Latest grants from Railway Heritage Trust £34m invested in Scottish bridge protection
RECENT grants from the Railway Heritage Trust (RHT) towards building restoration and renovation projects include £18,000 to Network Rail to replace timbers in the Platform 2 waiting shelter at Market Rasen and repaint it in heritage colours.
The trust has also approved a grant of £18,300 for the repaint of Sleaford East signalbox in the same heritage colour scheme as the station was recently repainted.
Southeastern Railway has won a grant of £48,300 towards the restoration of the station house and toilets for wider community use.
The trust is also supporting Darlington Borough Council on restoration work at North Road station in readiness for the ‘Railway 200’celebrations of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 2025.
A PROGRAMME of works valued at £34 million and spanning four years – which will protect around 50 railway bridges from scour damage – has been completed.
Network Rail and contractor Storey have worked together to tackle the scour damage from fast-flowing water which erodes the material around the foundations and can lead to bridge failures.
To protect these structures, the process involves setting up a portable dam system to reduce the water flow. Next, a scour mattress is laid to the contours of the riverbed and the pockets filled with concrete. The mattress is then covered with the original riverbed material, so the area looks the same as it did prior to work starting. It’s a process designed to extend the lifespan of the structures, as the majority were built in the late 19th century, while helping to protect them against weather damage as part of a wider maintenance programme.
The final structure to be completed was Inver Viaduct on the Highland Main Line spanning the River Braan in Dunkeld, where the line has been closed three times over the last two years due to the river breaching safe levels.