Werrington grade separation updates

[edwin_m]

... because there isn't sufficient space to launch and receive a large TBM, from the article linked above. I got the impression this would have been preferred if it had been possible.

It's probably a bit of an overkill to buy a large and expensive TBM for a tunnel of a couple of hundred metres. I guess if it's possible to jack a structure as will happen here, then it would be cheaper.

 

[Crun]

More news of line closures with some relevance to the grade separation work:

https://eastcoastupgrade.co.uk/the-programme/

Werrington, north of Peterborough – We’re building a new section of railway to dive under the East Coast Main Line at Werrington so trains, particularly slower freight trains, can reach the line to and from Spalding (known as the Great North Great Eastern line, or GNGE) without having to cross the main line. Once finished, it will free up space on the East Coast Main Line for extra passenger services. You can find out more information on the Network Rail website.

• Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2020
  
  
  Reduced service into King’s Cross Station to continue work on overhead lines and on signals
  
  
  Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November 2020
  
  
  King’s Cross Station closed for overhead line works. No services to or from King’s Cross Station or to or from St Pancras Station via Finsbury Park
  
  
  Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November 2020
  
  
  Reduced service into and out of King’s Cross Station for work on track and overhead lines
  
  
  Thursday 24 December 2020 (Christmas Eve)
  
  
  An amended timetable will be in place
  
  
  Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December 2020 (Christmas Day and Boxing Day)
  
  
  No services along the entire route
  
  
  Sunday 27 through to Wednesday 30 December 2020
  
  
  No services to or from King’s Cross Station
  
  
  Thursday 31 December 2020 through to Sunday 3 January 2021
  
  
  An amended timetable will operate
  
  
  A number of weekends in January 2021 will see an amended timetable into and out of London King’s Cross. We advise customers to check before they travel.
  
  
  Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 January
  
  
  No services to or from King’s Cross Station, or to or from St Pancras Station via Finsbury Park
  
  
  Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February 2021
  
  
  No services to or from King’s Cross Station or to or from St Pancras Station via Finsbury Park.

More photos/videos can be found here:

Photos and videos from Werrington Junction, including work on the grade seperation project

Saturday 10th October 2020, YouTube film of work on the grade separation at Werrington Junction:

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[furnessvale]

It's probably a bit of an overkill to buy a large and expensive TBM for a tunnel of a couple of hundred metres. I guess if it's possible to jack a structure as will happen here, then it would be cheaper.

Yes, the rebore of Farnworth tunnel was done with a simplified TBM.

 

[Crun]

An infographic about the Werrington Junction grade separation:

Google Image Result for https://cdn.ca.emap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/02/Werrington-NCE-Flattened_1.jpg

images.app.goo.gl

 

[bspahh]

https://twitter.com/ECMLupgrade/status/1321108594683715585

has a video with an aerial view over the junction

 

[Crun]

Bad news about the footpath alongside the excavations under the A15. A water main has been damaged and made my passage, even by mountain bike, impossible. The excavation was full to the brim, hence the overflow across the footpath. I had to cross the A15 and be let through a chained up gate after riding through the edge of the muddy flood.

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Men, mud and machines. A YouTube video from Trains on the ECML:

 

[Trackbedjolly]

Does nobody use narrow gauge railways in construction? Would that not be a better way of doing things on a narrow, linear project where materials need to be moved back and forth with limited clearance? That digger is moving one bucket load at a time to some temporary dumping area a hundred meters away; all that will need to be moved again by another machine-all very inefficient in terms of time and cost. Most types of plant are adaptable for railway use. It seems a bit absurd that a railway infrastructure company appears not to have specified (considered?) using a similar technology in which itself has expertise. One might also be able to avoid the consequences of the ground being churned up by rubber-tyred and tracked vehicles.

 

[edwin_m]

Road-rail vehicles seem to be accident-prone enough as they are on standard gauge, without expecting them to cope with the reduced stability that would come with balancing on a narrower track. Alternatively a narrow gauge railway with conventional wagons would need a digger at one end to load it, and another one at the other end to unload, both of which would be idle for over 50% of the time, plus someone to drive the train (or the same person jumping between the three roles). If the digger activity is fairly short term then the time taken to construct and dismantle a temporary railway would probably be disproportionate even if it speeds up the actual task a bit.

 

[jfowkes]

In the particular case of moving the spoil material, some sort of conveyor system would seem more appropriate than a narrow gauge railway - but I'm sure they would have considered that too.

 

[Trackbedjolly]

In the particular case of moving the spoil material, some sort of conveyor system would seem more appropriate than a narrow gauge railway - but I'm sure they would have considered that too.

Road-rail vehicles seem to be accident-prone enough as they are on standard gauge, without expecting them to cope with the reduced stability that would come with balancing on a narrower track. Alternatively a narrow gauge railway with conventional wagons would need a digger at one end to load it, and another one at the other end to unload, both of which would be idle for over 50% of the time, plus someone to drive the train (or the same person jumping between the three roles). If the digger activity is fairly short term then the time taken to construct and dismantle a temporary railway would probably be disproportionate even if it speeds up the actual task a bit.

