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East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line


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22 hours ago, cg501 said:

It's funny they can remove the old A14 road bridge over both one of the busiest roads in Huntingdon as well as the east coast main line with very limited requirements for road closures or rail service interruptions. yet they need to closed a road for 6 months to remove or repair 3 small spans.

 

Well that depends on what is in the budget for each project, and I guess the A14 budget is the greater of the two.

You'll also find that EWR are going to be removing 14 spans and not just the 3.....

 

Also I notice that Whaddon Road in Newton Longville and Station Road in Mursley are also both closed. Don't know if that is EWR related, but they both have bridges crossing the line...

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The road closures at the weekend caught everyone unaware (hence the comments on local facebook pages). The same pages had already highlighted that the work would be taking place as indicated on the public notice which appeared here last week.

 

The road was open on Monday morning.

 

Tonight it appears to be closed to allow some overnight work to take place. Picture was taken during a walk at half time during the Spurs v West Ham match.

20200623_212216.jpg

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2 hours ago, Davexoc said:

 

Well that depends on what is in the budget for each project, and I guess the A14 budget is the greater of the two.

You'll also find that EWR are going to be removing 14 spans and not just the 3.....

 

Also I notice that Whaddon Road in Newton Longville and Station Road in Mursley are also both closed. Don't know if that is EWR related, but they both have bridges crossing the line...

 

It's not so much about budget, its about the bridge, it's design and the available space around, around the Bletchley site there is room for a large crane. At Huntingdon there is no space. Also the beams involved are very different. Each span at Bletchley is made up of 18 beams each weighting 10-15 tons with a poured reinforce concrete deck. The bridge at Huntingdon has fewer spans and less beams, but those beam are more than ten times the size and weight.

But what is more important is that on the A14 bridge they have fitted a safety deck, this means they can work without closing the road or east coast main line, so reducing the disruption to local road and rail users, this in line with department of transport thinking, "to reduce local impact caused my major projects". more thought need by EWR/NR, all work to make the spans safe to lift could be done with no road closures, only closing the roads during the actual lifts.  

Edited by cg501
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Came across a few great pictures of the fly over being built. When I was researching for my engineering thesis for my Masters. This shows the work involved in building each span.

 

The photo is from the RCTS collection

"Concrete Viaduct Bletchley"
Construction of the concrete viaduct to carry the line from Oxford and Bicester over the West Coast main line South of Bletchley Station, photo by Bob Berry.

Concrete%20Viaduct%20Bletchley%2004Mch62%20Bob%20Berry.889.jpg

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19 hours ago, TylerTrainFan2001 said:

On Buckingham Road where the Brunel Centre roundabout is workmen were removing the  black railings from the pedestrian crossings today. 

 

Red barriers now block the route over the crossing although it did not appear to stop people trying to use it. The barriers have been removed to allow people to cross the road nearer the main line bridge.

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A new road junction is being put in opposite the famous Not Lambs Siding Network Rail facility. Rods are visible in the new road surface which is yet to be joined to Water Eaton Road.

 

The existing entry to this compound is where the gate man is standing with the gates open to allow the vehicle descending the ramp out of the compound.

20200630_145401.jpg

Edited by 1E BoY
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Cutting taking place above the compound at the end of Duncombe Street with a large disc. Makes a Dremel look a bit tame!

 

The cutting disc the smaller one, the larger one being a safety shield around it.

20200630_154726.jpg

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On 22/06/2020 at 23:32, cg501 said:

It's funny they can remove the old A14 road bridge over both one of the busiest roads in Huntingdon as well as the east coast main line with very limited requirements for road closures or rail service interruptions. yet they need to closed a road for 6 months to remove or repair 3 small spans.

photo-4-1024x767.jpg


they have closed the road by my house to renew a normal size bridge over the crewe to chester line, the road will be shut for 6 months! They had the bridge out the first week and the rest is the work to reconnect the road by the look of it 

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On 22/06/2020 at 23:32, cg501 said:

It's funny they can remove the old A14 road bridge over both one of the busiest roads in Huntingdon as well as the east coast main line with very limited requirements for road closures or rail service interruptions. yet they need to closed a road for 6 months to remove or repair 3 small spans.

photo-4-1024x767.jpg

 

Different view of that has appeared on Railway Herald today, the extra width and clearance in which they are working compared to Bletchley is apparent...

