"Bridge & Wheels Appeal" NYMR

More cement than normal has been used in the concrete to encourage hardening, and heaters and covers were used to encourage curing of the concrete - which has worked! The Grosmont side abutment is the key one as this is the one that will ned to take the weight of the crane for the big lift of the steelwork.

The current plan os for the main girders to be lifted in on the afternoon of Thursday, 11th February 2010. This is subject to a number of things happening as planned and in sequence and I think is well towards being back on plan. The Kirow was intended to leave on the 15th and the main lift was always intended to be close to that.

Once the Grosmont abutment has been water-proofed on Friday, it needs to be back-filled and track replaced for the lift. The lack of the Kirow is proving a bit of a problem here as the Grosmont steam crane does not have the necessary reach to put in 60' panels of track (the New Bridge one is the wrong side of the gap!).

To the end of 2009, the Appeal has raised £260,000 plus the two Grants. Most of this is general or specifically for the bridge. The need to work weekends has added to the cost, although some of the contractors do not charge extra compared with weekday rates. The abutment work has gone well and extra costs feared to be necessary here have largely not proved necessary. That said, extra funds are very much still needed.

Picture of Goathland side abutment during casting - base complete, shuttering and reinforcing in place for sides.

Steven

 

Thursday 04 February 2010
The Kirow left today to Scunthorpe hauled by DRS.

CML have taken as many people off the job as they can and put them on another while we wait for the concrete to achieve its strength. Neil Hugill, the NYMR’s Infrastructure Manager, has engaged a stone mason to build up the gaps in the abutments between the side walls (to be cast tomorrow) and the existing stonework, starting next Monday.

Friday 05 February 2010
On this particularly sad day (Rosemary Cubitt’s Funeral at East Ayton), work continued on site.

This morning the Pochin concrete pump was back to pump the concrete across to the Grosmont side wall. The Goathland was also being concreted at the same time. See photograph answering my question “how did you get concrete to the Grosmont abutment?”! This is seriously specialist kit and costs accordingly.
The stone mason and labourer will build up the gaps between where the abutment stonework was cut out and the new concrete. This will not only finish off the face but allow the backfilling to be carried out over the next few days.

We have agreed NOT to have any vehicles using Darnholme Lane between 12.30 and 14.00 next Tuesday 9th February as there is a funeral taking place at the farm. Please ensure that we respect this request from one of our friends.

The photos show the following:
5163 Four step units now cast. These hold the ballast back from falling down the ends of the main girders and provide access onto the bridge walkway
5167 View from Goathland side to Grosmont. The Rail level will be approximately in line with the top of the shutter on the left. The concrete deck walkways fit over the top of this wall. Note that the rail level is being lifted 14 inches from where it was before we started!
5174 Concrete pump lifting out its boom. The finished rail level will be approximately level with the top of the shutter on the right of the lorry as noted above.
5179 Concrete pump boom out across to Grosmont side ready to pump.

Saturday 06 February 2010
John Bruce and others were carrying on at the bridge. The ballast Gerry had loaded up and taken to Grosmont some time ago to use when lifting the track on that side has had to be used to backfill the abutment.
Water Seal came and started to waterproofing of the back walls so that the cross drains etc could be laid and then the backfilling can proceed.
The higher concrete wall on the Goathland abutment has just had the shutters stripped. The pre-cast concrete deck units are basically U shaped with horizontal wings for the walkways. The walkway fits OVER this wall but is itself about 12 inches above the finished rail level so the rail level is approximately at the level of this bit of the wall. The gap between the new concrete in the abutment and the existing stonework is being filled in with stone to match the abutment and then the gap will be backfilled. The existing metal fence will have to be lifted. It will all become clear later!

More from John Bruce on the ballast workings.
Work has continued today on the abutments, with waterproofing, drainage and backfilling going on. From the rail point of view, about 80 tonnes of ballast is required for backfilling for the Grosmont abutment, and (after a “megashunt” at Grosmont shuffling round air braked and vacuum braked wagons) the wagons shown in the photos were moved up to site. 08 850 achieved a 9 mph max with about 175 tonnes gross up the bank! The 3 hopper wagons were emptied using the excavator, and Lee from CML’s delicate touch meant this was achieved without even scratching the paintwork. The Walrus was discharged via the doors on one side. A further trip delivered some aggregates. At the end of the day the shunt plan had worked, and No. 2 Platform is clear – waiting the return of the Kirow crane on Wednesday

Many thanks to Nigel trotter and John Bruce for the above. Photos Nigel.

