Media centre

Friday 30 Jun 2006

RAIL CHIEF VISITS LEVEN VIADUCT

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Network Rail’s Chief Executive John Armitt paid a visit to south Cumbria today (30 June) to see for himself how the £14 million refurbishment of Leven viaduct is progressing. The project to renew the deck of the 49-span viaduct across the Leven Estuary began in March this year. The work has required the closure of the railway line between Grange-over-Sands and Barrow-in-Furness.  Following completion of the project, the line is due to re-open on Monday 17 July when a full normal train service will resume. Mr Armitt visited the site office near Plumpton to be briefed on the project before going onto the viaduct to see the work at first hand.  He said: “The renewal of Leven Viaduct is the biggest single project that Network Rail is undertaking on the London North Western route this year, costing £14 million. “It’s good to see that in spite of some awful weather during this work, we are on course to finish the project and re-open the line on time.” . With just over two weeks to go, the majority of the old viaduct deck sections have been removed and replaced with new ones. Span 37, which was the section of the viaduct that used to open when the estuary was navigable, has been completely refurbished and repainted, and grouting and repairs to the brickwork pillars are ongoing.