Colwall Green Railway Bridge

Report 5 on progress leading towards the re-opening of the bridge

Re-opening the bridge to light traffic

As given in Report 4 Colwall Green Railway Bridge was re-opened on Friday 7 December to light vehicles (up to 3 tonnes). The route is supported by the internal beams to the bridge. The beams are at an angle to the highway and are the strongest parts of the bridge. It is for this reason that the route over the bridge takes its S-shape course.

The Council is aware that there have been a number of accidents on the bridge and it is taking a number of measures to alleviate the problems of the route through a formal audit of the route by a specialist auditor. The Council received the draft findings of the report on 23 January and it has commenced actions to implement the findings.

There will be improvements to the lighting, the route (for vehicles and pedestrians) and to signage. A timetable for the improvements is being determined and the work will be completed as soon as possible, probably in two or three phases.

There is a separate work programme in place to assess if there can be improvements to the advanced signage and so maximize driver awareness of the weight restriction on the bridge.

Completion of the bridge assessment

On 13 December Herefordshire Councilís Cabinet agreed that a temporary Bailey bridge could be installed over the bridge if that was considered to be the most appropriate solution.Ý This approval required the completion of the assessment report into the capacity of the bridge before implementation.Ý

The work to determine the assessed capacity of the bridge was completed at the end of December and the report formally passed to Network Rail and Herefordshire Council on 10 January. This report has been approved by Network Rail (Herefordshire Council were notified by letter datedÝÝÝÝ 30 January). The assessment found that capacity of the bridge to be 7.5 tonnes in some internal girders, 3 tonnes in others and 0 tonnes in the main girders.

Meetings were held between Herefordshire Council and Network Rail officers on 10 January and 30 January to study the findings of the assessment report with the objective of determining how to proceed. The conclusion of the meetings is that work should proceed to identify viable options for deck reconstruction.

The proposed scheme for re-opening the bridge

The Councilís approach had been to provide, as an interim measure, a narrow Bailey bridge to take vehicle traffic with pedestrians on the footway of the existing bridge. This was seen as an interim measure pending the construction of a new bridge. However, the assessed capacity of theÝ large edge girders supporting the footways does not allow us to proceed with this arrangement because it has been calculated that they can only take their own weight but not pedestrians.

It would be possible to redesign the scheme but this will take a significant time due primarily to the need to find an alternative pedestrian route (possibly a pedestrian bridge or a walkway attached to the proposed Bailey bridge).

Network Rail and Herefordshire Council officers have therefore concluded, using the results of the assessment report noted above that, the best solution is to proceed directly to the construction of a new bridge.

The decision to recommend a new bridge is not related to any funding shortfall but is purely as a consequence of the findings of the assessment report. Likewise earlier decisions were based on achieving an early opening of the bridge and not related to funding criteria.

The assessment result does not affect the continuation of the 3 tonne route over the bridge as an interim measure.

It is proposed that the programme for the work will be accelerated. The following section gives the details.

Next steps for the construction of a new bridge deck

The key to this proposal is an accelerated programme through the purchase by Network Rail of rail closures for the construction work.Ý There is significant preparatory work required to ensure these closures can proceed with confidence. It is anticipated that the work will be undertaken by Network Rail during next year.

The next steps therefore include the following work: a feasibility study, preparation of a preliminary programme and extent of work, agreement of rail closure times with the train operating companies, formal approval from Network Rail and Herefordshire Council to the programme and extent of work, design, and construction.

It is proposed that representatives from Network Rail and Herefordshire Council will attend a parish council meeting to explain the proposals, the rationale behind the proposals and the timetable when this information is developed. A substantial amount of work needs to be undertaken and at present the details have to be developed and are incomplete. It will be a little time before the outline is sufficiently advanced to be described with confidence. Regular project meetings have been set up between Network Rail and Herefordshire Council in order to progress the work as quickly as possible.

Progress reports - If you wish to receive forthcoming progress reports direct by e-mail please contact the council through the routes given below.

For further information please contact Herefordshire Council, Highways and Transportation, Unit 3 Thorn Business Park, Rotherwas, Hereford, HR2 6JT, Telephone 01432 261800, email streets@herefordshire.gov.uk, website www.herefordshire.gov.uk

This sheet can also be obtained from the Colwall Parish Council website www.colwall.net and from the Herefordshire Info shop Ledbury.