First UK bridge restored in golden eight hours

Apr 24 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

BUILDING consultant Faber Maunsell has just completed a UK first in Gateshead after completing major refurbishment work on a National Rail bridge in just eight hours.

The firm, which employs 120 staff at its offices in Newcastle, was commissioned to design a replacement for underbridge HLK/8 in Riversdale Road, Gateshead, and was the first in the UK to be replaced under overhead electrified lines.

The team assessed the structure initially and found that the existing structure was significantly under strength and no longer able to take the current capacity of the line.

They were also tasked to ensure that the bridge could be widened at a later stage to increase the number of tracks running over it.

Such an unusual project led to a number of problems, made worse by the fact that the bridge sits on top of uncharted mine workings, and the line was continually being used in during the construction, as well as traffic passing underneath.

The success of the project relied heavily on meticulous planning as the process had to be completed within the standard eight-hour “Rules of the Route” possession, which is the gap in existing rail traffic usually over a period of eight to 10 hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning.