A bridge over the railway on the Highland Main line has been successfully demolished and replaced, despite the impact of Storm Arwen.
The bridge is at Lynebeg, between Perth and Inverness, and was replaced as part of work to make the A9 between Tomatin and Moy into a dual carriageway.
Network Rail engineers worked continuously for 78 hours from 23:20 on Friday 26 November until 05:40 on 30 November to demolish an 1884 Victorian masonry structure, replace it with a 660-ton twin-track concrete box structure, and reopen the railway in time for the first train on Tuesday morning.
SPMT with the new bridge // Credit: Network Rail
The new bridge was constructed away from the railway in a nearby site compound over a 10-week period. A Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) system was then used to transfer the structure several hundred metres along the B1954 before manoeuvring it and sliding it into its final position. Two 750-ton cranes then lifted seven concrete wingwalls, which were also constructed on site, into position.
The railway was fully reinstated and checked before re-opening to traffic early morning on Tuesday, 30 November.
Although the bridge was replaced because of the adjacent A9 road works, the new bridge will strengthen, safeguard, and future-proof the route for the weight and volume of traffic that passes over it daily. It also makes provision for any future double-tracking of the line.
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