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→2022 replacement: reopening
The installation of the replacement bridge was delayed and eventually rescheduled for the weekend of 8-9 October 2022. By coincidence, a national rail strike on the Saturday meant that no train movements were taking place on the main line that day. The SVR granted a 'total possession' to the contractors, allowing a large crane to be positioned on the SVR's running lines to carry out the lift in the early hours of Sunday 9 October. However, problems with the paperwork involving the Police escort of the bridge to the Railway meant that only the two sets of end steps were delivered, with the Western steps being installed and the East set placed ready for installation. The rest of the work was delayed until the following weekend. The main span was eventually delivered to site on Friday 14 October. the 40 ton bridge was lifted initially to allow the fitting of the smoke plates, however due to issues lining up the bolt holes, this was abandoned due to time constraints and the bridge was lifted into place at around 5.00am on Sunday 16 October, followed by the eastern steps. Both sets of lifting operations were relayed live on YouTube via the SVR's Railcam.
The smoke plates were fitted to the underside of the bridge using a block and tackle suspended from the bridge. MEWPs and a Mobile tower scaffold were used to gain access to the bolted connections. The smoke plates were installed over the Up and Down Main and Up and Down Loop on Wednesday 19 October with the remaining smoke plate over the Exchange Line fitted in the early hours of Sunday 23 October due to the need for the adjacent NR line to be blocked. The fitting of the final smoke plate completed the fitting of the steelwork for the structure. The bridge reopened to the public on Monday 31 October.
The main span of the bridge is made from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_steel weathering steel]. The alloy steel will be allowed to form a patina of rust crust, which will form a protective layer over the steel acting as its protection system. This is now a common construction material for Network Rail bridges as in theory the bridge should never need painting. It is expected to take 5 years for the bridge 'crust' to be 'mature'. The stairs and inside of the parapets are painted holly green. It is expected that the bridge will be fully open by the 30 October.
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