by road. (I hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to me by someone else, I mean, there was so much you couldn't fail to miss it  )

The main site to the west looks to have had a bit of a tidy up since the track has gone (now why didn't I take a photo?  )

All the Up Stamford track is still stacked up in the centre between the two live lines.

 

 

That's some impressive piece of machinery! Thanks for all the updates and photographs. I must get out on the bike next Sunday, weather and road conditions permitting.

[Donington Road]

3 hours ago, Richard E said:

Been over late morning after popping in to see my daughter.

 

Seems to be a concerted effort east of Lincoln Road after nothing had been done for months.

The safety fencing next to the ECML has really progressed since yesterday.

Any idea what the large crawler crane is doing near the tunnel entrance at Hurn Road?

[Richard E]

On 20/01/2020 at 19:30, Donington Road said:

 

Seems to be a concerted effort east of Lincoln Road after nothing had been done for months.

The safety fencing next to the ECML has really progressed since yesterday.

Any idea what the large crawler crane is doing near the tunnel entrance at Hurn Road?

 

I assume you mean the crane to the right of shot of my 4th picture. I was unable to see what it was doing from the eastern side and the sun was creating too much glare to really be able to see anything from Hurn Road footbridge. I suspect that it is associated with the setting up of the tunnelling operation. It was quite a pleasant stroll from Davids Lane across to the footbridge today, the weather was actually very pleasant.

 

Maybe we should print out a picture or two to take to the next residents meeting and ask them what is going on ...

Edited January 23, 2020 by Richard E

[Donington Road]

18 minutes ago, Richard E said:

 

I assume you mean the crane to the right of shot of my 4th picture. I was unable to see what it was doing from the eastern side and the sun was creating too much glare to really be able to see anything from Hurn Road footbridge. I suspect that it is associated with the setting up of the tunnelling operation. It was quirte a pleasant stroll from Davids Lane across to the footbridge today, the weather was actually very pleasant.

 

Maybe we should print out a picture or two to take to the next residents meeting and ask them what is going on ...

 

Yes, the one with the skeleton jib.  On Friday it ambled up to the dive-under near to the other crane then back again without doing any lifting.

If it is to be used for unloading and putting together the boring machine then it seems a bit premature to have it on site.

 

You certainly had a nice day for strolling .  I was too busy running around a play area with a three year old not a million miles away.

Not a bad idea with the photos, perhaps even point them to this website.

[Ken.W]

 

On 03/01/2020 at 18:35, Donington Road said:

....

Take these two signalling engineers I spoke to earlier today....

....  The area they cover is from King's Cross to milepost 100 on the ECML and the Hertford Loop.  Not wishing to appear dumb I didn't ask where milepost 100 was.  Hopefully someone here will enlighten me so I can have another bit of knowledge in my armoury.

 

On 03/01/2020 at 19:01, Richard E said:

Milepost 100, assuming Kings Cross is milepost 0 should be somewhere just north of Stoke Junction (99.60 miles from, KGX). Milepost 80 is 0.66 miles north of Werrington Junction by using the same logic and base information (RTT website).

 

Just seen this sorry, didn't realise it'd been that long since I last looked in on this thread.

 

Yes, Milepost 100 is basically Stoke Summit.

More significantly, as they were signalling engineers, it also happens to be the boundary point between the Peterborough and Doncaster signalling areas.

[Donington Road]

A friend uploaded a video taken yesterday and it shows some manual signalling on the up Stamford.

I assume it also applied to the down line as well.

He said that groups of people were seen crossing both lines on the foot crossing near the underbridge.

Again, I am assuming that there is still no access through the underbridge hence the reason for using the foot crossing and the manual signalling being done.

View of stop sign at 1:00 and people crossing at 5:52

 

 

[Titan]

That man at 4:23 can't half move fast!

[Mike Storey]

That was not manual signalling you saw - it was the taking of a possession, presumably for some limited work to be done in between trains.

[Donington Road]

2 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

That was not manual signalling you saw - it was the taking of a possession, presumably for some limited work to be done in between trains.

 

Thank you for the explanation Mike.

[rockershovel]

The articulated boom E of the ECML tracks, is the concrete pump which is part of the ongoing construction of the jacking slab, at the bottom of the N Portal. The crane jib adjacent to it, I don’t know. The piling rig W of the ECML is working on construction of the Exit Portal. 

 

As a general comment from experience, there will be defined boundaries either side of the railway. Tunnelling work within those boundaries must be continuous, although the two drives are treated separately. There will need to be a sufficient exit portal to receive the TBM. 

 

[Donington Road]

On 22/01/2020 at 16:08, Mike Storey said:

That was not manual signalling you saw - it was the taking of a possession, presumably for some limited work to be done in between trains.

 

I watched them go through the sequence of talking temporary  possession today.

There is no access yet through the underbridge so everything has to go across the footcrossing into the wide way.

They wanted to get the diesel fuel bowser into the wide way to replentish the diggers.

 

These photos are from Hurn Road.  There is another person beyond Walton footbridge doing the same thing in sequence for the down Stamford.

 

Place a dentonator on the rail head

 

Clamp the Stop board with flashing red light.

 

Place another two detonators after the Stop board 20 yards apart.

 

Fix Stop lamps each side of the foot crossing.

 

The dumper and bowser waited five minutes before crossing.

 

As soon as the dumper was safely across the Stop lamps were removed. The detonators and Stop board were then removed.

