Most
of the team were in attendance, with Roger on H&S duties - just a few away on holidays. The forecast was poor, with storms forecast and as most
of our work is outside, this affects what we can do safely.
A
certain faction within the team wanted to take advantage of the Boss (Team Leader) being away and some dodgy Engineer was standing in. However, the latter
managed for a short while to keep order and arrange for several strong
Drainage Workers to manhandle bridge rail, which had been cleaned,
painted and prepared to become mileposts. These just needed four 10mm
holes drilling and then the milepost heads can be fixed thereon.
A
great piece of inter-Departmental assistance was demonstrated, with
Stuart in Carriage and Wagon allowing the team to use his excellent
facilities (a mag drill and steel support trestles) to make these
holes. Thanks, Sir. The posts are now available for siting - the
wooden post and yellow BR metal plate at 17 miles in Bishop's Cleeve
will be one to be replaced, as it is ugly and broken.
The
team then turned their attention to sorting through the donated
scaffolding pipes and creating "goal-post" barriers for our headwall and chambers.
The idea is that these mark where headwall or chambers are located, so that when the
robo-flail is being controlled by the remote operator, the latter can
see where a structure is located and avoid it. They also help hapless
Drainage Workers (like this writer) and provide support when walking
down steep embankments and prevent falls. The donation of these
almost-new lengths of steel handrail and connectors was through the good
offices of David and we may be looking for more donations like
this. Some more lengths of tube were extracted from the yard and will
be measured, cut and assembled into goal-posts.
A
large part of the team then descended on the 11:27 to Broadway and
planned to walk the trackbed north and inspect the chambers beyond the
station, as these take the flow away from the station towards the bypass. They were thwarted by the
security fencing (which is good) and were only able to peer through and
see a couple of chambers.
Lunch was had as split teams and then two intrepid members mounted the head on MP 15/III, just south of Gotherington loop.
They
then revisited the culvert at 37D, on the edge of the latest slip at
Gotherington, to finish the wing wall by back-filling, removing the
protective slop-board and trimming the land drain pipe.
 |
| Barrier team |
 |
| Stuart and Martin finishing the head for mp 15/III |
 |
| Stuart checking the backfill at 37D. |
All in all, an odd day dodging the rain, but many tasks ticked off, with proper teamwork.
Wildlife report An
odd sighting was a goose, standing on the crown of the road in
Gotherington as we tried to drive slowly by. Many red kites were
spotted, wheeling around in the sky and trying to avoid being mobbed by
crows. The rain had driven many creatures under cover.
[Guest blog writer Chief Engineer Ian]
"some dodgy Engineer" - not by any chance the author of this particular post, was it? :-)
ReplyDeleteGood to see that an eye is being kept on the trackbed north of Broadway. I still dream that the GWSR will be able to acquire it some day!
Yes t’was me, the author ✍🏿 Dodgy Pogson!
DeleteIf you run out of scafolding pipes - you might try the GWR solution of using old boiler tubes - they were widely used for fencing and handrails I believe.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Iver. We have already used some. The shiny, newish, recently acquired scaffolding tubes are so easy to connect with the donated joiners.
DeleteExcellent article. Drainage infrastructure is one of those critical components that often goes unnoticed until problems arise, yet it plays a major role in the long-term performance and resilience of transportation and industrial projects. I appreciate the detailed explanation of the challenges involved and the importance of proper planning and maintenance.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me was how much coordination is required between design, engineering, and construction teams to ensure effective drainage solutions. Projects of this scale also depend heavily on accurate forecasting of materials, labor, and installation requirements. This is where industrial estimating services can provide significant value by helping project teams plan resources efficiently and manage costs throughout the project lifecycle. Thanks for sharing such informative insights into this important aspect of infrastructure development.