Nuneham Viaduct shut - Didcot- Oxford

[Towers]

I imagine that several emails were very quickly sent to various bridge engineers asking for them to come up with immediate solutions, but they were trying to keep the bridge open for as long as possible because closure was the absolute last resort.

But closure is, surely, inevitable! If the speed restrictions first appeared late last year and it's now April, that rather suggests a lack of urgency does it not?

 

[stuu]

A very wet March, but February was very dry and January average, so the winter rainfall was pretty average really.

Going from the driest February in 30 years to one of the wettest months on record is going to cause a lot more ground movement than an average winter

 

[TurboMan]

But closure is, surely, inevitable! If the speed restrictions first appeared late last year and it's now April, that rather suggests a lack of urgency does it not?

It's longer than that: the 50mph TSR was first introduced on 14th March 2022. I knew it had been there a long time, but I had to search through withdrawn WONs to find it a lot further back in time than I first thought.

 

[Jimini]

It's longer than that: the 50mph TSR was first introduced on 14th March 2022. I knew it had been there a long time, but I had to search through withdrawn WONs to find it a lot further back in time than I first thought.

Yep that sounds familiar -- I remember bumping over it at full tilt in the spring before the TSR kicked in and thinking it didn't feel so great!

 

[800001]

XC train plan for tomorrow has southbound terminating at Oxford, and northbound terminating at Didcot.

 

[zwk500]

But closure is, surely, inevitable! If the speed restrictions first appeared late last year and it's now April, that rather suggests a lack of urgency does it not?

A lack of urgency is one possible explanation, but not the only one. It might be that initially the damage was thought to be less severe and it has worsened rapidly (a 50mph ESR isn't necessarily terminal). It might also be indicative of how difficult the solution is to design, or it might represent the difficulty in securing the engineering access and resources to actually repair it. It may also represent problems getting the budget for it agreed.

 

[172007]

East West Rail would allow WCML to Oxford. Should be W12 as surely it has to have European clearances from when it was planned?

 

[Gloster]

I have just looked at National Rail Enquires. There is no red alert bar and against Cross Country it is saying Minor delays on some routes; Great Western has Major delays… but it has two other items. There is, at least, a fairly thorough summary of the arrangements if you persevere, but shouldn’t something like this be more prominent. Somebody getting on at Manchester might just look, see that there is nothing major, and go no further.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Reminiscent of the failure of the Lamington viaduct/bridge over the upper Clyde in 2015/16.
That took 7 weeks to rebuild, and is probably an easier (shorter) example than the Nuneham bridge.
The Lamington bridge was also being monitored by NR for some years before the critical structural failure, and NR was fined for allowing trains over it on the day it failed.

 

[zwk500]

East West Rail would allow WCML to Oxford. Should be W12 as surely it has to have European clearances from when it was planned?

Yes, EWR to be built to W12 and 775m freight capabilities. https://eastwestrail-production.s3....blic/EAS060_TechDoc_Appendix_Master_DIG-1.pdf

Not quite sure what you mean by 'European Clearances' but it won't be UIC GB/GB+ clearances.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Friend at NR sent me this from last week

That looks like a wing wall where the embankment transitions to the bridge structure rather than support columns in the Thames so would be a quicker fix although would still be at least a week if they have to get sheet pile in there and rebuild embankment.

 

[fgwrich]

Looking at the report on South Today this evening, and the photo as shared above, I wonder if one of the Girders has dropped as well as the wing wall collapse. Either way, this is going to take longer than a few weeks to fix.

First item is Paul Cliftons report - Available for 24 hours from 18:30

BBC One - South Today, Evening News, 03/04/2023

The latest news, sport and weather for the South of England.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[4COR]

Has it been especially wet in Oxfordshire this winter? The BBC report mentioned the ground is saturated, but even so there seems to be an alarming rate of bridge failures due to ground movement in that part of the world.

We've had about 6 inches of rain in March (measured about 12 miles from there) that's about 3 times average, and a lot in the past week.

River levels respond to the catchment areas in the Cotswolds mostly - would take a few days to get to Nuneham after periods of heavy rain. Friday was extremely wet (Gloucester/Oxfordshire borders were like rivers on the roads!) so 2-3 days response in river levels is about right.

 

[Oxfordblues]

It's a pity as I was hoping to get the 08:16 from Oxford tomorrow to connect with the 11:19 Wareham-Swanage DMU.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

News on Twitter that there are problems with Nuneham Viaduct leading to the line between Oxford and Didcot being closed

This explains why I had to get a rail replacement bus from Oxford to Didcot Parkway yesterday then.