[iands]

17 minutes ago, Crun said:

YouTube CGI video showing how it will look when completed:

 

https://youtu.be/Jdv-H-ahGLc

Thanks.............. but isn't that the same one I posted on 08/12/2019?

[Crun]

On ‎20‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 16:12, Richard E said:

Been over late morning after popping in to see my daughter.

 

Starting with the Joint Line works it was cold last night and one of the dumper trucks being used to move the lime was in need of some help in starting! It didn't seem to be terribly effective though. When they turned the dumper on the left around to face nose to nose it was evident that these are 6x6 beasts.

 

 

Quite a bit of heavy kit here now and some work in evidence. there was a bulldozer being fuelled just out of shot to the left as well, hand cranked pump from a fairly large tank. Some of the kit is from local companies, not just big nationals. This side is pretty wet underfoot at the moment.

 

 

They've got pumps on Morgan Lake too.

 

 

There are still plenty of old track panels on site stacked along the old Stamford up line.

 

 

And they are very much working between live running lines.

 

 

The work on this side seem to be concentrated on digging out the access 'tunnel' under the new up and down Stamford lines. the second of these pictures shows that this side of the site is still pretty wet in places.

 

 

 

Finally back to the underbridge on the A15 and there is evidence of the raised walkway location. The raised area visible appears to be for services but to the right of that can be seen, at ground level, a further concrete plinth which I assume will be the line of the footpath. Some rebar is visible sticking up vertically about 6" further out, I assume that this is in place as alignment markers, I can't see any other reason for it being there.

 

 

They also seem to monitoring the bridge itself for movement, there are 6 of these detectors on the bridge piers, three each side of the bridge. One is also visible in the picture above.

 

 

And finally, just by the path from Stirling Way to Cock Lane footbridge there are some final drainage pipes going in.

 

 

Hopefully all this is of interest, progress seems slow at the moment so I've not really bothered going out much recently.

 

Just managed to ride a loop around Werrington and Marholm to look at and ride over the newly opened Bailey bridge. I also took in the views from the Hurn Road bridge and the Cock Lane bridge. A bit wet to begin with but the sun came out mid-morning.

 

Edited January 27, 2020 by Crun

[Richard E]

Taken a look this morning. Not a lot to see really but a couple of update pictures anyway. I parked on Davids Lane and walked across to Hurn Road footbridge and back.

 

The new haul road is now becoming a tarmac roadway that looks fairly permanent. The walkway that was staked out has disappeared as well. I'm not sure if it is new but there is an LED signal on the down joint just past the Bailey Bridge that I didn't think was there before. Whilst I was there the last of the dumper trucks that was used to move the lime was being loaded on to a low loader to be taken away.

 

 

 

And they are piling under Werrington Parkway (A15). The machine here not only drills the hole for the pile (with an auger) but will also inject the concrete. The pipe for this can be seen leading to the concrete pump and cement mixer. There were about 30 preformed rebar units lying around here a week ago, now there are just 10.

 

 

And it is still very wet at Hurn Road.

 

 

Little else to see here so I went down to Cock Lane bridge, one other person taking pictures of passing trains here. It can be seen that they are working on the access to the dive under although the piling unit has moved to the east wall of the dive under itself. With resting the camera on the edge of the footbridge I keep getting a sloping horizon which I've corrected! Must remember my monopod for the future. More to carry what with the steps as well.

 

 

 

And, for today, that is your lot from me.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Richard E

[Crun]

2 hours ago, Richard E said:

Taken a look this morning. Not a lot to see really but a couple of update pictures anyway. I parked on Davids Lane and walked across to Hurn Road footbridge and back.

 

The new haul road is now becoming a tarmac roadway that looks fairly permanent. The walkway that was staked out has disappeared as well. I'm not sure if it is new but there is an LED signal on the down joint just past the Bailey Bridge that I didn't think was there before. Whilst I was there the last of the dumper trucks that was used to move the lime was being loaded on to a low loader to be taken away.

 

 

 

And they are piling under Werrington Parkway (A15). The machine here not only drills the hole for the pile (with an auger) but will also inject the concrete. The pipe for this can be seen leading to the concrete pump and cement mixer. There were about 30 preformed rebar units lying around here a week ago, now there are just 10.

 

 

And it is still very wet at Hurn Road.

 

 

Little else to see here so I went down to Cock Lane bridge, one other person taking pictures of passing trains here. It can be seen that they are working on the access to the dive under although the piling unit has moved to the east wall of the dive under itself. With resting the camera on the edge of the footbridge I keep getting a sloping horizon which I've corrected! Must remember my monopod for the future. More to carry what with the steps as well.

 

 

 

And, for today, that is your lot from me.

 

Many thanks for the excellent photographs.

 

Why were they putting down tarmac?

 

That plastic heron had me fooled when I rode past it just after Christmas!

Edited January 28, 2020 by Crun

[caradoc]

I wasn't sure whether the heron was fake or just drunk (it is Peterborough after all......) !

 

Thanks to all those posting photos and updates.

 

[Richard E]

I assume the tarmac will remain as a farm access/works access for NR.

 

As for the plastic Heron someone is having some fun but the picture does show the fields are still waterlogged.

 

As an aside my Motorsport UK Safety Radio callsign used to be Heron 2 until I changed motor clubs at the end of 2018. This was a typical set up last year in Yorkshire running the base station aerial on a mast with a combined height of roughly 27' (the maximum height we are allowed) but using a car based set. That set up will be out again on 9th Feb. You can see the usual mag mount aerial on my car as well. As you can imagine the performance is somewhat different.

 

[dhjgreen]

Obscure the numberplates?