Bridge parapet collapse between Laurencekirk & Stonehaven (15/01)

[Hardcastle]

A bridge parapet has collapsed between Laurencekirk & Stonehaven caused by a landslip according to Cross Country train services affected at least till the end of service today. Looks like another problem on that section of line again.

https://twitter.com/CrossCountryUK/status/1350098695665160192

Due to a landslip between Stonehaven and Aberdeen, all lines are blocked. Train services running through these stations may be cancelled. See http://journeycheck.com/crosscountry for updates.

 

[Rockhopperr]

Less than a mile from the derailment site. Concerning

Edit: I should say these are not my images. Nabbed from Twitbook

 

[Hardcastle]

Less than a mile from the derailment site. Concerning

Thought it might be the case thanks for the photos it looks pretty bad i reckon that will take more than a day to repair & won't be easy with a river underneath.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Thought it might be the case thanks for the photos it looks pretty bad i reckon that will take more than a day to repair & won't be easy with a road underneath.

Indeed. Looks like these incidents are happening more often. Transport for Scotland want to electrify this stretch eventually. I wonder if they will pile or use more traditional methods or humongous gravity pads for the masts - akin to Chat Moss?

Less than a mile from the derailment site. Concerning

Edit: I should say these are not my images. Nabbed from Twitbook

 

[D1024]

Thats actually the Carron Water underneath not a road.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.9564638,-2.2957939,18z/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[edwin_m]

Looks like some of the sidewall of the bridge has gone too - very similar to the one at Nine Elms.

Possible the rain has increased the amount of water in cracks in the mortar joints, which has then expanded and forced them apart?

 

[theironroad]

Doesn't look good. Fortunately no trains involved in any incidents and no one hurt.

 

[brackieus]

I may be wrong but i'm sure that scour protection work had just been completed on the foundations of this bridge prior to the accident at the West Carron Water bridge about a mile to the south.

 

[221129]

will take more than a day to repair

Closed till at least Monday. (Although planned works had the line closed on Sunday anyway)

 

[PG]

Less than a mile from the derailment site. Concerning

Indeed. Looks like these incidents are happening more often

I'm sure both points will attract the attention of the RAIB, so might well be addressed in the final Carmont report when it is published.
No doubt the mainstream media will have something to say about it too...

National Rail Enquiries lists the incident created at 10:30 this morning so I wonder if it was a previous service that reported it, maybe 2B20 0918 Aberdeen - Montrose as subsequent trains in both directions were delayed or cancelled, looking on RealTimeTrains.

A bridge parapet has collapsed between Laurencekirk and Stonehaven.

Urget repairs to a bridge will be required between Laurencekirk and Stonehaven due to damage caused by severe weather. The lines in both directions are closed. Trains may be cancelled or revised.

Disruption is expected to continue until at least the end of service on Sunday 17 January.

 

[Gloster]

I'm sure both points will attract the attention of the RAIB, so might well be addressed in the final Carmont report when it is published.

Depending on the cause(s), could it be dealt with in the same report as the Nine Elms incident?

 

[PG]

Depending on the cause(s), could it be dealt with in the same report as the Nine Elms incident?

I'm not sure, and to avoid undue speculation, I'll let someone who has a better idea answer that. At the moment it's not certain that Nine Elms will result in a RAIB report.

 

[Class 170101]

I'm not sure, and to avoid undue speculation, I'll let someone who has a better idea answer that. At the moment it's not certain that Nine Elms will result in a RAIB report.

Frankly it should given previous RAIB reports concerning structures and earthworks particularly but not exclusively Watford Tunnels and Stonehaven and the potential consequences that nearly happened there.

 

[Durradan]

Thats actually the Carron Water underneath not a road.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.9564638,-2.2957939,18z/data=!3m1!1e3

Looking at the images is it maybe the Bervie Water under the bridge? Which would put it closer to Laurencekirk.

 

[Rockhopperr]

Looking at the images is it maybe the Bervie Water under the bridge? Which would put it closer to Laurencekirk.

Nope. It’s Between Carmont and Stonehaven.

 

[Durradan]

Nope. It’s Between Carmont and Stonehaven.

Yeah, I see that now. I got thrown off by the yellow field to the right in one of the images. It looks similar on satellite view to another bridge a bit further south of Carmont.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I'm not sure, and to avoid undue speculation, I'll let someone who has a better idea answer that. At the moment it's not certain that Nine Elms will result in a RAIB report.

RAIB have yet to put out any release on Nine Elms but maybe another similar event may get them more interested.

