The Anonymous Widower

The Signs Of Bad Planning On The Gospel Oak To Barking Line Were There

This article in Rail Technology entitled J Murphy & Sons to carry out electrification of Gospel Oak-Barking route, was published on September 29th last year.

I reread the article to see if I could find any reference to the Wightman Road bridge, but there is none.

However, I did find this section.

But Glenn Wallis, secretary of Barking-Gospel Oak Line User Group (BGORUG), said at the time: “Our expert rail industry advisers tell us that for Network Rail to have taken three years to complete GRIP 3 [completed in March this year] indicates that they have not exactly been throwing resources at the job.

“The likelihood of Network Rail completing electrification of the line by mid-2017 is now said to be improbable.”

That looks to me like Network Rail didn’t get all their ducks in a row on this job.

Searching for Wightman Road bridge on the Internet led me to this article on Harringay Online, which is entitled Wightman Road Closure – What Will it Mean? The article was published on December 17th last year. This is said.

Whilst this work has been on the cards for a number of years, its programming to start in Spring 2016 has been driven both by the serendipitous coinciding of the signing off of the nearly £3M budget (from TfL and Network Rail) and the planned electrification works of the Gospel to Barking Oak line.

I find it interesting that in endless articles written about the electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, the reconstruction of this important road bridge is not mentioned once. This is especially surprising, as bridge reconstructions in Palmerston Road in Walthamstow and Upper Holloway, have been extensively reported.

There was also the major reconstruction of the railway bridge at South Tottenham in December 2014, which I wrote about in VolkerFitzpatrick Are Having A Christmas Party At South Tottenham.

The Palmerston Road bridge was rebuilt in 2014, but it doesn’t appear that any plans to rebuild the Wightman Road bridge surfaced until December 2015.

I think that any major bridge reconstruction would normally be done before the electrification work, as the masts, gantries and possibly wires, would get in the way of the heavy lifts needed for bridge replacement. Also, a sturdy bridge is a convenient place on which to mount the overhead wires.

So it looks like some seriously bad planning to me, that this bridge wasn’t replaced before the electrification started!

The only feasible alternative, is that because of a particular problem, the bridge replacement and the electrification need to be done at the same time.

But if that was the case, then you’d think that the bridge replacement would take place after the complete closure of the line on September 24th, 2016.

But as I said in Wightman Road Bridge Is Falling Down, the bridge should be fully open in September 2016.

Or was the rebuilding of the bridge, just forgotten?

June 13, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | 1 Comment

Wightman Road Bridge Is Falling Down

I went to IKEA this morning on a 341 bus (As one does?) and the area around Harringay Green Lanes station.was locked solid.

A quick check on the Internetfrom my phone, told me that Wightman Road is closed.

This Google Map shows the area between Harringay Green Lanes station and Harringay station.

Wightman Road Bridge

Wightman Road Bridge

If you follow the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBlin) westward from Harringay Green Lanes station, you come to the important bridge where the East Coast Main Line goes over the GOBlin. To the East of this bridge is a road bridge that takes Wightman Road, which is a major route numbered B138 over the railway.

This would appear to be the bridge that is causing the trouble.

I can only find one authorative document on the web and that is this page on the Haringey Council web site, which is entitled Bridge Reconstruction Work in Wightman Road. This is said.

Work is under way to replace the defective bridge over the railway lines on Wightman Road. The bridge is showing signs of severe deterioration. Network Rail are carrying out the work to coincide with the closure of the Gospel Oak-Barking line, which is undergoing electrification. Both projects are being carried out at the same time to help minimise transport disruption.

The main construction work will run from March to September 2016. While every effort will be made to minimize disruption to traffic, there will be a period when complete road closure will be unavoidable. A temporary footbridge will be put in place to provide access for pedestrians and cyclists while the work is in progress.

Incidentally,. I’ve not heard anything on the news or seen anything in the papers. When I checked a few minutes ago, there was nothing I could find on the Transport for London or Network Rail web sites.

So is this another case of Network Rail not giving the truth about bad problems in the hope they’ll not be spotted?

Or do they think that informing the general public is not important?

These are some pictures, I took at a visit to the bridge on a quiet Sunday morning.

There’s certainly more useful infrormation at the bridge site, than on the web.

One notice labelled Wightman Road Overbridge says this.

  • What: The existing Wightman Road Overbridge is to be demolished to bridge abutments to enable a complete bridge reconstruction.
  • When: The construction phase is due to start in March 2016 and run until September 2016.
    • Installation of scaffold walkway and access platform planned for March 2016.
    • Diversion of services and removal of road surface are planned for April 2016 & May 2016.
    • Removal of existing highway and bridge is planned for June & July 2016.
    • Installation of new bridge deck planned for July 2016.
    • Reinstatement of the highway, VRS and services is planned for July & August 2016.
  • Why: The Wightman Road Overbridge is now at the end of its design life.In 2005 the structure was assessed and it was decided to renew the life-expired structure to modern-day standards.

A second notice says this.

  • Improved Road Profile: This will make it safer for road traffic, pedestrians and especially cyclists.
  • Lifespan of New Bridge: An increased design lifespan of 125 years with the first 25 years maintenance free.
  • Save Taxpayer Money: Completing works within GOB blockade.
  • Less Energy Use And Pollution: Raising the bridge height to allow for electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
  • Save Disruption: Other groundworks being completed by LBHC in conjunction with the road closure.

The pictures show that good progress appears to be being made. It would appear that services are being diverted, but that the original road surface is still in place. There were also notices prominently displayed saying that on the weekends of the 25th June and 2nd July the pedestrian walkway would be closed, as a crane would be working. Could this be when the old bridge is lifted out and the new one is lifted in?

Let’s face it, 125 year old bridges do get tired! The bridges at Upper Holloway, South Tottenham and Highbury and Islington stations have all been or are being replaced!

I do wonder, if  the urgent need to replace this bridge might explain the progress on the GOBlin electrification. Network Rail and Murphys seemed to have had a simple plan, which was proceeding in the early months of 2016. Then they found they needed a six month closure of the railway to replace the Wightman Road bridge and that blew a big hole right through everything.

But that doesn’t explain, why TfL and Network Rail haven’t disclosed the detailed truth to the people of North London!

At least when they’ve replaced the bridge, they’ll have a strong structure that they could use to support the overhead wires.

 

June 11, 2016 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment