East West Rail | Progress on Bletchley flyover revealed
BCIA | Deadline extended to enter IPA-backed innovation award
June 11, 2021
NAO: More work needed to understand HS2 costs and schedule
June 11, 2021
Network Rail has released video footage showing “huge progress” made so far to rebuild the Bletchley flyover for the East West Rail project.
The new flyover will eventually be at the centre of the first direct rail service to connect communities between Oxford, Bedford and Cambridge in more than 50 years.
The film shows how 103 precast concrete beams were lifted into place over the West Coast main line during a full railway closure in early May. Two 600t crawler cranes were used to lift the 40t beams into place, with each lift taking approximately 25-30 minutes to complete.
As well as the lifting, the complex web of 25,000-volt overhead electric cables which power trains had to be dismantled then reinstated underneath the new flyover.
Before the early May bank holiday work, the flyover’s support structure was built using 138 precast concrete shell abutments.
The technique used allowed most of the new structure to be constructed while the railway stayed open so passengers were not disrupted.
East West Rail will bring people closer to the things that matter most including jobs, new homes and family; providing reliable, quick, environmentally sustainable journeys and more affordable travel.
The rebuilt flyover replaces a 1960s-built concrete structure which wasn’t suitable to carry the new railway.
The huge demolition project on the old flyover took place throughout 2020.
East West Rail Alliance director Mark Cuzner said: “Bridging the gap over the West Coast main line for East West Rail has been a critical milestone for the project. It is the culmination of an enormous amount of collaborative effort by the team who have coupled good engineering with innovative thinking to overcome the many challenges posed by this complex piece of work undertaken within the railway corridor.
“With the beam installation complete, our focus now switches to reconstructing the section of the flyover which will span Buckingham Road, while also completing the new Bletchley High Level Station which will provide two new platforms to connect East West Rail to the existing Bletchley Station.”
Road closures start next week for the next section of the flyover rebuilding work.
Department of Civil Engineering https://www.ibu.edu.ba/department-of-civil-engineering/