Steven

 

The 3 hopper wagons were emptied using the excavator, and Lee from CML’s delicate touch meant this was achieved without even scratching the paintwork.

Thats a first after the condition CML normally leave the wagons in.

 

Thanks for the update Steven, most interesting.

Without wanting to be too negative, having just seen the weekly weather forecast on Countryfile, later in the week does not look good. The white stuff again.

46118

 

Sleet shower at the moment! The forecast is mainly for showers - as long as the wind doesn't get up for the lift (and the crane gets back....)

Steven

 

Nearest I can see is for Fylingdales, and Thursday has wind from the North in single figures.

Fingers crossed!

Presumably after lifting in the new main span, you need the Kirow to place as many of the big decking units as possible before it departs for good.

 

Not really - can't remember if I corrected the weight but I now understand they 4.5 tonnes each and can be lifted in with the excavator.

Steven

 

John Bruce reports:

Tuesday, 9th February 2010

At 0800 the first 8 concrete sections were delivered to New Bridge, and have
been loaded to wagons for movement to site. Meanwhile work is progressing
steadily, with the PW gang relaying the track up to the Grosmont side
abutment for the Kirow crane to stand on. The crane returns tomorrow to
Grosmont from Scunthorpe. The 2 metre spreader beam which was used for
transhipping the new steelwork at Middlesbrough is been borrowed (thanks
once again to our good friends at A.V.Dawson) for the lift on Thursday, and
was collected today.

Wednesday, 10th February 2010

Another day of major progress (and major shunting!), and heavy snow showers.
The steelwork for the new bridge was taken up to the MPD about 0900, where
the bearings for the Goathland side were fitted.

More shunting ensued to get wagons in place for moving to site, and to allow a speedy preparation for the crane when it returned and for the steelwork to follow the train to site. The crane arrived at about 1430, and left for site about 1615. The steelwork followed, and at around 1800 was offloaded on site onto levelled sleepers, to allow CML to fit the bearings for the Grosmont side. (Two pits had been dug out to
make room for the bearings). The Kirow crew were taxied back to Grosmont,
arriving about 1840.

Nigel Trotter reports:

The crane came back! They have brought up the new steelwork and unloaded it ready for the big lift. The Pickering end bearings are now fitted and the Grosmont end ones are also ready. The bottom bearing plates are on site ready for placing on the abutment tops.
Gerry Carter and Martin Cannings (and the Pway Gang) have also completed the crane track and the Kirow has already been on it so that is another item done. 8 precast concrete deck units are on the Goathland side.

It appears ITV Tyne and Calendar plus BBC Look North will be there tomorrow- wish us luck and good weather. We will all have our best ball gowns and tiaras on! Or perhaps clean NYMR HiVi.

Yet again, many thanks to everybody who has worked long hours to get us where we are - John Bruce has done a 12 hour shift today, for example.

Complied and edited a bit by Steven!

(Apologies that the picture of the beams being offloaded at site a little "fuzzy - John may have been very excited but I suspect was actually shivering in the cold!)

 

Latest news from the "Front" - Bridge "in" at 13:15.

This is the main girders of course, deck (27 units), ballast, track etc. still to add.

Well done to all concerned!

Steven

 

Indeed, congratulations!

How much more is the Kirow doing Steven, or is that it now?

46118

 

The Kirow is leaving on Monday. The sections of the old Bridge are to load for transport to Stockton. The old central girder also needed holding by the crane for cutting before loading. This was done this afternoon and the first load of scrap loaded.

