Tuesday 21 Dec 2004
A NEW BRIDGE FOR A NEW YEAR…
- Region & Route:
-
|
Southern
Cock Lane road bridge over the railway in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, is to be completely replaced early in the new year, to remove an existing weight restriction and bring it up to modern standards.
Work will be carried out over four weeks, starting Tuesday 28 December 2004. The bridge will be closed to road traffic throughout this period, and the railway beneath it will be closed for just two days during the bridge replacement. Access will remain for pedestrians.
Robbie Burns, Network Rail Route Director, said: “We are committed to making sure Britain’s rail network, including bridges like this one, is safe and reliable. We are investing £1 million into a brand new bridge to ensure its long-term future for road and rail users in the area.”
Cock Lane bridge replacement has been planned in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council. Diversionary routes for road vehicles will be clearly signposted and council and emergency services have been notified of the bridge closure.
Network Rail has been in close contact with local residents to provide details and consultation on the forthcoming work, which will ensure the 100-year-old bridge conforms to the latest European safety standards.
Robbie Burns added: “Preparatory work at Cock Lane has been underway since November, but the main part of the job will be lifting out the existing bridge and lifting in the new one on the weekend of 8 to 9 January. I would like to thank road and rail users in advance for their patience while this essential work is carried out.”
An 800-tonne crane will be used to lift out the existing steel bridge at Cock Lane, and to lift in its replacement, made up of concrete beams. Once complete, the new bridge will have all weight restrictions lifted. The traffic light system will remain, to control the flow of road traffic over the narrow bridge.
Cock Lane bridge is provisionally planned to re-open for vehicles on 23 January, depending on weather conditions during the work period and subsequent work progress.
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk
