GWSR Infrastructure

Saturday, 23 November 2019

More culvert clearing

Saturday 23 November

The forecast was for rain today, but once again it was wrong, we managed to stay dray and the rain only started as we left for home. As the ground is very wet it was a case of picking an area to clear where there wasn't too many steep gradients, a rather difficult thing on this railway. In the end we headed for Gotherington to work along through Dixton cutting. With 4 of us working today, it meant that we could make some good progress. Plus there was time for some more chambers to be catalogued.

Gotherington Yard, Culvert 33B down side

Culvert 33B up side

Alastair clears the cuttings from the up side of 33B

Roger and Dave clearing the down side of 33B

Gotherington yard even got a trim
Permanent Way gang working in the background

Culvert 33B down side ditch and headwall

Culvert 33B inlet end headwall and chamber

Culvert 33B water trickling in from the pipe under the yard (on left side)

Next one up was Culvert 33A, another recent rebuild on the down side.

Culvert 33A down side, Dave brushcutting along the side

Culvert 33A down side, Alastair looking at the silt deposits

Roger removes the silt with the gully grab
(Photo: Alastair)

You missed a bit 😒
(Photo: Alastair)

Culvert 33A up side chamber, Alastair reaching for his camera

33A up side, Stuart dipping for the depth. without dropping the stick in 😃
(Photo: Alastair)

There was a suspicion that a plank had gone missing when the down side of 33A was rebuilt a couple of years ago. Alastair found it today!

Culvert 33A up side chamber, with plank stuck in the outlet
(Photo: Alastair)

The chambers along this stretch have a top course of common bricks, as opposed to engineering bricks, these don't survive well in the wet and frost

Down side chamber with disintegrating brick top course

Chamber with mortar joints washed out

The chambers were cleared of vegetation as we moved further into Dixton Cutting.

Working along to the three arch bridge at Dixton

Culvert 32A carries Tirle Brook under the railway on it's way to join the River Swillgate at Tewkesbury. It takes a long winding path to get there.

Culvert 32A down side inlet flume

Culvert 32A up side outlet stream

Dave working his way up the down side
(Photo: Alastair)

Roger takes on the up side
(Photo: Alastair)

Dave reaches the top of the flume

Dave and Alastair clearing the inlet stream

Alastair and Roger on the up side

Culvert 33A down side inlet flume

33A down side finished

Culvert 33A up side stream abandoned until the water level drops

The up side drainage channel was fitted with a pipe back in June 2017, it's still working well.

End of the piped up side channel drain
(Photo: Alastair)

The area on the down side crest where the water flooded in from the filed was cleared, it's planned to dig out the crest ditch along here so being able to see the ground will help

Dixton cutting down side crest

Stuart running the flail along the down side crest
(Photo: Alastair)

Dixton cutting down side crest cricket pitch

Last on the list today was Culvert 31B under Bridge 32 at Prescott Road. This has a very short brick channel that is full of silt, probably because it runs out under the hedge and into a 6" pipe throttling the flow.

Culvert 31B up side (on the right) from Prescott Road Bridge

Roger attacking the Old Man's Beard
(Photo: Alastair)

West wall of the brick channel has a displaced top

Culvert 31B up side brick arch

Culvert 31A, up side fence needs replacing

Culvert 31A up side now visible

Bridge 32 up side west wing wall cleared by Dave

While in the area the turning point was cleared, it helps to find the hard bits so we can avoid getting stuck 😉

Bridge 32 vehicle turning point

On the way back out we checked the small chamber on the fence line that carries the cess drain to Culvert 33B, it looks like it's had an argument with the robot flail.

Dave picks up the bricks knocked off the fenceline chamber

Friday, 22 November 2019

Culvert clearance progress

Thursday 21 November

Strange how plans change as the day goes on, we ended up clearing 7 culverts today. The 3 around Didbrook No 2 bridge are fairly flat so that makes the going a bit faster. Culvert 17A at Hailes is long and 14B at Didbrook No 1 is steep so that compensates for the easy ones. Not much else to report, it's mainly pictures of vegetation 😊

However, there is some good news regarding culvert clearance; we have just passed the half way mark; only another 38 to go. We were ahead of normal but have been hit by the weather during November. With a week to go before the end of the month we might be able to do some catching up.

Culvert clearance progress 2019

The contractors working on the River Isbourne were doing a relay with the diggers to fill the gabion baskets. Strangely, it was quite addictive to stand watching, we even came back to watch on the way home.

Morning stop to see the contractors at Culvert 21A

First culvert to receive attention was 14A just south of Toddington Signal box.

Culvert 14A down side, before Michael

Michael finds the chamber on the down side

We have yet to find the up side end of 14A, it's somewhere in the North Cotswolds Narrow Gauge site, we have a rough idea where it should be but no water ever appears on that side.

Alastair, Roger and Dieh looking for 14A outlet

Culvert 14A down side

Culvert 14A inlet, it's a 4" pipe, no wonder it floods in the field

We clear round the mileposts as we pass them, that is if we spot them 😉

10 miles, seen better days

Culvert 14B saw the brunt of the floods, a bridge up stream was partly washed out and luckily the sleeper deck got caught up on the inlet end.

Culvert 14B down side, Roger reaches the toe

Culvert 14B down side with added sleeper
(Photo: Alastair)

The farmer's bridge that washed out

A bridge and a half
(Photo: Alastair)

A sleeper left in the footbridge for the farmer to recover

Culvert 14B down side headwall
daylight visible from the outlet, a good sign

Culvert 14B up side, Michael blazes a trail down

Culvert 14B up side headwall almost

Alastiar carrying out the visual inspection

Culvert 14B up side after clearing

The vegetation must be getting tougher this year, one of our top operatives broke the loppers on an ash twig 😖

Stihl Pruning Shears, engineered for strength!

Culvert 15A, between Didbrook 1 and Didbrook 2 was next on the list.

Roger at Culvert 15A down side

Michael and Alastair on 15A up side

Further round over Didbrook 2 bridge, the three 16 series culverts were cleared.

Dieh and Alastair cutting back Buddleja to clear the service road

Stuart cut a path up the wing wall of Didbrook 2 bridge
to facilitate access if there's another flood

Roger clearing towards Culvert 16A down side

Culvert 16A down side

Michael immersed in Culvert 16B down side
(Photo: Alastair)

Culvert 16B down side

The floods in the fields have almost cleared

Culvert 16C down side

Culvert 16C up side headwall

Culvert 16C down side headwall

On the way round by Hayles Abbey Halt we cleared the cess chambers, mainly on the down side as the up hadn't overgrown. There's a bit of GWR confusion around Hailes the abbey and hamlet and Hayles Abbey Halt the station. Evidently someone at Swindon years ago decided it needed a different spelling.