Two for the price of one

Monday 19 August 

As we are all volunteers we have the flexibility to work around life's other commitments, so this week we have split attendance over 2 days. Monday saw Roger, Dave and Nigel back up at Stanton on Culvert 11A. Tuesday Stuart and Alastair went off down the far south of the line doing some preparation for upcoming structural examinations. 

First off, we go over almost live to our intrepid reporter Dave braving the storms at Stanton.   

Dave and Nigel preparing for the day
(Photo: Roger) 

Nigel in charge of the mixer
(Photo: Dave) 

We start with Nigel delivering the first mortar mix of the day to Roger and heroically also managing to include in the barrow 3 blocks, (That's called productivity Ed.). The inside wall around the gabions was the focus of attention first thing. 

Nigel under the bridge
(Photo: Dave) 

Roger building the inside wall
(Photo: Dave) 

Roger decided to go for two straight intersecting walls, rather than a curved wall, despite the brick cutting involved. To get a consistent cut on the bricks the cutting jig was brought into action, this involved a bit of studying the manual. 

Following the gabion line, the intersect of the walls
(Photo: Dave) 

Roger and Nigel get to grips with the brick jig
(Photo: Dave) 

While the building was going on, Dave and Nigel set about covering the down side south wall with the small gabion stone, this is more for cosmetic reasons, to hide the concrete blocks. It's hard work as the stone has to be loaded and off loaded by hand, it's too big to shovel. 

Dave loading stone
(Photo: Nigel) 

Nigel loading stone
(Photo: Dave) 

Final leg of the stone transport
(Photo: Dave) 

Down side south wall finishing touches
(Photo: Dave) 

The weather was playing games, the stormy skies distracted us from time to time, although nearly all the rain thankfully seemed to pass to the south of us. 

One that didn't go to the south
(Photo: Dave) 

A narrow band of stormy cloud
(Photo: Dave) 

Next a by-pass pipe was inserted in the channel on the up side, weighed down with a sandbag and sealed at the sides and base by clay to allow the scour protection to be installed 

The bypass pipe goes in the up side end of the culvert
(Photo: Roger) 

A healthy flow established through the by-pass pipe, with almost no flow remaining in the brick channel itself.

Up side bypass pipe 

Last jobs was doing the concreting, first the down side cess headwall footings top layer and then the up side scour protection. On the downside cess outlet we still has a flow of ground water to contend with, hopefully not enough to spoil the concrete. 

Down side cess, Nigel level the concrete
(Photo: Dave) 

Up side scour protection going in
(Photo: Dave) 

End of day on the inside wall... 

The down side wall around the gabions
(Photo: Roger) 

Tuesday 20 August 

Culvert 45A is within the outskirts of Cheltenham, it has been a bit neglected up to now but a structural examination is looming. Clearing the way was called for. 

Culvert 45A up side before clearing 

Stuart on brushcutter waking the local residents
(Photo: Alastair) 

Clearing ivy from the wing walls
(Photo: Alastair) 

Culvert 45 up side headwall before raking the vegetation clear 

Culvert 45A up side south wing wall plus ash tree 

The ash tree in the wing wall will come down before the examination, but the roots will not be removed. It may be a big job to sort out. 

45A Alastair captures images for the report 

The culvert is on the end of a pipe that runs for about 500m from Pittville Lake, the tranistion point can be seen below 

Culvert 45A internal view 

Storm water drain outlets into the stream 

The fallen willow over the brook will be removed before the examination 

Culvert 45A after clearing 

Next port of call was Southam Lane for a quick look at Bridge 42 before moving down to Culvert 42A to clear the headwall there.  

Water running out of the down side abutment drain, Bridge 42 

The abutments on the bridge have a shaped section leading to the wing walls, the GWR built these using long angled bricks (double the length of a standard brick), Roger could have used these on Culvert 11A if we had any spares. 

Bridge 42 long angled bricks 

Culvert 42A is within the Racecourse grounds, this was a relatively simple job as it is on the annual clearance schedule. 

42A down side before clearing 

Stuart hacks his way down the slope
(Photo: Alastair) 

42A down side headwall from the north side 

42A down side from the south 

42A up side before clearing 

Clearing over the headwall
(Photo: Alastair) 

Culvert 42A up side headwall 

Alastair raking up the cut vegetation 

42A up side path back up 

Sometimes we wonder why we take so much kit out with us on jobs, today was an example as we loaded 2 brushcutters. Good job we did, as one had a catastrophic failure, the drive shaft clamp had cracked, it's not terminal, but it will be out of action for a while for repairs. 

Probable fatigue fracture