Hot and hotter still in July

The chief blog writer was away for all of July, undertaking a practical study into applied fluid dynamics. Otherwise known as as canal & river cruise! Hence most of this catchup post comes from notes supplied by Dave.

Of course, other team members were also away on holidays, so several days were just a small core team.  

Tuesday 6th July 

Just 4 members of the team working today. The main task was continuing the build of the new headwall where culvert 25B enters the new junction to join culvert 25A on the up side at Working Lane. The other operation was to collect infill from Manor Lane, Gotherington to finally complete the backfill and levelling of the culvert 25A junction inlet headwall. This has used up most of the infill from Manor Lane.

Tuesday 13th July 

Hottest working day of the year so far. Five team members working today. We finished the build of culvert 25B junction inlet headwall at Working Lane. Just now needs backfilling.

Culvert 25B junction inlet headwall complete - mainly Michael's handiwork. Photo by Dave.

 

We retrieved a length of redundant pipe from the up side near culvert 27B at Gretton. This was where we inserted the new toe drain pipe back in May, alongside the neighbours property. We had thought further work might also be necessary here to level the soil where we inserted new pipes; however nature seems to have done the work for us and no further landscaping is now considered necessary. (Not often do we get a helping hand from nature!).

Vegetation starting to hide where we inserted a new toe drain, up side, Gretton. Photo by Dave.

 

We took a look at the section of ditch dug by our colleagues in the Wednesday Clearance team on the down side in Dixton Cutting. This takes water off the field, along the cutting crest and then down into culvert 32A (the flume). The ditch is still clear of vegetation. To ensure all the water running off the lowest part of the field is captured, we will extend the ditch about 15m north. Hard to image very heavy rain on a hot day like today.

The ditch dug by the Clearance team - good work. Come back for more digging please! Photo by Dave.

 

At the south portal of Hunting Butts tunnel we fitted bolts to the heavy metal lid on the manhole cover in the formation (it would be in the 6 foot between the tacks if they were still there). Hopefully, this together with the heavy concrete lids placed on top will deter any visitors from opening the manhole to take a look. At Far Stanley, we placed a line of posts along the slope on the up side where embankment movement was detected earlier in the year. These posts help monitor any further movement. We put in 9 posts, each 900cm from the edge of the track and 500cm apart. The height of the vegetation made it difficult to get them exactly in line. This sunny July following the damp June certainly is ideal conditions for weed growth!

Far Stanley embankment - good views toward the Malvern Hills once the growth is cut back. Photo by Dave.

 

Finally, we moved some materials up the haul road from Working Lane bridge to culvert 24A, in preparation for next week's start on building the new headwall on the exit side of the haul road.  

Tuesday 20th July 

Another temperature record today - beats last week by several degrees. In fact it was too hot for bricklaying, so the team decided on an early finish. Before the heat beat us, the five strong team made preparations for the new headwall build at culvert 24A. The necessary brushcutting was followed by clearing around the culvert outlet pipe to fit the collar to connect a new pipe to lead onward to the position of the new headwall. The ditch was widened on one side so that this new pipe could be fitted snugly into the collar rather than at an angle. A second length of pipe is on site to further extend the pipe fully to the position of the new headwall; we will also use a collar from our stock at Winchcombe. So, proper construction start put back one week.

First section of the new pipe for 24A under the haul road. The old sleeper marks the edge of the haul road. Very little water flowing in the culvert today. Photo by Dave.

One of the best spots on the line for lunch - but only available to lineside workers! Sunshade and picnic table are not in our regular set of tools. Photo by Dave.

 

Tuesday 27th July 

Finally we started laying the concrete blocks and bricks for the culvert 24A haul road exit headwall. First of all, we connected the second length of pipe using a collar. This took the outflow as far as the intended position of the head wall and enabled building to commence. Meanwhile, two tipper loads of infill were collected from Manor Lane (that really is the last of the piles from there) and used to support the pipes between the outlet and the new head wall. The number of courses of bricks we could lay was limited by the amount of water at the base; by lunch time we had got to the point where we needed to let the mortar set in these lower courses before more bricks could be laid. So after lunch we returned to Winchcombe to shift the new delivery of cement bags under cover. The weather forecast is this hot dry spell will come to an end in the next day or so.

Extending the 24A haul road pipe to the site of the new headwall. Photo by Dave.

First block and brick courses of the 24A haul road exit headwall. Will be needing quite a bit of backfill here - good job there is plenty at Stanton  Yard. Photo by Dave.