Yes but it is not just for use in excavation. I mentioned the movement of materials so that includes taking materials onto the site as well as taking them away. One would only need a digger at one end as the spoil could be tipped on the dump area. All this kind of thing was used nearly 200 years ago-nothing new or difficult about it. I agree that it would require a rethink of how the work is carried out as people are not used to using a railway onsite these days. However if it were planned and people were trained then with some flexibility to could be made to work and in this case probably work more efficiently. A conveyor would be better but the site is too constrained for it to be useful. A linear project such as that with vehicles and materials moving along that corridor is surely ideal for railway use but I rather doubt if it was considered. They are in regular use in conjunction with TBMs.

 

[edwin_m]

Yes but it is not just for use in excavation. I mentioned the movement of materials so that includes taking materials onto the site as well as taking them away. One would only need a digger at one end as the spoil could be tipped on the dump area. All this kind of thing was used nearly 200 years ago-nothing new or difficult about it. I agree that it would require a rethink of how the work is carried out as people are not used to using a railway onsite these days. However if it were planned and people were trained then with some flexibility to could be made to work and in this case probably work more efficiently. A conveyor would be better but the site is too constrained for it to be useful. A linear project such as that with vehicles and materials moving along that corridor is surely ideal for railway use but I rather doubt if it was considered. They are in regular use in conjunction with TBMs.

Narrow gauge railways are used in tunnels so people doing this kind of work should be aware of that option. The fact that they chose not to do it here suggests it wasn't the best choice. If nothing else, they would have to keep moving the railway around when the ground needed to be excavated underneath it...

 

[trebor79]

In the particular case of moving the spoil material, some sort of conveyor system would seem more appropriate than a narrow gauge railway - but I'm sure they would have considered that too.

Yes but it is not just for use in excavation. I mentioned the movement of materials so that includes taking materials onto the site as well as taking them away. One would only need a digger at one end as the spoil could be tipped on the dump area. All this kind of thing was used nearly 200 years ago-nothing new or difficult about it. I agree that it would require a rethink of how the work is carried out as people are not used to using a railway onsite these days. However if it were planned and people were trained then with some flexibility to could be made to work and in this case probably work more efficiently. A conveyor would be better but the site is too constrained for it to be useful. A linear project such as that with vehicles and materials moving along that corridor is surely ideal for railway use but I rather doubt if it was considered. They are in regular use in conjunction with TBMs.

I a previous job I was responsible for an internal operation that made about 200,000te per year of soil, and stored and despatched 150,000te per year of a lime product.

All movement of material was by dumper truck, even though the production and storage locations were more or less fixed. In the case of the soil it got moved several times to go through a drying, blending, conditioning and storage process. We probably moved close to 1,000,000te of material internally every year.
An internal narrow gauge railway wouldn't even have been considered. I did start looking at quarry-style conveyors which are relatively cheap and flexible but it didn't really stack up due to the fact that the operations only took place for 6 months of the year. Hiring a lot of dumper trucks was cheaper, easier to manage and more flexible.
One of the sites did manage to put a conveyor in to move the lime product to the storage area some half a mile away. But that took years of persuasion and only got approved through very careful recording of all the lost primary production when dumpers were enable to keep the lime hopper empty (and that was usually because the product was sticking in the hopper rather than the dumper solution not being good enough).
I imagine a lot of the same would be true for a linear site such as this project. In fact having a constrained site probably makes conveyors and railways less suitable, as it's sometimes necessary to change where you've planned to put spoil.

 

[Trackbedjolly]

Narrow gauge railways are used in tunnels so people doing this kind of work should be aware of that option. The fact that they chose not to do it here suggests it wasn't the best choice. If nothing else, they would have to keep moving the railway around when the ground needed to be excavated underneath it...

As I wrote they are used with TBMs Tunnel Boring Machines but they are very specialised items of plant. There could be a space alongside the NG line for excavation but yes there would be a need to move the track across probably more than once during the project lifetime. It needs to be a meticulously planned operation-perhaps that is a problem?
A general construction contractor would not necessarily be expected to have experience of using TBMs. In any case I see it as the responsibility of the Client Network Rail to provide some kind of encouragement to use innovative techniques on its worksites: remote controlled locos, robotic operators. There is no sign of electrically powered vehicles but battery locos could be a factor in diminishing the carbon footprint in construction.

