August and the resumption of a normal English summer

One of the variations of the famous "Sod's Law" is that the weather becomes less pleasant during the summer holiday of the English schools, from late July to early September. Summer 2021 certainly started off in that form.

Paradoxicality, we do need wet weather in order to observe how the various drains, pipes, culverts, streams and rivers flow during and after wet weather. But working in the rain is not pleasant; you get damp and dirty quicker; we can not use some of our powered equipment for safety reasons; and the windows of the road vehicles we shelter in for breaks and lunch steam up quickly.

Thursday 5 August 

The team was back to strength with six members attending. The main item was the continued build of the new headwall for culvert 24A up side exit from the haul road at Royal Oak, Gretton. We managed just two more brick courses before the onset of heavy rain at lunchtime meant an early finish. Our expert recycling operatives managed to extract another load of backfill from Gotherington, we thought that last weeks loads were going to be the last from there! This load was good quality size one Cotswold honey colour stone. 

The day's progress on culvert 24A up side haul road exit. Note the water level compared to previous weeks!

The brush cutters were in action as well. We cut the overhanging brambles and branches on the haul road between the gate at Working Lane and the flat turning area by culvert 24C. Also removed the vegetation around the culvert 24A exit on the the up side by the trackbed, this enabled a good view of the channel under the line.

Looking into culvert 24A from the up side. The last part is a 24inch by 18inch brick extension with a badly corroded steel plate over the top. All this will be replaced with a new buried 600mm plastic pipe. A substantial job, to be undertaken during the 'closed' season when no trains are running. But that is also the wet season!

With the rain getting heavier after lunch, we spent the afternoon in the Churchward House mess reading the new Personal Health & Safety Guide. Administration tasks have to fit in somewhere!

Tuesday 10 August

Down to five in the team today, it is still holiday season. As the weather had improved, we spent a full day on the construction of the new headwall for culvert 24A haul road exit . This included the tricky bit over the top of the plastic pipe and the concrete lintels in the block courses. This headwall is now almost complete, just the coping courses to get it to the correct height. 

Using the cantilever principle for the courses above the plastic pipe. The concrete blocks behind sit on a concrete lintel.

 

Roger covering up the work at the end of the day. This stops the mortar drying out too quickly and stops rain washing out the mortar.

Backfill added today came from a closer source, just a few yards away at the top of the haul road opposite the Royal Oak pub.

One benefit of working at the top of the haul road is that the trains are visible. 7820 Dinmore Manor with an up train passes during morning break. Loco crews and passengers appreciate a wave!

Yet more work with the brushcutters removed more undergrowth from the working site; and along side the haul road.

Clearing vegetation from the haul road is not just for visual effects - it is imperative to see where the road ends and the ditches and banks begin.

 

The next builds for the team are the headwalls where culvert 24B goes under the haul road. So we  measured this up for the additional plastic pipe required; fortunately we found some suitable lengths in our stock at Winchcombe yard. 

Hiding in the vegetation is the up side exit headwall of culvert 24B, built in 2017. Our next task is to put a concrete apron between this and the haul road, then build a new headwall alongside the haul road.

 

Tuesday 17 August

Back to a six man team today. Having finally exhausted the supply of infill material from Manor Lane, two of the team went on a hunt to Stanton Yard. Plenty there, and a good mix of soil, small stone and larger stone. Plus some tarmac, which was surplus from the verge repairs on the B4632 bridge at Stanton (bridge 8) - but that had gone very solid and needs a kango hammer to break it up. Three loads of infill transported from Stanton, so by the end of the the day the new pipe for culvert 24A under the haul road was buried. 

Martin demonstrates the usefulness of the tipper truck to place infill over the exit pipe of culvert 24A. Ten seconds to off load what took half and hour to load by hand!

The bricklayers completed the construction of the new headwall for culvert 24A haul road exit with the addition of the coping brick layer.  

Adding a coping layer with solid bull nosed Staffordshire Blue bricks really does finish off a headwall!

The vegetation clearance duo used the brushcutters to clear around culvert 24B up side under the haul road and down to the boundary fence. They also extended the clearance of the haul road further down towards Working Lane. 

Now you see it! With surrounding vegetation cleared we can see the extent of the work required on culvert 24B. Quite a bit of digging out for the concrete aprons - so three Shredded Wheats for breakfast next week!

Tuesday 24 August

For a change, some of the five team members present today did not visit Gretton!

The term 'Drainage team' is a bit of a misnomer, we get involved with almost anything on the Civil Engineering side. One task is ensuring safe access to bridges and other structures that are to be inspected by the teams of external inspectors. So today we were at Stanton Yard to deal with bridge 10, the minor road up to Stanton village. We also cleared the access into Stanton Yard; the vegetation has grown considerably since last cut over a year ago. This included several branches of a damson tree, the fruit not quite ripe enough to eat. Then we turned our attention to the four wing walls of bridge 10. Finally we cut back the growth on the sloping vehicle tracks which lead from the yard down to the running line.

Looking down on 7820 Dinmore Manor with the first down train of the day from Stanton Road bridge 10.

Cleared high mileage up side wing wall of bridge 10.

As our heavy duty brush cutters were away having their annual service and safety checks, we were using the light weight machines. These are much easier to handle on wing walls, but they do struggle a bit when encountering thicker vegetation such as blackthorn and ash. Consequently the saws and hedge trimmers saw quite a bit of use. We racked the bigger cut branches into a pile, that will be a bonfire later in the year when no trains are running.

Stanton Yard access before clearing.

 

Same view after clearing. Almost accessible by a double deck bus!

Two team members took two tipper loads of infill from Stanton to Royal Oak for the up side haul road exit headwall of culvert 24A. This is now looking almost complete, apart from the infill required at the sides. There is plenty of infill at Stanton, more now visible after the vegetation clearance.
 

Backfill of culvert 24A up side haul road exit at Royal Oak slowly coming up the headwall. Photo by Dave.

Wildlife spot - a lizard who has made Stanton Yard their home. No doubt a knowledgeable blog reader will identify the species. Photo by Roger.

Tuesday 31 August

Due to combination of sickness, holiday and other unavailability, only 3 team members working today. So we continued with the clearance operation to enable the external inspectors due in September to have safe and easy access to the structures. Today we tackled bridge 11 and culvert 11A; this is between Stanton Yard and the north end of Stanway viaduct. Culvert 11A is the one the team spent most of the summer of 2019 rebuilding, hence we hope the external inspectors will not find anything amiss.

First task of the day was to clear the vehicle turning area just north of bridge 11. We can then park the transit truck well clear of the running line. Photo by Roger.

Bridge 11 and Culvert 11A down side. Photo by Roger.

Bridge 11 and culvert 11A up side. Photo by Roger.

So that takes us (meteorologically) to the end of the summer of 2021. Perhaps not quite as wet as some summers after all.