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Thursday 10 May 2007

STRENGTHENING OF BOOTH STREET BRIDGE, STOCKPORT

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Work will soon start on a £1 million project by Network Rail to ensure Booth Street bridge in Stockport meets current standards for roads passing over railway lines. A scheme is under way to look at 10,000 road-over-rail bridges nationwide now that 40 and 44 tonnes lorries are permitted on Britain's roads under EU regulations. Any bridges that do not meet the latest criteria will either be strengthened or, if necessary, completely rebuilt. The assessment of Booth Street bridge indicated that although the main structure was sound, there were weaknesses in the edges of the bridge. Network Rail's territory civil engineer Tony Wilcock explained the situation: "The bridge itself is perfectly safe but because of the weakness towards the edge, there could be a problem should a heavy vehicle accidentally mount the pavement. To ensure this didn't happen Stockport Council reduced the road to a single carriageway and installed temporary protection barriers to keep vehicles off the pavement. "The solution to the problem is to remove the road surface and bridge deck so that we can then lay a new, stronger concrete deck across the supporting superstructure before reinstating the road and pavement again." Preparatory work has started but the main demolition work to remove the old bridge begins on Saturday 26 May and is set to continue every weekend for seven weeks. Booth Street will be closed to traffic until early August and a diversionary route will be signposted. Pedestrians will still be able to use the bridge except when the weekend demolition is in progress or during periods of intense activity. The method used to demolish the old bridge is called hydro demolition, which uses equipment similar to power washers. However, the water jets are far more powerful and actually break up the concrete. This system is being used because it causes less damage to the bridge support beams, which are not being renewed as they are up to strength. but it is very noisy so Network Rail and Stockport Council have written to local residents to advise them of the work. Controls and measures regarding working hours, noise and vibration have also been agreed in advance by the Council and will be monitored for the duration of the work.