Race Week

Monday 9 March

Change of plan this morning as there was just 2 of us in. There was no telehandler driver at Winchcombe so we had to trog off to get some concreting ballast then make a base to tip it on. In between we nipped down to Gotherington to look in on the works to repair the up side slip at Bridge 37.

Concreting ballast fresh from the depot 

We went trackside to Gotherington to check the condition of the earthworks.

Stanley Pontlarge, still wet along the down side toe 

Work on the slip at Bridge 37 has moved into the second phase, this is nailing the area between the slip and the Bridge 37 and installing the 5m steel piles on the lower half of the embankment. 

Netlon fence to separate the site from the running line 

Machines working on the slope 

Toe snout looking precipitous 

A couple of hiccoughs this morning, the concrete plant for the soil nails broke down and the vibrating piler lost a couple of hydraulic hoses so both machines were idle at the time of the visit.

Steel piles not going in 

Soil nail drilling rig on the 360 

Drilling head for the nails 

Soil nail installation site 

Vibrating piler out of action 

Hydraulic hoses hanging free 

Back at Royal Oak just in time for the rain to start. We got some board down for the ballast, then went and dug a bit of the down side cess pipe out.

Concrete plant base for Culvert 24A 

Didn't spill a drop 😊

The run-off from the field has abated a bit, it makes it a bit easier to work

Grips from the down side crest 

Martin clearing the pipe joints 

A start made on exposing the cess pipe 

Thursday 12 March

Lots going on today, Michael continued the build on the crest chamber on Culvert 24A, Martin spent the day lodged in the down side cess and managed to expose the pipe along the excavated section. Dieh and Andrew did various jobs. Stuart hid in the digger and then went off to Gotherington to talk to the contractors.

The excavations for the up side improvements on Culvert 24A were finished this morning

Ready to lower the base for the new chamber 

Concrete footings to go in here ASAP 

Dieh and Andrew did the mixing, ready for Michael

Clustered round the mixer 

Martin in the cess drain 

Michael back in 24A crest chamber 

Andrew and Martin in the down side cess, Dieh on lookout 

Headwall footings excavated 

We needed some hardcore to backfill behind the side wall on 24A crest chamber, Dieh got to break up some recycled blocks

Ah! that's a couple more than I expected!  

Andrew and Dieh sorting out the hardcore 

Hardcore and concrete going in
behind the chamber wall 

As part of the cess drain excavation, the outside course of bricks were removed, the trench will be backfilled with stone. We now have a large stock of Ebbw Vale imperial reds if anyone needs them. There could well be a quantity hollow blocks looking for a new home as well. 

Martin checks he's at the end 

In at the deep end, an introduction to drain work 

The stagnant water further along the cess hasn't seeped away yet, a little bit of shovelling got it round to the blocks to see if it soaks away

The water just can't get into the drains 

Next question, will it soak into the blocks 

Michael in the chamber 

Barriers going up around the excavation 

Weather changeable today, sleet on the way in and on the way home, the odd hail shower during the day and sunshine.

Dinmore bringing the race train back under a threatening sky 

Dixton Hill on the way to Gotherington 

Good progress at Gotherington on the Bridge 37 slip, Phase 2 soil nail almost all in, 5m piles going in as well.

Haul road around the chamber on Culvert 36B up side 

Soil nailing 

Phase 2 area nailed 

There is still movement on the slip, the face is stable, the shelf has shifted slightly cracking the bottom section of shotcrete. This isn't unexpected, the shotcrete is only there to hold the loose material in the face.

50mm drop on the top shelf 

The steel piles have met some resistance, so a pilot hole is being drilled before installation

Auger for the pilot holes 

Drill head on the large 360 

The snout is still teetering, the cracks are growing slowly, will it spill over before it's landscaped

Toe snout 

The vibration which is sinking the piles in causes heat to build up in the joints as the are pushed down. This means that the piles are pushed in part way and then revisited when they have cooled, a bit of an iterative process 

Steel has melted as the piles are installed 

Melt remains 

5m piles installed in the slope 

Saturday 14 March 

Mandatory run down to Gotherington slip first thing, mainly to have a count of the metalwork added to the slip, plus taking levels from the gully drains under Bridge 36 at Manor Lane to the chamber where they meet Culvert 36A outfall. Then it was back to Royal Oak to crack on with concreting the base for the new chamber. There's a bit of an issue with roots around Culvert 24A outfall, they are largely dead wood but still take a lot of digging out. 

No work at Gotherington today, all the plant is standing idle. 

35 tonne 360 parked up on the empty trackbed 

20 tonne 360 with the soil nail drill still on the slope 

Progress on the 5m steel piles, looking north  

5m steel piles looking south 

5m steel piles from the toe 

Only 8 of the 5m sheet piles left to go in, 68 in so far with only a few hitting underground obstructions, probably boulders. The last few are getting pilot holes drilled before driving the pile in. 

All that's left of the 44 tonnes of 5m piles 

Bird's eye view down the pilot hole 

The toe should stabilise now the 5m piles are in, the pressure will have been largely relived. Landscaping will take place in a final phase. 

Bridge 37 slip toe snout 

Haul road has been scraped by the large 360 😀

Like a few of our other bridges, the lane runs in a dip under Bridge 36. This is prone to flood if the gully drains aren't working. We took some levels today to prove the direction of the outflow from under the bridge. At first glance, it looks implausible for the water to run uphill the corner of the lane. It doesn't, the pipe just goes deeper underground.  

Gully drains under Bridge 36 

Chamber on the corner of the lane 

Bridge 36, roger off in the distance at the inlet for Culvert 36A 

What we found is below, there's a fall on the pipe as the land rises,the chamber is 2.5m deep. An NC2 in confined space speak. 

Round at our operating base at Working Lane/Royal Oak we've been discussing the Covid-19 distancing edict. The 6 man cabin is a bit tight when you try to keep 5 people 2m apart, we may have to eat in shifts or wear face masks while we eat 😊

Roger practices social distancing or just outside to get a phone signal 

Culvert 24A up side has a brick channel with a stone covered steel sheet covering the top. This forms part of the service road that we frequently drive along. The steel is laminating and needs to be removed. We are going to pipe the culvert into a new chamber instead 

Excavation for the new chamber on the end of Culvert 24A 

A second pipe will run to the haul road culvert and then to a new headwall beyond that. 

Excavation for the new up side headwall 

New headwall base drained by damming the flow 

Stuart digging the ditch out
(Photo: Dave) 

Extracting a roots on the low mileage side, this has opened the hole a bit bigger then expected  

Another stubborn root comes out
(Photo: Dave) 

Another root goes onto our stumpery 

Roger examines yet another root 

Before doing the concreting a bypass pipe has to be installed to take the flow 

Roger and Dave puddling clay around the bypass pipe 

Dave at the concrete plant 

A few mixes later, chamber base taking shape 

Roger with the concrete poker removing air bubbles 

Job done, recycled hollow blocks will be used for the walls 

The headwall excavation will be next for the bypass pipe

New headwall location 

With 3/4 tonne of ballast going into the first base, our JIT (Just in Time) planning system sprung into action and another load of ballast arrived. 

More concreting ballast arrives 

Dave and Roger loading the truck ready for the off 

Back at Winchcombe there's a stack of 30 x 10m sheet piles waiting to go by train to Gotherington 

10m sheet piles at Winchcombe 

Trains running today, it looked like there weren't that many passengers, probably the social distancing striking already.  

0-6-0 Pannier Tank 9466 heading south 

Class 117 DMU southbound