GCR Bridge Project

[Dave S 56F]

This is unless members on rail forums have seen pics elsewhere of the new bridge across the A60 Notts Road there is some clear good daytime pics of the new bridge on national preservation bridge that gap thread.

 

[LowLevel]

The old clearance was 4.3m (shown in an earlier picture - post #975) so I assume the new signs will show 4.4m.....but I have not visited yet.

The sign on the bridge itself is now signed for 4.4m, approach signs haven't been changed yet. The anti collision beams are in place.

 

[swt_passenger]

A decent video about the A60 bridge replacement just appeared in my recommendations.
It’s good to see such substantial anti-collision beams:

 

[Flying Phil]

Here is my picture of the A60 bridge from today

 

[Speed43125]

Bridge deck looks shiny enough to be a rendering!

Height restriction signs seemingly not updated yet though.

 

[Teaboy1]

So who is going to predict the first bridge strike?

I shall state my case for a wager of my usual maximum betting stake which is a 'Mars Bar & a can of Coke' and the prediction is 'on or before 12h05 9 March 2023'.

Any takers?

 

[zwk500]

So who is going to predict the first bridge strike?

I shall state my case for a wager of my usual maximum betting stake which is a 'Mars Bar & a can of Coke' and the prediction is 'on or before 12h05 9 March 2023'.

Any takers?

Are we including hitting the very deliberately included bash beams?

 

[AndrewE]

So who is going to predict the first bridge strike?

I shall state my case for a wager of my usual maximum betting stake which is a 'Mars Bar & a can of Coke' and the prediction is 'on or before 12h05 9 March 2023'.

Any takers?

I bet it's less than a month...

 

[38Cto15E]

I think the railway has done a really first class job in replacing the bridge, maybe they should submit a quote for the infamous A5 bridge near to Hinckley.

 

[zwk500]

It's slightly frustrating that the full clearance above the road couldn't be achieved, but the excellent photo in post #994 really shows the limits of the site. You've got the road over river bridge on one side, so the road can't go lower. You've got the side road joining in immediately on the other side, so the embankment can't be widened at all to lift the railway. The only option would have been to elevate the railway from miles back on a concrete viaduct to achieve the extra 60cm (or however much it needs) which a heritage railway can't reasonably afford.

 

[AndyY1951]

And why should the railway afford to raise the bridge? It's the road-users who have grown their vehicles over the last decades, so should pay for any road improvements.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Bridge deck looks shiny enough to be a rendering!

Height restriction signs seemingly not updated yet though.

If the height limit has only increased by 0.1 metres wouldn't it make sense to leave the signs as they are ?

There isn't room because of the geometry of the curve. The points can't start until clear of the bridge, and then you've got the transition curve out of the 'main' line and then it increases until it hits the curve radius of the chord. You've also got to have room to signal the junction appropriately (not sure what the proposal is). Also the chord can't start dropping down a gradient until it's clear of the pointwork, and given the short distances involved to meet the MML bridge this could be a rather serious limitation.

A single track bridge would also be restrictive if any future changes were intended, and there may be design elements of the abutments that make a full-width deck a better option for distributing the weight (I don't know the bridge so this last point may not be a problem at all).

I used to volunteer on Peak Rail and we had the services of a retired bridge engineer. When it came to replacing the bridge spans between Darley Dale and Matlock his mantra was 80% of the cost of a bridge is in the abutments ie it was more economical to have a double track deck "just in case".

 

[hucknallred]

Is the track on it yet? RTT is showing a Gypsum train tomorrow.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Hotchley Hill (East Leake) all day on 12/12/2022

Train information at Hotchley Hill (East Leake) all day on 12/12/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[LowLevel]

Is the track on it yet? RTT is showing a Gypsum train tomorrow.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Hotchley Hill (East Leake) all day on 12/12/2022

Train information at Hotchley Hill (East Leake) all day on 12/12/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

No. It's a working timetable path so will show whether it runs or not. The chord is formally out of use at the moment and the bridge isn't yet connected to the embankment either side.

 

[Rob F]

No. It's a working timetable path so will show whether it runs or not. The chord is formally out of use at the moment and the bridge isn't yet connected to the embankment either side.

And still isn’t over two months later. Why the delay, I wonder?

 

[LowLevel]

And still isn’t over two months later. Why the delay, I wonder?

The work is still to be funded.

 

[Flying Phil]

In addition to the trackwork for the A60 bridge I believe there is quite a lot of other work to be done before there are any Gypsum trains running. Additionally the GCR are having to replace bridges either side of Quorn during March and so the Track gang have a lot of work on just keeping the existing railway working.

 

[Flying Phil]

There is a new video on the GCR reunification website detailing the "Money Match March" fundraising for the next two sections ....The Factory Flyover". They hope to start construction later this year.

 

[Flying Phil]

According to the latest GCR "Rail Mail" nearly half of the £150,000 has been donated so far this month. This is being "Matched" by another donor so doubling the money that goes to bridge building. This match offer ends on Easter weekend.

 

[Intercity110]

According to the latest GCR "Rail Mail" nearly half of the £150,000 has been donated so far this month. This is being "Matched" by another donor so doubling the money that goes to bridge building. This match offer ends on Easter weekend.

great news

 

[AndyY1951]

I have made an additional donation in addition to my monthly standing order. I encourage everyone to support this appeal.

 

[reddragon]

I have made an additional donation in addition to my monthly standing order. I encourage everyone to support this appeal.

I used up my Charity account credit in the knowledge it was doubled!

 

[Flying Phil]

There is another Tom Ingall Zoom talk on the 9th April about the fascinating San Francisco Cable cars. The proceeds from the talk will go into the Money Match funds. More details on the GCR website under Re-Unification.

 

[Flying Phil]

There is an updated video on the GCR website and the latest total for the "Factory Flyover" is now over £1.78M. So nearly £300,000 added in the last few weeks! Thanks for all the donations and the Money Match benefactor.

 

[swt_passenger]

There is an updated video on the GCR website and the latest total for the "Factory Flyover" is now over £1.78M. So nearly £300,000 added in the last few weeks! Thanks for all the donations and the Money Match benefactor.

Here’s a link to the video about the current situation:

 

[Flying Phil]

I wonder when it will be announced that work on the "Factory Flyover" is going to start? The video says that it could be started by the end of this year if the consents are approved and fund raising continues at the current rate.

 

[Flying Phil]

There is another update on the GCR website for August, and it says that the total raised for the "Factory Flyover" is now £1.9M and steadily increasing. There is also a link to the new 12 page leaflet outlining the scheme.

 

[Cowley]

There is another update on the GCR website for August, and it says that the total raised for the "Factory Flyover" is now £1.9M and steadily increasing. There is also a link to the new 12 page leaflet outlining the scheme.

That’s really impressive I must say.

 

[AndyY1951]

Is there any knowledge of the status of the planning application?

Andy

 

[Flying Phil]

Hi Andy
There is no firm news but as ever I suspect that a lot of background work has been done by a relatively small number of people. However I believe there is good news expected in the not too distant future....