GWSR Broadway Developments

Continuing the brain dump of heritage details, I've always thought Hampton Loade and Broadway have a somewhat similar station approach with a private drive, and the rail over road bridge just to the left, albeit higher at Broadway.

 

It does indeed look similar...
What a shame we ripped out our gate posts. It looks like they will be used at CRC now.

 

According to Vic's facebook page, our bridge has suffered another bridge strike. I don't know any more but may find out more tomorrow at Broadway. (Mondays and Wednesdays are our official working days now)

 

It was a modest strike, which bent one of the wasp stripes back into its bracket.

On average, someone hits our bridge every 2 months. The last one was 1st May, so we are slightly ahead there.... The new LOW BRIDGE signs have not interupted the every 60 days pattern so far.


(Wasp stripe crushed into its own bracket, just left of the height restriction sign)



As another large artic thundered through, people were surveying the site in preparation for the crash protection beams. I believe construction is due to start in August - another 2 months away....

 

As a matter of correctness, 4.4 m is not 14'-3". there is 2" of difference, so which is right? If it is 4.4m, that's fine. but if it is 14'-3", the error is the wrong way. 2" can be critical!

 

It looks to me (from the image, thanks for posting that) as if the front horizontal plate/beam is crumpled just below the wasp stripe damage. My guess is that it's not bad enough to put it out of service, but...

The new crash structures can't get here soon enough! I'm so glad the railway decided to put them in!

Noel

 

It's a bit hard to tell, but I forwarded it to our bridge engineer.
I had a second picture from underneath, but the damned smartphone didn't register it.

 

I'm intrigued to know how these beams are going to work. As you say, 'another large artic thundered through', so these beams have either got to be far enough away to allow the dozy driver to react and stop, so probably a hundred yards away, or strong enough to either stop the vehicle or wreck it so it now fits under the bridge, which means a structure as strong as the bridge.................
And of course no use if the first lorry to hit a beam destroys the beam and it takes months to replace it!

Andy

 

I'm going to leave that to our bridge engineer, I'm sure there are plenty of examples to chose from with Network Rail. There seem to be different sorts available.

 

In India they use very heavy steel beam across the road that is held in a slot at each end with a heavy coil spring to allow some horizontal movement when the beam is hit. Such protection is also provided at level crossings where there is overhead electrification.

 

I'd favour a razor sharp edge on the front of each beam, slice the tops off any lorry too high that comes through. Surprised the gossip didn't make it down the line as far as Winchcombe today! I expect it'll be all the talk tomorrow and Thursday though!

 

Will the collision beam be at the same height as the existing bridge or will it be very slightly lower?

 

Looking again, it might be an optical illusion; but I do think there's a reflection just to the left of the vertical element which might be from a slight bend (but not as bad as I first thought I saw). The mix (I think) of rivets (two edge rows) and bolts (two centre rows) on the doubler/repair is contributing to the optical issue. But I do think I see a mark on the edge of the horizontal bottom plate, just below the damage to the wasp board. Still, unlikely to be bad enough t be a service issue.

Still, I'm glad John B's having a look; better safe, etc.

Noel

 

Was the bridge in situ during all the years when the railway didn't reach Broadway?

 

Yep, never taken out; must have been hit god knows how many times before it was restored in 2014, and a fair few times since then!

 

It had a big hit in 1975, nearly cut it in half. A 360 on a low loader. If anyone knows the date of that, I'd be interested to know as I'd like to look it up in the paper archives. It made an article in the Cornishman.

I've heard stories of a truckload of pallets wiped off the truck, and another of a car carrier that lost the top row. All a long time ago.

The risk of course is a similar hit as in 1975, or a displacement of the deck. At least with a big hit you know who the culprit was

By my calculation this was the 16th hit since we restored the bridge. Mostly local people. Few stop. I hope the crash protection beam comes with a camera system, there was talk of one but I have never heard any details of what sort of beam is going in, except that it is definite. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Who was responsible for the bridge at that time? Who paid for the repair? Would removal have been a possibility then?

Sorry to ask so many questions but the frequency of strikes is remarkable. Bridges all over the country get hit, but not anywhere near so often. Why does it happen so often here?

 

Maybe when the line was being restored, given the propensity of bridge strikes, a decision to higher the bridge might have been considered. Possibly the highways people might have been interested - even stump up the cash!

 

The Broadway Bypass (built in the 1990s) should have solved all these problems. The bypass even has an overbridge to permit a northwards extension by the GWSR to Honeybourne. Therefore, large trucks like the one shown in Breva's photo should have no reason to travel on the section of the original Oxford-Evesham road where Station Road/Evesham Road Railway bridge is situated, but they do because they can I guess! Too soon isn't soon enough for those crash bars.

 

The Honeybourne Line was still in BR ownership in 1975. It closed in 1976. As I've said on this forum before, the frequency of strikes on this bridge is nothing like that on the ECML bridge over the A52 in Grantham where I used to live! There are several bridges in the town and they are struck with alarming regularity, although most, if not all, have good protection against muppets.