Bewdley Bypass Bridge
Bewdley Bypass Bridge (Bridge 8) is located between Bewdley and Kidderminster, around ⅓ mile south east of Bewdley Station. The bridge was built in 1986, allowing the new A456 Bewdley southern bypass to go through the embankment adjacent to Sandbourne Viaduct.
The SVR already owned and used this section of the line[note 1] and so, unlike the Bridgnorth Bypass Bridge, the construction was at no cost to the Railway.
Contents
Contents
Construction
The SVR line would have to be severed while the bridge was installed. By May 1986 the SVR had agreed that in order not to jeopardise the Railway's Christmas services, this would be scheduled for late October and November of that year.[1] Services would terminate at Bewdley for the last weekend in October to allow the contractors an extra week, to help ensure that the railway would reopen for the operation of Santa Steam Specials from Kidderminster to Arley, commencing on Saturday 29 November.[2]
To minimise disruption to the SVR, the contractors A. Monk & Co Ltd. built the bridge between May and October 1986 on a concrete track south of the embankment, approximately 150ft from its final position. Preparatory work carried out by the SVR while services were still running included "cutting away the ivy from Bewdley South Viaduct in order to make quite sure that the structure is returned to us in the condition in which it was last seen" and shortening the Stourport line siding.[3]
Immediately after the last train on Sunday 19 October, SVR staff and volunteers working under floodlights lifted the track and disconnected the signal wires on the embankment. By 1.00am in the morning of Monday 20 October the contractors' excavators had begun removing the embankment, which was completed the following day. Construction of the foundations and north wing walls took place over the next two weeks.[4]
Sandbourne Viaduct with the embankment removed
Sandbourne Viaduct with the embankment removed
Foundations under construction before moving the new bridge
On 6 November, large hydraulic rams were used to slew all 2,500 tons of the new bridge into place; a process which began at 7.30am and was completed without incident by 10.40am.[4]
Bridge jack
The new bridge being positioned
By 26 November the south wing wall was complete and the remaining embankment had been reinstated. A final effort by the SVR PW and S&T staff saw the bridge re-ballasted, the track laid and signalling equipment re-connected in time for the first Santa Special services on Saturday 29 November.[4]
Back fill completed
Track relaying
The bridge during the first week after opening
The bypass itself was opened on 21 May 1987.[4]
Both Sandbourne Viaduct and the Bypass Bridge are crossed by the 'Stourport siding' on the Stourport Branch (the route of the original Severn Valley Railway) as well as the present day railway which runs to Kidderminster via the Kidderminster Loop Line. The siding is regularly used to store P-Way and other rolling stock.
See also
Notes
- ↑ The section of the line in which the bridge is located was purchased by the SVR in 1973 as part of the 'southern section' between Alveley Sidings and Foley Park. The line to Kidderminster was fully re-opened for passenger services in 1984.