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Monday 21 Jul 2008

HISTORIC COLOURS FOR RAIL BRIDGE

Region & Route:

Not only will there be a riot of colour at the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park this year, but the rail bridge on King Street outside Knutsford station has been spruced up and is now resplendent in heritage colours.

Network Rail completed the £400,000 refurbishment project in time for the opening event (23 July).

Tony Wilcock, territory civil engineer at Network Rail explained that the work had been brought forward specially for the show: “We had originally planned to do the work in February 2009 but when we talked to the council about it, they asked if there was any way it could be done sooner.

“We looked at the work programme and were able to fast-track the design process, which allowed us to complete the refurbishment in time for the opening of the show.”

The council agreed to half road closures with temporary traffic lights so that Network Rail could work above the carriageway.

Work involved replacing the existing cast iron parapets with new steel sections; repairs to the masonry and drainage in the abutments and bridge supporting walls; installation of new ballast retention plates underneath the track.

The opportunity was also taken to install pigeon netting underneath the bridge to prevent the birds from roosting and causing a nuisance to pedestrians walking along the pavements.

The original bridge was built in the 1860s but the span carrying the main rail lines was reconstructed circa 1905. A separate span, which at one time carried a railway siding but now has no track on it, was rebuilt circa 1934. The refurbishment will not need any major work for another 25 years.