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Friday 27 Jul 2018

Kerse Road bridge beams hit the deck

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail engineers have completed installation of the deck beams of the new Kerse Road bridge earlier than anticipated.

Starting on Saturday 21 July and limited to working at night, fourteen 21 metre beams weighing between 30 and 50tn were lifted into place using a 750tn crane with work completing early on Thursday 26 July.

The bridge over the railway is being replaced as part of a wider programme of work on the Stirling line ahead of the electrification of the route as part of a Scottish Government-funded investment being delivered by Network Rail.

Iain McFarlane, Network Rail’s route delivery director for the Stirling Dunblane Alloa (SDA) project said: “We are delighted that this stage of the work to land the beams has gone so well and has been completed earlier than anticipated.  The weather has been favourable and we took advantage of the conditions to make good progress on the bridge.

“Craning in the beams represent an important milestone as it’s the first steps to reinstating a bridge over the railway on Kerse Road.  With the 14 beams in position, we can see the structure really taking shaping, as the new bridge emerges from the site.

“The beams going in is the latest in a series of critical steps towards reinstating the bridge; including the successful demolition of the old bridge in April, the installation of 88 piled foundations and construction of the new east and west abutments to support the new deck beams.

“I would like to take this opportunity to again thank residents and the wider Stirling community for their continued patience as we complete this important element of the bridge reconstruction.”

Once the new bridge at Kerse Road is complete, the structure will also offer the potential for the council to add a third lane in the future to meet Stirling’s growing traffic needs and enhance the local road network in line with the city’s transport strategy

Electrification of central Scotland’s rail network will reduce journey times from Stirling to Glasgow and Edinburgh, increase capacity on peak services and provide longer, faster greener trains.