 

[Crun]

More photos/videos can be found here:

Photos and videos from Werrington Junction, including work on the grade seperation project​

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CGI film by Mark Carey of how the dive under might look:

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A two page article by Paul Stephen on the East Coast Main Line dive-under is in the 18th November to December 1st, Issue 918 edition of RAIL magazine

 

[Crun]

More photographs and films can be found here:

Photos and videos from Werrington Junction, including work on the grade seperation project

Saturday 10th October 2020, YouTube film of work on the grade separation at Werrington Junction:

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[8stewartt]

It looks as though a new signalled move is being installed to allow trains on the up fast and up slow to cross over at Tallington, and run along the down slow in the up direction and onto the up stamford and into the station, presumably to keep some form of service running whilst the blockade is on. The new signal and associated speed signs are currently bagged over.

 

[Class 170101]

It looks as though a new signalled move is being installed to allow trains on the up fast and up slow to cross over at Tallington, and run along the down slow in the up direction and onto the up stamford and into the station, presumably to keep some form of service running whilst the blockade is on. The new signal and associated speed signs are currently bagged over.

OLE Wiring as well?

 

[59CosG95]

OLE Wiring as well?

No, no additional wiring. Why bother with that when you can run a limited service with bi-modal units? Besides, the OLE, if installed on the temporary Up Stamford, would have to be ripped up when that line gets removed. Far better to wire the Up Stamford when the project is done.

 

[Tim_UK]

https://twitter.com/DavidHorne/status/1348697667858292741

David Horne:

This afternoon I’ve chaired the final cross-industry review of readiness before the partial closure of the East Coast main line next week to move this 11,000 tonne concrete box into place for the new diveunder junction at Werrington, near Peterborough. All good!

 

[Freightmaster]

https://twitter.com/DavidHorne/status/1348697667858292741

David Horne: ...All good!

Let's hope the 'bridge slide' goes somewhat better than the one at Patchway did last year!




MARK

 

[Bald Rick]

Let's hope the 'bridge slide' goes somewhat better than the one at Patchway did last year!




MARK

The teams have been in touch...

 

[59CosG95]

Another update: there will be another weekend closure of the ECML south of Grantham (and the Stamford Lines) on the first weekend in June.
From the Friday (4/6/21) to the Sunday (6/6/21) there will be no connecting trains between Stamford & Peterborough, and on the Saturday (5/6/21) and Sunday LNER won't go any further south than Grantham.
Buses will run from Grantham to Peterboro', and also to Bedford for Thameslink connections; there won't be any Thameslink ECML service at all (KGX is also closed).

This should be the weekend that the diveunder lines and the new, permanent Up Stamford (adj. to the Down Fast) get commissioned.

 

[edwin_m]

Wasn't there talk of running a limited service through via the Down Stamford? If so it seems to have disappeared.

 

[59CosG95]

Wasn't there talk of running a limited service through via the Down Stamford? If so it seems to have disappeared.

For the blockade next week, that's still happening. EMR Notts - Norwich services are running via Melton Mowbray rather than Grantham to facilitate LNER services using the chord at Helpston.
For the weekend mini-blockade in June, it's a different matter.

 

[Ediswan]

This project came up on the local BBC TV news this evening. "First of its kind" apparently, but they didn't say why. Does anybody know where that claim comes from ? Building a bridge/tunnel to one side then pushing into place with hydraulics is not new. Is it because this one is curved ?

 

[swt_passenger]

This project came up on the local BBC TV news this evening. "First of its kind" apparently, but they didn't say why. Does anybody know where that claim comes from ? Building a bridge/tunnel to one side then pushing into place with hydraulics is not new. Is it because this one is curved ?

It’s the curvature, yes. It’s described that way in an earlier part of this discussion, I’ll try and find it - post #330 in this thread quotes the New Civil Engineer website which seems to introduce the process as being a first.

The novel feature seems to be a pair of sacrificial pilot tunnels with tracks fitted to guide the front face of the box section.

 

[Bald Rick]

It’s the curvature, yes. It’s described that way in an earlier part of this discussion, I’ll try and find it - post #330 in this thread quotes the New Civil Engineer website which seems to introduce the process as being a first.

The novel feature seems to be a pair of sacrificial pilot tunnels with tracks fitted to guide the front face of the box section.

Yep, curved box jacking with pilot tunnels. Everyone’s at the start line...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Hopefully NR will publish a time-lapse video of it. I am sure they will.

 

[Ediswan]

Thanks for answers. Some reading to be done. I was not aware of the work until today.

Those are very big hydraulic jacks.

 

[Nottingham59]

There's a short BBC news story and video of it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cambridgeshire-55680675

A curved concrete box weighing more than the Eiffel Tower is to be pushed underground to form a new railway tunnel.
Starting on Saturday, it will take nine days to slowly move the 11,000-tonne, 155m (510ft) structure into place under the East Coast Main Line at Werrington, near Peterborough.
Ed Akers, from Network Rail, said: "This ginormous portal that we've built to the side of the tracks, we're going to physically push that with hydraulic jacks and steering equipment."
Engineers said the technique had never been used in the UK before and meant trains on the London to Edinburgh route could continue with a reduced timetable, rather than needing to be stopped entirely for a month.