Tuesday 10 Jun 2003

BROUGHAM STREET BRIDGE TO BE REBUILT

Region & Route:
Major work to rebuild Brougham Street Bridge over the railway line in Burnley at a cost of nearly £2m starts next week, as utility companies such as gas and water begin diverting their services. The work is being carried out by Galliford Rail Projects working for bridge owner Network Rail. Brougham Street Bridge is one of over 1,000 Network Rail owned public road bridges in the North West, all of which are subject to a national assessment programme known as ‘Bridgeguard 3’. The programme, which has been requested by central Government, is being carried out to prove the suitability of the bridges for carrying 40 tonne EU commercial road vehicles. The assessment process identified that the bridge was approaching the end of its useful life so a feasibility study was carried out to look at the options for extending its lifespan. Options included closing the bridge altogether, imposing a very low permanent weight restriction, strengthening the bridge or rebuilding completely. Discussions with the highway authority and county council discounted complete closure or a weight restriction because of the location of the road and its importance in the local road network. It was concluded that a single span bridge should replace the existing two-span structure. - more - Bridge – 2 The main items of work to be undertaken are: ·        Installation of a temporary pedestrian footbridge ·        Temporary diversion of services, including a medium pressure gas main. ·        Demolition of existing bridge ·        Construction of new bridge abutment ·        Construction of new bridge deck ·        Reinstatement of temporary service diversions ·        Road surfacing and finishing works The installation of the temp bridge and some service diversions will be carried out within localised traffic management lane closures.  Due to safety considerations and site constraints, diversion of the gas and water services will be carried out during a full closure of the road to vehicles.  Approximately nine weeks is required for these diversions in advance of the main work.  Pedestrian access will be maintained over the railway via the temporary footbridge. The form of the existing bridge means demolition and reconstruction cannot be done in two halves.  Therefore, this work will be carried out within the same full road closure.  Twelve weeks of road closure are required for the reconstruction of the bridge with a further three weeks for the final reinstatement of all diverted services. The full road closure will start on 21 July and last for a maximum of 25 weeks.  Whilst the road closure is required for safety and engineering reasons, it also has benefits in terms of the overall programme.  Greater flexibility of the workspace is possible, which leads to more efficient working practices, so reducing the programme for the works.  Every effort will be made to reduce the length of this significant but necessary closure.  A signed diversion route approved by the highway authority will be in force for the duration of the road closure. - more - Bridge – 3 Once complete the new bridge will safely carry all road vehicles currently permitted on the UK highway network.  In addition, road and rail safety will be enhanced by the provision of high containment parapets.  The low maintenance design and 120-year design life mean that the structure will carry the highway without the need for further disruption to road users for the foreseeable future.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

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