Steven

 

Report from John Bruce

It's in!!!
The lift was scheduled for 1300, with the press invited. Having offloaded
the new steelwork yesterday evening, advantage was taken of "spare" time
with the crane to hold the old centre beam whilst it was cut in two for
loading. This was virtually completed by the time the Kirow had to move back
to the steelwork ready for the lift. It had to be turned through 180
degrees. At about 1255 everything was ready for the lift, and this duly
started. Once the steelwork was directly in front of the crane, the legs
were retracted, and it moved forward to "the edge of the precipice". The
bridge was gently and precisely lowered into place and the bearings located.
It fitted beautifully, and the job was complete by 1330. After a break for
photos, congratulations, and a group shot at the Goathland side abutment,
featuring the CML, Volker Rail and NYMR team, normality returned. We
returned to the Grosmont side and the old centre beam was cut, both sections
laid flat and the loaded onto the BEA bogie bolster wagon which had
previously carried the new steelwork. Light was failing by the time the load
was secured with straps (hence a slighty fuzzy photo off the top of the
wagon).
Tomorrow, the old side girders get loaded, and we may gather up some of the
scrap decking if there is time.

Covered by both local TV channels:

ITV:

http://www.itv.com/tynetees/fullprogramme/

About 12 minutes in.

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/looknorthnecumbria/latest_stories/index.shtml - again, about 15 1/2 minutes in

These are usually is the latest bulletins, so be quick if you want to see the story!

 

Nigel's report duly arrived - mainly in photo form:

5275 is the lift part way through
5286 is the steelwork nearly in place
5294 Things you do for the media!
5305 shows the new steelwork in its final position.

The first 8 of the precast concrete units are on wagons on the Goathland side and will be lifted on to the steelwork on Friday afternoon or Saturday with the next 8 on Tuesday and the remaining 11 by Wednesday next week all being well.

Then just finishing, ballasting, track and tidying! Its easy to forget we are not quite half way through the programme, and the current plan is for final finishing and tidying round of the site to continue whilst trains are running (all safety work completed first, of course!

Kev Yeoman (Volker Rail) also reports that the weight of the beams was comfortably within the crane capacity at this reach and the job did not need to be fully extended to complete the lift. The final piece of crane track, as picture 5305 shows, is well below old and new track level - the crane actually was descending a gradient at the end of the installation run.

Apologies that pictures posted last night from John Bruce now gone - that seems to be the way uploads work on here!

Steven

 

Something that might turn out to be important was on the BBC News piece, where the "Bridge & Wheels" logo was in clear view for the duration of an interview. What price publicity!
How do they fix the decking sections? There appear to be metal uprights on top of the main girders, are they grouted in place?

 

Nicely done shot by the BBC Leeds team, wasn't it!

I have asked Nigel Trotter about the fixing and you are basically right, 46118. His answer is tha the deck sections sit on sealant etc on top of the steel girders. They have big holes in them and the studs you can see on top of the steel beams will be in these holes. The holes and the shaped gaps betwen them are filled with high grade concrete. This will hold them together and at each end there will be an insitu concrete trimmer to hold them longitudinally.

Nigel has promised some pictures to explain visually.

The NYMR TV report on this and other current developments is now up on the NYMR website at:

http://www.nymr.co.uk/tv/e11-new-bridge/

Steven

 

Well done, that is quite an achievement.

I can start to make plans for a visit in the summer

 

Steven, are the decking sections being lifted into place with "in house" machinery, or did the Kirow do some before it left?

 

Deck units are being offloaded and placed by hired in road crane, working from the South or Goathland side. All included in CML contract I believe.
Units being delivered to site by train from Newbridge.

 

Apologies if this has been covered before, but are you getting much for the scrap value of the old girders?

Regards,

Dan

 

Nigel Trotter reports:

Friday 12 February 2010
John Bruce aided by the Kirow crane loaded up the centre girder cut into two on Thursday afternoon and the two outer ones this morning. All that is left are the deck plates fixed to cros girders and some cross girders. They are loading up what they can of these but It looks like some will have to go via New Bridge with Gerry Carter picking them up as there are not enough DB Schenker wagons.
CML steelwork inspector has examined the bridge now it is in place and there are some minor painting repairs to carry out - this is normal. Mabey Bridge are welding the bearings to the base plates and also grinding off the 8 lifting brackets on the top flange. These have to be done by Mabey's as they will grind them flush and then ND test them to ensure that the warranty is still valid. They have to have a scaffold to provide access.
To get the precast concrete deck units CML have brought in a fork lift truck and are providing an access onto the bridge (it should be strong enough as the fork lift weighs 10 T and will lift a deck unit weighing 4.7T). The 70 year old stone mason (and assistant) are working on the abutments.
Towards the close of play, the first of the concrete deck units was laid on the steel beams. After about 6 goes this morning Will from CML finally decided exactly where to position it permanently and sat it on the mastic.

Saturday 13 February 2010
CML hope to get about 3 or 4 on but the forklift has just had a puncture!
The delivery of the next four deck units decided not to go to New Bridge but down Darnholme Lane. After some effort by CML and with the assistance of a neighbouring farmer and his tractor (thanks Ian!), they got him out and sent back to where he should have gone.

Sunday 14 February 2010
CML not working today but John Bruce and I led a visit to the site for about 20 interested locals who had been enquiring about progress.
The scrap is loaded up and ready to got tomorrow with the Kirow crane.

Monday 15 February 2010
This report is based on information provided by John Bruce and Roger Bastin.
The scrap duly left for Teesside with a posh liveried D B Schenker loco.
After various problems with the fork lift truck's tyres, actually a puncture, CML managed to place more of the precast concrete units in place. CML managed to place up to unit 10 before close of play for today. They require great patience and care to maintain both the horizontal alignment and the total horizontal length. We want them to follow the line of the steelwork or for the Grosmont one not to be too close to the end of the beams.

Over the weekend Mabey Bridge air lanced off the lifting lugs from the top of the beams (8 in total to allow both Dawson's dockside crane and the Kirow to lift them at various stages). The lugs were ground flush and ND tested and are all OK. The bearings have to be tidied up including grouting in the holding down bolts.
So, all is going well.

Tuesday 16 February 2010
A good day all round today. CML continued to place the concrete deck units on the steel beams with a total of 20 all in place. The remaining 7 are coming down to the site tonight from New Bridge so they will be placed tomorrow. The steelfixers/joiners etc are back tomorrow to start the shuttering etc for the big end trimmers and also to place the aerofil sealant and shutters for the joints between the precast units. Each unit requires two people to be secured by harnesses etc in order to position it correctly. Other works included grouting up the holding down bolts at the bearings and cleaning up. There were only 6 CML staff on site today and that will reduce even more next week.
5344 shows the fork lift on the deck. There will be about 10" of ballast, then concrete sleepers and flatbottom rail leaving the top of the concrete about 12" above the rail level for derailment protection.

John Bruce's picture shows him cruelly taking the old bridge into Thompson's scrap yard for it's final journey - after 145 years of good service all he wants is money for it!

John Bruce adds:

Scrap loading continued on Saturday morning, with most of the deck plate being picked up. A couple of sections were left to go away via New Bridge as there was insufficient room in the two wagons. However on return to Grosmont, the wagons were taken to the MPD, and a large number of boiler tubes and other scrap were used to fill in gaps in the load. There is probably about 115 tonnes of scrap going to Thomsons. The Kirow followed the 08 down the bank to Grosmont, where it was de-rigged. The two open wagons were brought back from the MPD and the train for Tees Yard was marshalled up ready to go. A brake continuity test revealed a fault on the crane - fortunately before Kevin Yeoman went home, so he restarted it and cleared the fault. DB Schenker come for the train on Monday.
On Sunday, Nigel Trotter and myself "conducted" a group of Goathland residents to the site - arranged in appreciation of the support and interest shown in what we have been doing, and the tolerance for the occasional disruption the works have caused.

Monday
The NYMR is about 115 tonnes lighter! The old bridge is on its way to T.J.Thomson at Stockton. DB Schenker sent the only DB liveried 66 to collect the scrap and the Kirow crane. The light engine was booked in when the NYMR Whitby service was in Platform 2, so the 66 had to run via Platform 4 to get on the right end of its train, then draw up into the tunnel to get into
Platform 2. The train will split in Tees with the Kirow going to Doncaster tomorrow and the scrap going round to Stockton on Tuesday as well.

Tuesday
The remains of Bridge 30 arrived at T.J. Thomson at Stockton at about 1020 this morning, with much interest from the staff there. They shunted them into their yard and weighed the loaded wagons on their weighbridge.

Steven