Too much work, too little time

Monday 3 February 

Contractors with the drain CCTV were in first thing to trace the 24" pipe that runs along the down side crest on Winchcombe cutting. That took out most of the morning, Dave and Nigel went further along the crest to uncover the newly discovered chamber and have a look inside to see where the second inlet pipe went. After all that excitement we popped down to Gotherington to measure the slip. After a late lunch we went back to Winchcombe cutting to replace the heavy concrete lid that was removed for the CCTV crew. 

Nigel investigates the inside of the chamber
(Photo: Dave)  

12" pipe heading from the field
(Photo: Dave)

First off is to try rods to see how long the pipe is
(Photo: Dave) 

The answer is, it's not very long
(Photo: Dave)  

Bridge rail back in place (Photo: Dave) 

The GWR had miles of the old broad gauge bridge rail going scrap, it turns up in all sorts of guises, drain covers, lintels, fence posts... It is very good for identifying where fence lines have been encroached. In the case of drain covers it tends to corrode, with hidden chambers like the one found here it can be dangerous if the web gives away when anyone stands on it. It will be replaced with the pre-cast concrete lids as soon as we get anther batch of the 1200mm made. The bags of 40N mix and rebar are on order. 

Looking at the 1902 map, we suspect that there is another chamber along here. The pattern being that they follow the former hedge lines, it looks like 3 of the 4 hedges have been grubbed out. 

GWR 1902 Map of the area around Winchcombe Cutting 

Dave and Nigel looking for the next missing chamber in a low spot 

They only found a 24" pipe collar, no chamber 
(Photo: Dave)

The CCTV crew started on the Winchcombe end chamber working back under the road. A chamber was discovered 73m along the run, this puts it in the Station House garden. The next section videoed was up from the outfall. 

Drain CCTV crew at work 

Outfall end of the 24" pipe in Winchcombe yard 

Second chamber located 75m along 

All the surface covers in the area were checked, they all turned out to be foul drains. 

Lifting the lid on the underworld
(Photo: Dave) 

Nigel clearing the lifting holes in the lid
(Photo: Dave) 

Down at Bridge 37 at Gotherington, the slip has get a bit worse, the face is now 2.7m at the deepest point. 

Bridge 37, Gotherington , slip face 

Slip face 

More cracks in the slip 

Snout 

The sleeper found last week in the crack is now exposed as the slip has left the end behind 

Embedded wooden sleeper 

Slip face at the deepest point 

Last job for the day was to replace the heavy concrete lid on the end chamber. 

Dave and Nigel remove the safety fencing 

The heavy lid will be replaced as it's not certain there is any reinforcing in it 

Thursday 6 February 

Round to Gretton today to measure up for the works on Culvert 24A, B and C. Micheal manged to get a course of bricks onto Culvert 24A crest chamber. The haul road is going in at Winchcombe cutting ready for removal of the failed earth from the up side slip. The missing chamber was located, Micheal spotted that 2 trees in the distance and lined up and we found it from them.  

Haul road at Winchcombe down side 

Trees near the house in the middle distance line up the missing hedge 

Quick scrape in the ground uncovers bridge rail 

Round at Gretton, more supplies were brought in, a dumpy bag of sand for starters. 

Andrew and Micheal unload the sand supplies 

The great mystery, why does a shovelled out bag always fill more than 1 bag 

While Micheal did the bricklaying there was time to assess the damage to the headwall on Culvert 30A up side. The ground is so soft that when the vegetation flail was run past it squashed the headwall over.  

Culvert 30A up side headwall 

Culvert 30A up side headwall, possible rebuild 

At Far Stanley a down side toe drain chamber has been uncovered by the vegetation removal. 

Far Stanley up side embankment flailed clear 

Far Stanley toe drain chamber 

Far Stanley up side toe still wet 

By Bridge 29 the ground is still wet, even after a week without rain. 

Stanley Pontlarge, Bridge 29 down side 

Stanley Pontlarge, Bridge 29 down side 

Vegetation flail parked up 

It's strange what is found along the line, the Clearance gang have been stacking up items uncovered. 

Found property! 

Back at Culvert 24A Michael had covered the latest work. 

Culvert 24A crest chamber 

Before leaving there was time for a quick look at the tunnel, water is running in through the construction joints. Given the amount of rain over the last 3 months it is only to be expected. 

Greet Tunnel construction joint weeping 

Clear sky looking out of the tunnel 

Saturday 8 February 

Work starting in earnest on the Culvert 24A refurbishment, on the way out there there was time to scrape off the last of the chambers (hopefully) on Winchcombe cutting crest. It follows the pattern with a pipe running in under the fence. This one will probably be the same as the previous with just a stub pipe. 

Winchcombe Crest, bridge rail exposed on the new chamber 

Winchcombe crest, 24" outlet pipe 

Winchcombe crest, 24" inlet pipe 

Winchcombe crest, 12" pipe from the field 

The Winchcombe cutting haul road looks to be almost complete, the recently excavated ditch has been sacrificed to make the road. 

Haul road back to the bridge 

New haul road down the down side cutting slope 

Round at Gretton, Micheal was back on bricklaying with Dave on the mixer. Stuart set about extending the turning point and general site preparation. 

Gretton Meadow turning point being prepared 

Micheal starts on the chamber 

Dave cleans the the mixer between batches 

The spent ballast for the turning point was sourced from the excess down at the up side end of Culvert 24C. Loading was simple, getting back off was a bit harder work. 

Loading the spent ballast
(Photo: Dave) 

Dave unloading the spent ballast  

Dave takes another load up the haul road 

While in the area a couple of scoops of silt were removed from the outlet of Culvert 24C, this will hopefully help to keep it free from blocking until we can remodel the outlet. 

Culvert 24C outlet ditch silting up
(Photo: Dave) 

Removing the wet silt
(Photo: Dave) 

End scooped out for a silt trap 

Grip dug to drain the wet area near Culvert 24C up side 

After unloading the truck twice by hand, assistance was brought in for the third load. We are investigating the possibility of acquiring a tipper for moving bulk loads, a dumper would be restricted to site work and contracting in is a bit expensive.  

Carefully does it 😊
(Photo: Dave) 

Dave working finished off with the shovel 

Bricklaying progress... 

Using metric bricks for the top courses 

Dave clearing round the chambers in spare minute 

Storm Ciara is due to blow in on Sunday, so everything has to be battened down in case it blows away. 

Using the recovered coping blocks to weigh down sheets 

Good progress on the chamber today 

Clouds moving in as we pack up for the day 

Our sharp eyed readers will have noticed that Alastair has been away since Christmas, his health has taken a bit of a knock but hopefully he is now on the road to recovery. We all wish him well and are saving some jobs for when he gets back.