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Thursday 25 May 2017

Cambuslang Road, Rutherglen reopens following vital bridge refurbishment

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Cambuslang Road in Rutherglen will re-open overnight tonight (Thurs 25 May) following a 14 week closure to enable Network Rail engineers to carry out work to repair and strengthen the railway bridge over the A724 in Rutherglen.

 The refurbishment of the bridge is part of a wider, rolling programme of maintenance work on our structures to keep our network safe and reliable.  To deliver the work safely and efficiently, the road needed to close to vehicles though pedestrian and cycle access was maintained throughout the road closure.

The bridge carries the West Coast mainline which connects Scotland and England and work was delivered with minimal disruption to this strategically important route. 

During the work at Cambuslang Road, engineers used approximately 50 tonnes of recycled glass to ‘blast’ the paint from the structure, 20 tonnes of new steel was used to repair and 1500 litres of paint were applied to waterproof and provide the aesthetic finish to the bridge.

The focus of the work on the bridge was to extend the bridge’s lifespan and limit further maintenance requirements which may have caused inconvenience to road or rail passengers.  The strengthening work undertaken will last 60 years, the steel repairs 30 years and the paintwork 25 years.

Additionally, the road closure enabled both Scottish Water and South Lanarkshire Council to undertake work in order to prevent further disruption in the future.

Billy McKay, Network Rail programme manager, said: “We knew that the A724 was an important access point to the M74 as well as a route for local traffic and so the importance of completing this work on programme wasn’t lost on us.

“However, closing the road was the most efficient and safest way to undertake the work required on the bridge and hopefully any short term inconvenience was worthwhile in the long run as the refurbished bridge will minimise future disruption for both road and rail users.

“Delivering this work in just 14 weeks was a logistical challenge but we planned the job carefully with our contractors Taziker Industrial and the project team deserve credit for getting the work delivered on time and on budget.

“We are grateful for the support of our colleagues at South Lanarkshire Council and the cooperation and patience of road users and the local community during this work.”