GWSR launches urgent £1.5 million Stanway Viaduct Appeal
THE 15-ARCH Stanway Viaduct on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway is in need of significant repairs, with the supporting Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust launching a £1.5 million appeal to fund the necessary works to the structure.
The 656ft-long viaduct is located on the section of line between Toddington and Broadway and has been suffering from the effects of water penetration over many decades, which has caused deterioration of the brick-built viaduct.
The GWRT states that the appeal is necessary to prevent further damage to the structure to a point when it could no longer safely carry the loads and stresses imposed by the railway’s trains, which would see the Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway line forced to terminate at Toddington. The gently curving viaduct – the largest structure on the GWSR – was built for double-track use in 1903 using Staffordshire blue brick and is 656 feet long with 15 arches. It is almost 50 feet high at its highest point above the valley it spans.
Subject to funding, work to refurbish the viaduct will be carried out in two phases. The first will see a new waterproof layer installed beneath the track ballast, with the cost estimated at about £300,000.
This part of the project will see the existing trackwork and ballast to removed; the bridge deck will then be cleaned before a concrete layer is installed to ensure that water flows towards catch pits. Following this, two waterproofing layers will be provided before replacement ballast and track is laid.
Phase two will see repairs to all the brickwork for the whole viaduct. This will require skilled bricklayers and is expected to be spread over about three years. The biggest challenge of this phase is to provide safe access for the bricklayers to reach all parts of the structure, with the estimated cost estimated to be about £1.2 million. Although the railway is hoping to attract sufficient funding to allow the whole project to be completed, it has stated that if less than the target funding is achieved, the focus of the repairs would centre on the waterproofing of the viaduct deck, as this work will prevent further deterioration.
GWSR PLC chairman Richard Johnson said: “The necessity of securing funding to undertake the necessary remedial work to this structure is apparent from the detail above and statements made by our civil engineering director.
“We cannot delay; the work must be undertaken as soon as possible, so please do support the appeal.” Anyone wishing to make a donation towards the Stanway Viaduct Appeal should visit https://www.gwrt.org.uk/ donate/stanway-viaduct-appeal