Media centre

Tuesday 16 May 2017

A71 West Calder fully re-opened following completion of bridge reconstruction

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

The A71 has now fully re-opened following 16 week programme of work to demolish and replace the road bridge next to the station in West Calder.

The bridge reconstruction was delivered in an intensive period of work from January to hit the 16 week programme and is part of wider activities on the Shotts line ahead of the electrification of the route by 2019

As well as work to demolish and reconstruct the bridge cleared for the electrification of the railway underneath, the work programme also involved extensive mining remediation work under the bridge abutments to ensure the ongoing integrity of the rebuilt structure.

Iain McFarlane Network Rail’s head of programme management for the Shotts Line Electrification programme said, “We have been mindful of the impact that closing the A71 has for both road users and those communities adjacent to the proposed diversion route and have been focussed on completing this work with minimal disruption.

“The new railway bridge clears the way for overhead electrification but also means the structure is fit for purpose for the volume and weight of traffic travelling over it now and growth in the future.

“We are grateful for the patience shown by the community in West Calder, and those who would normally have used this route, while the road has been unavoidably closed to enable the bridge replacement work.”