Christmas Festivities

Saturday 28 December

To wear off their Christmas dinner the gang went all out to clear the last of the culverts along the Winchcombe to Gotherington stretch. The embankment along here stretches from just south of Greet Tunnel down to Stanley Pontlarge a distance of just over 1,500 m. In that length there are 13 culverts of various sizes, some have already been done, but a few remained hidden in the weeds.

The photo's for this report have been supplied by Dave (unless marked otherwise).

Culvert 30A Tunnel Bridge, Andrew working on the down side 

Culvert 30A down side, inlet 

Culvert 30A, Tunnel Bridge up side, outlet 

The next batch of culverts are all on the list for headwall rebuilding and general upgrade works, they will hopefully be included in the 2021 work programme.

Culvert 30B up side 

Roger and Dave looking at Culvert 30B down side
(Photo: Andrew) 

Culvert 30B outlet headwall 

Culvert 30B down side 

Culvert 30B toe drain and sandbag wall 

Culvert 31A Far Stanley, Dave clearing the up side
(Photo: Andrew) 

Roger supporting a tree at Culvert 31A 

Culvert 31A down side 

Culvert 31A down side, another sandbag chamber 

Culvert 28A down side chamber 

Andrew trimming round Culvert 28A down side 

Culvert 27C was rebuilt in 2018, the rest will look like this one day...  

Culvert 27C up side outfall 

Andrew climbs up from Culvert 27C down side 

Culvert 27C inlet chamber 

Culvert 27B is going to be a bigger job than most with its array of pipes feeding in. The concrete sandbag walls have started to deteriorate, the concrete filling being more like sand in some of them.  

Culvert 27B down side, more concrete filled sandbags 

Downstream of Culvert 27B up side, it crosses a garden 

Culvert 27B up side  headwall 

Culvert 27A down side, Roger cutting out the inlet 

Culvert 27A up side, no headwall 

Culvert 27A, pipes feeding into the culvert 

Andrew clears around Culvert 27A down side headwall 

Monday 30 December

First stop this morning was Winchcombe Cutting to check for movement on the landslip, luckily the weather has been a bit dryer and there hasn't been any hard frost, the ground has remained relatively stable. Gotherington slip has moved, it has sunk by another 300 mm which means that remedial work will need to start in the not too distant future.

Winchcombe cutting toe, water running 

Winchcombe cutting, the leaning tree 

Gotherington, Bridge 37 up side embankment 

Bridge 37 embankment slip 

Close up of the tension crack face 

Then it was up to Stanton to empty the old container in the yard, the roof has deteriorated so it is destined for scrap as soon as removal can be arranged. The area is needed for temporarily storing spoil from the drainage works on Stanway viaduct. 

Roger and Nigel moving an old IBC tank 

Roger clearing along the hedge 

Behind the container cleared 

Clearing in between the stored rail 

Nigel and Roger sorting scrap 

Next job is moving the rails 

Access to the container clear 

Fenceline cut back 

That's it for 2019, there's no doubt the New Year will bring new challenges for us all. That said, we wish all our followers all the best for a healthy and happy 2020.