________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
a handful of effective techniques for directly replacing the timber , whereas reconstructing steel is more complicated . Once the tender for the timber scheme opened , we entered and later won the contract . Griffiths had previous experience of renewing timber for rail projects ; there are nine timber rail viaducts in the UK , and we ’ ve worked on five of them .
“ Building upon this experience , we created a relatively unique system for changing crossheads that support the decks , which didn ’ t require the deck and rails to be removed like in traditional methods . I think our proposal to change 24 crossheads without removing the track played a key role in us winning the initial contract . We changed the 24 crossheads within the 16 day blockade . The rest of the crossheads totalling 81 were replaced within a 14 week blockade .”
Complex operations
Following the success of this contract , Griffiths went on to be awarded the contract for the metal works in late 2022 . “ Although I was in the role of operations manager , I transitioned to the position of engineering manager following the contract win , as I had been involved in the project since day one and knew its quirks and intricacies ,” Steve recalls .
“ We won the second contract based on our methodology ; we drove the two main spans , which are approximately 40 metres long each , down the track and used the main beams as temporary support with the gantry system while we demolished the old one around it . This hasn ’ t really been done before ; there have been similar activities over the years , but not to this extent or project type . “ I ’ m very pleased to tell you that we successfully delivered the contract within a 12-week blockade and handed back the track in December 2023 . Network Rail then renewed an extra section of the track before the viaduct ’ s grand reopening .
76