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.
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| 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.
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| Counterfort Drain trench (Photo: Peter Muir) |
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| Drain holes in the 5m Steel Piles (Photo: Peter Muir) |
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| Permeable membrane added (Photo: Peter Muir) |
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| 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.
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| Driving home the 10m piles (Photo: Peter Muir) |
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| 35 tonne excavator with pile hammer (Photo: Peter Muir) |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
Hi S,
ReplyDeleteIn the pictures has the toe drain been reinstated yet or is that still to do?
That's a good question Steve, I don't know I've not been to site. It was on the list so I'll ask. Stay safe, Stu
DeleteConfirmed that the toe drain is still to be checked and the stone replaced, it's on the list
Delete