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Thursday 5 Feb 2004

SUTTON BINGHAM BRIDGE RECEIVES £0.5M FACE LIFT

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail has successfully completed a £0.5m scheme to reconstruct and refurbish a traditional, Victorian steel bridge that runs on the railway line between Yeovil and Exeter, close to the Sutton Bingham reservoir. The two-decked steel structure carries tracks for main line services to London Waterloo as well as local services between Yeovil and Exeter.             The structure was completely refurbished and reconstructed, restoring the bridge to its original condition. Over the weekend of the 25 and 26 January, the original operational bridge span was removed by crane and replaced with a strengthened concrete and steel deck.  The work will extend the life of the bridge for at least 100 years.              Built circa1873, the structure has been carefully restored with particular attention paid to the paint scheme, which has been designed to complement the local area.             Collision protection straps have been installed to protect the structure from bridge strikes caused by over height vehicles passing under the bridge by road.             Edmund Nuttall Ltd was the main contractor for the work, which took 5 weeks  to complete. Sutton Bingham 2 Network Rail takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and the contractors worked to strict guidelines to ensure that disturbance to the local environment was kept to an absolute minimum.             Network Rail’s Regional Director, Robin Gisby said, “This work forms part of Network Rail’s commitment to rebuild Britain’s railway.  A considerable amount of work, money and effort has been put into the refurbishment scheme and I’m very pleased it has been so successful.”