 

http://railwayherald.com/imagingcentre/view/574520/TW

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1 minute ago, 1E BoY said:

Here's another cut taken on 24th June 2020.

20200624_120102.jpg

I'm no civil engineer, at a guess there's some cement of some sort in the gap that has to be removed before the span can be lifted off. The step must be what's taking the weight.

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22 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I would guess that its probably some sort of mastic, designed to accommodate expansion and contraction, and probably gone hard over the years.

 

Would also act as a seal to stop the track bed draining through the gaps and raining down on those below. I was thinking more like grout than mastic.

Anybody ventured out to see what is going on at Swanbourne and Newton Longville is anything EWR related?

I also note that the parallel bridleway/footpath between Whaddon Road and Swanbourne station is closed and double fenced off....

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We received this useful 12 page booklet in the post today addressed to The Occupier. No doubt lots of others got them too!

 

It contains some useful information on the general scheme and the upgrade of Bletchley Flyover. 

 

It clearly was prepared for earlier delivery as it gives all the road closures discussed on here for the month of June.

 

The main information of interest is

 

Full closure of Buckingham Road* to road traffic will take place from 5th July until 30th August. The booklet contains details of the planned diversionary route via Standing Way (H8). A protected walkway will be provided on one side only for pedestrian use. When this is closed a free bus service will operate at 15 minute intervals between the railway and bus stations which lies close to the Brunel Centre on the east (town) side of the West Coast Main Line which is 5 mins walk.

 

*The dual carriageway section between the Police Station / Railway station roundabout between Sherwood Drive / Water Eaton Road and the Brunel Centre roundabout is the affected road. This is the main link between East / West Bletchley.

 

Local traffic will use Water Eaton Road and Manor Road to reach Fenny Stratford and the Town Centre (via Fenny Stratford).

 

Partial closure of Buckingham Road will take place between 1 September and 7 December.

 

The booklet explains that this is necessary due to the removal of the flyover. It also explains the following work requirements:

 

Removal of street furniture including lighting

Installation of hoardings

Installation of a crane mat for the 1000ton crane on Buckingham Road

Erection of cranes at Duncombe Street site and Buckingham Road

Lifting out the spans

Transportation of removed spans to the Water Eaton Road compound

Removal of pier heads

Dismantling and removal of cranes

 

Finally a note saying that enhanced security will be on site and fully patrolled.

 

 

NR Booklet.jpg

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7 hours ago, 1E BoY said:

We received this useful 12 page booklet in the post today addressed to The Occupier. No doubt lots of others got them too!

 

It contains some useful information on the general scheme and the upgrade of Bletchley Flyover. 

 

It clearly was prepared for earlier delivery as it gives all the road closures discussed on here for the month of June.

 

The main information of interest is

 

Full closure of Buckingham Road* to road traffic will take place from 5th July until 30th August. The booklet contains details of the planned diversionary route via Standing Way (H8). A protected walkway will be provided on one side only for pedestrian use. When this is closed a free bus service will operate at 15 minute intervals between the railway and bus stations which lies close to the Brunel Centre on the east (town) side of the West Coast Main Line which is 5 mins walk.

 

*The dual carriageway section between the Police Station / Railway station roundabout between Sherwood Drive / Water Eaton Road and the Brunel Centre roundabout is the affected road. This is the main link between East / West Bletchley.

 

Local traffic will use Water Eaton Road and Manor Road to reach Fenny Stratford and the Town Centre (via Fenny Stratford).

 

Partial closure of Buckingham Road will take place between 1 September and 7 December.

 

The booklet explains that this is necessary due to the removal of the flyover. It also explains the following work requirements:

 

Removal of street furniture including lighting

Installation of hoardings

Installation of a crane mat for the 1000ton crane on Buckingham Road

Erection of cranes at Duncombe Street site and Buckingham Road

Lifting out the spans

Transportation of removed spans to the Water Eaton Road compound

Removal of pier heads

Dismantling and removal of cranes

 

Finally a note saying that enhanced security will be on site and fully patrolled.

 

 

NR Booklet.jpg

Could you screenshot the pages of the booklet?

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