Monday 14 Feb 2005

NEW RAIL BRIDGE COMPLETE AT COCK LANE

Region & Route:
| Southern
A £1 million scheme to replace and strengthen Cock Lane road bridge over the railway in High Wycombe is now complete.  The bridge was re-opened to road traffic on Wednesday 9 February 2005 with all weight restrictions lifted.  A traffic light system will remain in place to control the flow of road traffic over the narrow bridge. Robbie Burns, Network Rail Route Director, said: “Network Rail is committed to investing in its assets to ensure the safety and reliability of the country’s railway.  The new bridge at  Cock Lane has been strengthened in accordance with the latest safety standards, which will secure its future reliability for both road and rail users in the area.” Preparatory work began at the bridge site last November and the road was closed to traffic just after Christmas.  The core work of lifting out the old bridge and lifting in the new bridge took place on the weekend of 8 and 9 January, despite being hindered by strong winds.  Final work to enable the bridge to re-open for road traffic was completed last week. Robbie Burns added: “I would like to thank both road and rail users for their patience while this essential job was carried out.  A full road closure was necessary for the duration of work, but we worked closely with Buckinghamshire County Council to minimise disruption.“

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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.

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