 

[QueensCurve]

It woudl be interesting to see if there are similarities in the construction of this Bridge and the one at Carmont.

 

[fishwomp]

It woudl be interesting to see if there are similarities in the construction of this Bridge and the one at Carmont.

Not really that interesting IMHO. They were likely designed and built same year (+/-1). If they were 100% identical, what would we learn? One got hit by a train derailed by landslip, and the other did not. The first bridge wasn't the cause of the accident.

Bridges are not designed to survive a loco running at them off the tracks. Similarly, motorway barriers are not designed to withstand a 44 tonne lorry impacting at 45 degrees - they're tested at 38 tonne, 20 degrees, 40 mph. Scary.

That this bridge this week wasn't scene of another tragedy is fortunate, but we need to investigate near misses as hard as we do actual incidents - and something went badly wrong here.

 

[PG]

Frankly it should given previous RAIB reports concerning structures and earthworks particularly but not exclusively Watford Tunnels and Stonehaven and the potential consequences that nearly happened there.

That this bridge this week wasn't scene of another tragedy is fortunate, but we need to investigate near misses as hard as we do actual incidents - and something went badly wrong here.

Agreed.

BBC News has picked this up.

Part of a rail bridge has collapsed near the site of the fatal Stonehaven train derailment.
A 24m (79ft) section of the side wall has fallen from the bridge, about a mile north of where three people died when a train left the track and crashed last August.
Network Rail said it was a "structural fault" and not caused by a landslip.
The line between Aberdeen and Dundee remains closed while structural engineers assess the fault.
The structure is located three miles north of Carmont signal box. The collapse was discovered just before 10:00 on Friday.
The rail company said the damage to the parapet was "extensive" and that the line was expected to be closed for a "significant" period of time while repairs to the bridge take place.

‍♂️‍♀️ We've closed the line between Aberdeen and Dundee while our engineers repair a damaged side wall on a bridge near Stonehaven. Specialist structural engineers are assessing the fault and planning repairs. We'll work around the clock to complete repairs as quickly as possible.
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) January 15, 2021

The Network Rail Twitter account told followers engineers would be working around the clock to complete repairs.
Specialist staff are also checking similar bridges as a precaution.
A Network Rail spokesman said: "The line is currently closed while our engineers repair a damaged side wall on a bridge between Carmont and Stonehaven.
"Specialist structural engineers are currently assessing the fault and putting plans in place for its repair.
"Our engineers will be working around-the-clock to complete this work as quickly as possible."

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

You can see how canted up the track is from the pictures. I wonder if they evaluated the impact of the lateral loading on the parapet wall when they did this presumably to increase linespeed for HSTs/158's.

Also day to day track mtce generally allows tampers on a mtce tamp rather than design to lift upto 25mm and progressively the track comes out of the ground and ballast is just replenished leading to increased ballast shoulders bearing on the wall. The movement of trains will transmit some force through the compacted ballast onto the wall especially if the top has gone off although you probably wouldn't expect that through a structure.

Can't see this being repaired over the weekend easily unless some temporary scaffolding and a TSR is deemed sufficient.

 

[PG]

Can't see this being repaired over the weekend easily unless some temporary scaffolding and a TSR is deemed sufficient.

I'd have thought they'll be a TSR in place for a while even when they do reopen it unless they can satisfy themselves that the whole structure is in sound condition.

Have to say I've no qualifications in this field so I might be wildly inaccurate!

 

[edwin_m]

Looking at those photos the ballast has fallen away almost back to the sleeper ends so there is no lateral restraint. It's also the outside of a curve so any train movement would tend to force the track towards the missing parapet and if the weather was warmer there would be a risk of rails buckling. As it is, more rain washing out whatever is underneath the ballast looks much more likely.

So I think this will need a comprehensive repair before that track can be used again. I guess single line working on the other one might be possible but someone would need to do a thorough examination first, to ensure that the rest of the structure is in a better state than the part that collapsed.

 

[221129]

Line closed until at least Friday 22nd Jan 2021.

 

[QueensCurve]

Not really that interesting IMHO. They were likely designed and built same year (+/-1). If they were 100% identical, what would we learn?

Only that there may be a weakness in respect of the parapet. Nothing more.

 

[greyman42]

Was this classed as a landslip?

 

[221129]

Was this classed as a landslip?

Depends who you ask.

 

[alangla]

ScotRail & Network Rail comments https://twitter.com/scotrail/status/1350866586438168576?s=21

 

[swt_passenger]

Was this classed as a landslip?

Not according to Network Rail as quoted in post #20

 

[Hardcastle]

Now closed until end of service 31st January.