North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Is the Grosmont Co-op now the NYMR's official communications agency?

Tom

 

It's certainly a lot easier getting information out of them!

 

I know the Grosmont Post Office team and they always try and "look after" the village in the nicest possible way. I also know from bitter experience that the NYMR Park Street Mafia deceive, distort and obfuscate at every opportunity.

I wasn't at the meeting last night (had to be elsewhere) but know from first hand reports that it was the expected PR performance. Reassurances were offered and in theory work starts today on propping the structure, the railway having just about raised the £250,000 to pay for the first part of the project. Completion of repairs is said to be scheduled for Winter 2026/27 which is a sensible timeframe.

However there is no assurance that an additional £500,000 or more can be raised to fund the actual work. Meanwhile the scaffolding will be a liability in terms of the rental being paid until the work has been done.

 

So now we are up to v2.6 of the timetable, so 9th edition.

 

Is it too late to get a sweepstake going to guess the final number?

 

15th day of normal services and they're already on the ninth timetable?!

 

Some element(s) of the bridge 42 repair (the initial report wasn't very detailed) - either the propping (if there is such - see below) or the repair itself.

I say "propping (if there is such" because the 'Essential Maintenance Work' document says nothing about propping! It only talks about "temporary access scaffolding". It describes that thusly: "scaffold will comprise a series of beams spanning longitudinally across the bridge above parapet level. At each bearing point, the structure will be protected using foam and soft timber pattresses to prevent damage to the masonry. No drilling or fixings into the masonry arches will be required; the scaffold will be entirely free-standing. All scaffold loading will be carefully assessed to ensure compatibility with the bridge’s load-bearing capacity."

I'm not quite sure what that last sentence means/implies, but the overall vibe I get from the entire quoted segment is that the scaffolding is just for worker access, and to hold up the newly-replaced brickwork (while the concrete cures); not as temporary means to support the bridge structure. In fact, the impression I get is that the scaffolding might be leaning on the bridge ("bearing point") - but at the same time it says "the scaffold will be entirely free-standing".

I confess I don't fully understand the quoted description; if anyone can enlighten me I'd be grateful.

PS: It's possible that the propping is not covered at all in the "Essential Maintenance Work" document (but it should be in the environment paperwork, since it'll have to be standing in the river). Since it's apparently about to start shortly, we shall soon see.

Noel

 

It's possible that the repair scaffolding (see above) is a separate thing from the 'propping' (about which I see nothing anywhere in the planning application, all of which I quickly just reviewed), and that the scaffolding will only be installed shortly before the main repair work starts. If so, that would cut down on the scaffolding rental costs.

(If anyone could point me at any documentation on the 'propping' I would be grateful.)

Noel

 

https://www.nymr.co.uk/news/were-proactively-propping-bridge-42-to-ensure-2026-season-opening

This is the sketch of the propping. Presumably, this is included in the plans.

 

The propping and repairs are two separate things. The repairs require planning permission as it is a listed structure and will be invasive. The propping is not and is not referred to in the planning application. The scaffolding referred to in the planning is for access and is free standing in that it is not physically attached to the bridge. However, it will rest on the bridge, as I understand it.

 

Surely, the scaffolding will be required, from the riverbed upwards, to enable the propping to be built.

 

I believe that the components used to form the propping are on hire from a supplier, and will need to remain in place until early 2027.

If the crane is due to arrive on Monday 20th April, that constitutes a slippage of two weeks on the original four week programme. The proposed re-opening date of 2nd May may now be in doubt.

 

Actually, not. As @Steve points out, since the propping is temporary, and will not involve any changes to the permanent structure, there is nothing about it in the application (and thus in the plans therein).

Still, there's enough detail shown in the images on the page you found to give a good idea what's involved - thanks.

Noel

 

I have lost track of this farrago, but surely a competent, qualified structural engineer has done the necessary analysis and produced proper engineering drawings on which this sketch is based. Has anyone seen the calculations and drawings?

 

To be fair to NYMR, I'm not sure I'd necessarily expect calcs to be released to the public. Even with confidence as low as we all have with the railway atm, I think it's still reasonable to expect someone competent has designed the propping scheme and put their name to it without having to be explicitly told so.

Sent from my PGT-N19 using Tapatalk

 

I don't mean released to the general public, but an external agency with a purview of the matter. I agree it is reasonable to expect that the analysis has been done, but I have my doubts. Clearly Mr Sash lacks the necessary qualifications.

 

Id imagine its a pretty specialist operation especially where the bridge is of mixed construction like this. Id guess that its the same contractor doing the calculations and installing/ hiring the props.

 

Scaffolding started to be erected round bridge 42 today.

 

Any chance we could get some images?

The drawings in We're Proactively Propping Bridge 42 show 4 (two pairs) temporary (presumably) piers, erected in the river bottom, which will have to go in before the propping can be installed.

Noel

 

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