Inspections Begin, is it a sign

Thursday 28 May 2020 

Inspections have started, something must be going to happen. No it isn't! The railway is still closed and likely to remain that way until the end of August as the earliest. 

One of the essential tasks to be completed during the COVID-19 lockdown inspection of the structures that support the railway. The Bridges Team only have 1 inspector and as Lone Working is prohibited at present, the Drain Gang were called on to provide a 'Second Man'. This fully Social Distanced activity was only allowed after a raft of Risk Assessments and Method Statements had been completed and signed off by the Safety Department.  

Dave drew the short straw and became the first volunteer to venture out. The gang is sadly depleted at present due to the lockdown of vulnerable people, this will have a wider impact than just drainage. With an earlier than usual start, he bounded off to meet up with John the Inspector at Broadway and start to work south from there. 

All the images have been provided by Dave. 

Station Road, Broadway - Bridge 1 

There's an eerie silence still around the Railway, it should have been a busy half-term day with happy visitors milling around int he bright sunshine; but here we are all shut up and empty. 

All quiet at Broadway Station 

The bridge inspections provide an opportunity to check on the nearby culverts. The dry spell has made a huge difference to water flows since we went round them late last year. 

Childswickham Road - Culvert 2A Up side 

Childswickham Road - Culvert 2A Down side 

Little Buckland - Culvert 4A Down side 

Little Buckland - Culvert 4A Down Side 

The next Culvert south of Little Buckland is 5A, this one was rebuilt just before the track was relaid. The bridge contractors had smashed the old pipe when they rebuilt the bridge abutment, hence we have a new twinwall culvert. 

Culvert 5A - Little Buckland up side 

Culvert 5A - Little Buckland up side headwall 

Round the corner from Bridge 5 at Little Buckland is Culvert 5C, again the up side was repaired before the track was relaid and the headwall was replaced by Gabion baskets and a concrete slab, not a particular 'Heritage' look and feel, but nobody can see it from the train. Despite the drought, the vegetation is going a bit wild here. 

Culvert 5C - Laverton up side headwall 

Culvert 5C - Laverton, up side barrel 

There are no culverts within easy reach of the Aqueduct at Stanton (Bridge 9). Dave took pictures of the drought conditions instead. 

Stanton Aqueduct - Inlet from the field 

Stanton Aqueduct - Down side Inlet 

Stanton Aqueduct - Internal view, Down Side

Stanton Aqueduct - Up side outlet

Last bridge on the list for today was at Toddington Station, no culverts close at hand here either. 

Stow Road Bridge at Toddington 

Gotherington Landslip Update

Several images have been sent in over the last week showing the work on the slip at Bridge 37. 

 

View from the field 
(Photo: Fraser Andrews) 

The next batch of images are from Peter Muir. They show the detail of the fixings for the 10 metre piles to the soil nails. 

10m Pile Wall almost levelled 

Steelwork for attaching the piles 

Attachment in progress 

Inside tie bars between the nails and the piles 

Lastly another image from Martin Thornley who was passing on his exercise walk. The landscaping against the piles will tone down the impact so they should be invisible from this location.  

That's it for this week, more activity next week wit culvert inspections. Stay safe 

Back to work at Gotherington

Friday 15 May 2020 

It seems strange starting another blog after a 6 week gap, a whole new routine has developed around the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The drainage team are not in a position to restart work yet, it's likely to be a while before work can resume and even then only half the team will be allowed to return until the lockdown is lifted further. That's not the only issue, the requirements for social distancing and enhanced hygiene need to be considered, the practicalities for working in remote lineside locations are not insignificant. Then there's another elephant in the room; Budget! in that there isn't one. The railway is closed to visitors, there is no income being generated, there will be no funds to continue the work at Royal Oak or any other rebuild work. The Royal Oak project will go into abeyance, probably until 2021. 

It's not all doom and gloom though, thanks to the generosity of the supporters of the GWR Trust a massive £225,000 has been raised for funding the landslip repairs at Bridge 37 near Gotherington. This sum is approximately 50% of the cost of the repair, the GWR Trust has provided a grant for the remainder to cover interim payments to the contractors. This has allowed work to restart following the initial easing of lockdown. 

Contractors at work on Gotherington Slip
(Photo: Fraser Andrews) 

Work started on Monday 11th May to bring plant and equipment back to site. The pile driver didn't arrive on site until Wednesday, in the meantime the contractors have been getting on installing the counterfort drains. 

Counterfort Drain trench
(Photo: Peter Muir) 

Drain holes in the 5m Steel Piles
(Photo: Peter Muir) 

Permeable membrane added
(Photo: Peter Muir)

Drain backfilled with free draining stone
(Photo: Peter Muir) 

It may look line the pipes have been forgotten, but the bits by the hedge are off cuts 😊

Once the piling rig was on site, work started on completing the placement of the 10m piles which line the crest of the embankment. These had been left since lockdown started when the vibrating piler was being replaced with a pile hammer. 

Driving home the 10m piles
(Photo: Peter Muir) 

35 tonne excavator with pile hammer
(Photo: Peter Muir) 

North end of 10m piles nearing the correct level
(Photo: Peter Muir)

The Gotherington residents will soon have their uninterrupted view of Nottingham Hill restored, the alien cityscape of the 10m steel piles will be gone for ever. 

One of the problems with the pile installation through the hard clay was the heat build up from the friction where the piles linked. 

Molten steel from friction heat build up
during pile installation 

When the 10m piles have been driven home to the correct level the tops of the piles will be connected to the heads of the soil nails. An animation of the slip repair process is at: Repair Animation

The site is already starting to return to its original shape. 

Overview of the up side slope with the counterfort drains -
one troublesome pile left to be truncated
(Photo: Peter Muir) 

The view from the adjoining field is returning to a more rural vista. 

Site viewed from the footpath in the adjoining field
(Photo: Fraser Andrews) 

If you would like to help top up the appeal fund, you can do so by visiting: Emergency Embankment Appeal

There'll be another update as the job progresses. in the meantime, stay safe.