 

[The Planner]

East West Rail would allow WCML to Oxford. Should be W12 as surely it has to have European clearances from when it was planned?

Not sure of the correlation to this issue?

 

[Mikey C]

Don't tell the DfT that don't they want the Class 68s / Mark IIIs removed?

For the time being, the only rail connection between Oxford and London is on the Chiltern route. If this is going to take weeks to resolve, increasing capacity on trains to Marylebone will surely be essential, especially with replacement buses being hard to source at the moment.

 

[172007]

Yes, EWR to be built to W12 and 775m freight capabilities. https://eastwestrail-production.s3....blic/EAS060_TechDoc_Appendix_Master_DIG-1.pdf

Not quite sure what you mean by 'European Clearances' but it won't be UIC GB/GB+ clearances.

European interoperability requirement was what I meant, just couldn't remember the word interoperability when I wrote the comment.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

We've had about 6 inches of rain in March (measured about 12 miles from there) that's about 3 times average, and a lot in the past week.

River levels respond to the catchment areas in the Cotswolds mostly - would take a few days to get to Nuneham after periods of heavy rain. Friday was extremely wet (Gloucester/Oxfordshire borders were like rivers on the roads!) so 2-3 days response in river levels is about right.

So wet that my train at Swindon was delayed by about 15 minutes because of flooding between Chippenham and Swindon!

For the time being, the only rail connection between Oxford and London is on the Chiltern route. If this is going to take weeks to resolve, increasing capacity on trains to Marylebone will surely be essential, especially with replacement buses being hard to source at the moment.

I agree

 

[172007]

Not sure of the correlation to this issue?

If it had been built rather than being built it could be used for diversion. I now realise the problem is south of Oxford.

 

[zwk500]

European interoperability requirement was what I meant, just couldn't remember the word interoperability when I wrote the comment.

Right now I'm with you.

If it had been built rather than being built it could be used for diversion. I now realise the problem is south of Oxford.

Yes, in this instance it wouldn't have helped at all.

 

[swt_passenger]

This explains why I had to get a rail replacement bus from Oxford to Didcot Parkway yesterday then.

No, I believe that was planned Engineering work. This problem, ie the sudden closure, happened today, after the route was open for a few hours this morning.

 

[Class 170101]

For the time being, the only rail connection between Oxford and London is on the Chiltern route. If this is going to take weeks to resolve, increasing capacity on trains to Marylebone will surely be essential, especially with replacement buses being hard to source at the moment.

I agree

I agree as well but do the DfT?

 

[SouthEastBuses]

I agree as well but do the DfT?

I bet they don't, knowing how incompetent they are.

 

[Kite159]

The viaduct isn't in a good location for access from road either, bit isolated looking at the map and no doubt some of the ground will be waterlogged

 

[fgwrich]

The viaduct isn't in a good location for access from road either, bit isolated looking at the map and no doubt some of the ground will be waterlogged

Could mean equipment having to be bought in by the riverbank then - as long as there's a suitable loading point further along the Thames.

 

[D6130]

In the circumstances it's just as well that Didcot-Oxford hasn't been electrified yet....otherwise it could have been an even more complicated job.

 

[TurboMan]

Looking at the report on South Today this evening, and the photo as shared above, I wonder if one of the Girders has dropped as well as the wing wall collapse. Either way, this is going to take longer than a few weeks to fix.

First item is Paul Cliftons report - Available for 24 hours from 18:30

BBC One - South Today, Evening News, 03/04/2023

The latest news, sport and weather for the South of England.

www.bbc.co.uk

I managed to grab a screenshot from that. I know the effect will be exaggerated a little by the camera zoom, but - having driven over it many times since the speed restriction was introduced - it's really obvious that one span is dipping, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

The viaduct isn't in a good location for access from road either, bit isolated looking at the map and no doubt some of the ground will be waterlogged

A temporary roadway has begun to appear over the last few weeks adjacent to and on the west side of the railway south of the river.

 

[D6130]

I know the effect will be exaggerated a little by the camera zoom, but - having driven over it many times since the speed restriction was introduced - it's really obvious that one span is dipping, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

It's also really obvious that maintenance of the structure - and particularly painting - has been somewhat lacking in recent years and the girders seem to be suffering from considerable corrosion. While not strictly relevant to the current problem, it does make you wonder about Network Rail's maintenance regime.

 

[class68fan]

There's not much space for parking coaches at Oxford compared to Banbury, so from a logistical point of view Banbury's probably better.

The big car park south oxford station is far more room than Banbury