The railway footbridge

Badly needed maintenance

Stock Road looking North after the bridge was removed
Adam Wheatley
The Southern end of the bridge
Adam Wheatley
The Northern end of the bridge
Adam Wheatley
The bridge at the top end of Station Approach waiting to be taken away
Andy Wheatley
In pristine condition after the work

The footbridge over the railway line in Stock Road was installed in the early 80’s to deal with the safety issues caused by increased traffic passing over the bridge. Until that time the only footpath over the bridge had been the narrow pavement on the western side of the bridge. When the footbridge was installed rough cobbles were put on this pavement to discourage use by pedestrians.

 

 

 

Over the years the bridge has deteriorated and needed some cosmetic maintenance. Current safety rules mean that the trains would not be allowed to run under the bridge whilst it was being painted and so it was cheaper to remove the bridge and take it away for maintenance than carry the cost of a rail replacement service for a number of weekends. So overnight at the end of June 2008 the bridge was removed.The photographs below, taken on 1st July, show the bridge after being removed.

 

 

The bridge was away for repair for a number of weeks and so that pedestrian traffic could still cross the bridge the cobbles were removed on the old footpath and a smooth tarmac surface installed. When the nicely painted bridge with new lights installed and gurading repaired returned the smooth tarmac was left in place. This meant that pedestrians can use the foothpath by the road again, but most people have returned to using the bridge.

 

 

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  • I can remember staying up all night when the bridge was first fitted to watch it being lifted into position.  It arrived in 2 halves and the lorries backed up to each other.  Each half had studs protruding from the underside and a plate was used to join the 2 together. The bolt tightness was checked with feeler gauges.  It was a long night with lots of waiting!

    By Andy Nichols (08/04/2015)

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