Bridge 11 Renewal Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

DELIVERING MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWALS USING VOLUNTEERS

JAMES BARLOW CHIEF CIVIL ENGINEER - KWVR Introduction

• Civil & Structural Engineering MEng, University of Leeds. • Design Engineer (Drainage) for Network Rail Design Delivery.

• Joined KWVR as a volunteer in October 2010. • Civil Maintenance Department Secretary from 2014 to 2017. • Appointed the Railway’s Chief Civil Engineer in November 2019 following the retirement of my predecessor. The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway • Just under five miles long. • Runs from Keighley to Oxenhope, via Ingrow, Damems, Oakworth and Haworth. • Opened in 1867 by local wealthy mill owners. • Closed by British Rail in 1962. • Reopened in June 1968 by the Keighley & Worth Valley Preservation Society. KWVR Civil Maintenance Department • 100% volunteer department. • Volunteers from a variety of backgrounds. • ‘Transatlantic Bridge Construction Company’ (TBCC). • Maintenance of all Civil, Track and S&T assets. • Midweek and weekend working parties. • Two, week long possessions in the Spring and Autumn. Bridge 11 • South of Ingrow Tunnel. • River Worth crossing. INGROW WEST STATION • Opened as a timber trestle structure. • Rebuilt in 1904 with stone abutments, iron beams and timber INGROW TUNNEL deck. • Two spans approximately 8m each ROAD ACCESS • Skew of 25 to 30 degrees. • At a gradient of 1:50. • First KWVR works to the bridge in 1975, with the timber deck being renewed. BRIDGE 11 Bridge 11 Bridge 11 Bridge 11 Design Development • Identified for renewal within 10 years around 2010. • Design Development began in 2015, originally for timber deck renewal only. • Evolved into renewal of the full deck and beams. • Design undertaken by Cass Hayward. • Each span precast - two x L beams and two flat internal T beams. • Stitch joints with concrete poured on site. • New bearings on existing abutments and pier.

SECTION PLAN Planning & Preparatory Work • 19 day possession agreed for March 2020. • Preparation works January 2020: • Access walkway in Ingrow Tunnel. • Removal of 50mm of cant to allow use of rail cranes. • Crane outrigger bases for the 50T steam crane. • Site clearance for storage. • Temporary diversion of overhead telegraph wire. • Resident letter drop. Beam Delivery

• Eight pre-cast concrete beams delivered over two days. • 80T Road Crane hired in to load beams onto KWVR rail wagons at Ingrow West Station. • Bahamas Loco Society (BLS) 50T steam crane unloaded on- site. • Delivery allowed familiarity with the lifting eyes and manoeuvrability of beams with the BLS Crane. • Volunteer PIC, Crane Foreman and Appointed Person. Planning & Preparatory Work • Construction Phase Plan, Method Statements, Risk Assessments and Lifting Plan. • Six different cranes used: • Four KWVR based rail cranes. • Two hired road cranes. • Scaffold bridge to provide access throughout works. • Arrange for overnight security throughout. • Major flooding at Haworth during February 2020. KWVR Rail Cranes Site Set Up

12/03/2020 – 15/03/2020 • Scaffold bridge installed. • Site office, access points, walking routes and site signage set up. • Paperwork printed. • Materials, plant and tools transported to Ingrow Station & Yard. • Engineering trains assembled in right order. • Possession taken at 07:00 on 16/03/20. Demolition

16/03/2020 – 18/03/2020 DAY 1 to 3 of 19 • 50T steam crane in position at 15:00 on day one. • Track removal started immediately, using diesel crane and excavator. • Bridge deck progressively dismantled from south to north. • Beams lifted out once timber deck was removed. • Abutments swept and debris removed to prepare for installation of new bearings. Bearings

18/03/2020 – 22/03/2020 DAY 3 to 7 of 19 • Existing stonework reused. • Elastomeric strip type with steel spread plates beneath to be installed. • Existing stonework not level, concrete and high strength grout required to make up levels. • Elastomeric strip sat on layer of Sikadur 31 adhesive mortar. • Setting out undertaken by J. Murphy & Sons Volunteer. North Span Installation – 23/03/20 23/03/2020 DAY 8 of 19 • Only lifts not undertaken in house. • Track removed to allow access. • 100T road crane from Emsley Crane Hire. • All beams landed by 15:00. • 10mm compressible board installed. • Crane remained on site overnight. COVID-19

• No suggestion we should not start on Monday the 16th March. • Things developed rapidly during the week with daily changes to our advice to volunteers. • 20:30 on 23/03/20, Prime Minister's national press conference. • Reduced numbers of available volunteers. • Rapid planning for essential demobilisation to take place the following day. Demobilisation 24/03/2020 Day 9 of ???? • All power tools, chemicals and anything else of value removed from Ingrow. • Two inverted T beams temporarily installed on south span. • BLS 50T Steam Crane was taken from site to Haworth for safe storage. • Locomotives ‘trapped’ north of the bridge were stored in the Vintage Carriage Trust Museum at Ingrow. • Site fully cleared and made safe. • We said bye and went home… Return to Volunteering

• Limited work restarted in early June. • Reopened the railway to engineering trains. • Remaining sleepers and ballast north of bridge removed. • Deck end drainage at north end installed. • £50,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant received. • Ability to shunt north of bridge significantly reduced due to presence of Northern Class 144 Fleet. Restart – 113 days later 17/07/2020 DAY 124 of 138 • All work undertaken within COVID-19 Guidelines. • Complex operational move required in order to return the crane to site. • Re-established site office and site access. South Span Installation

18/07/20 DAY 125 of 138 • Installed in one day by the BLS 50T steam crane. • Road crane not on site as originally planned. • Beams landed at 11:45, 15:45, 15:55 and 16:30 • BLS crane removed from site the following day. Follow Up Civils 20/07/20 – 24/07/20 DAY 127 to 131 of 138 • Whole week focussed on follow up civils. • Stitch joint reinforcement installed. • RN Wooler undertaking formwork and concrete pouring. • Stitch joint concrete poured. • Deck end concrete poured. • Loose-laid waterproofing, installed by Waterseal three days early. Track Reinstatement 25/07/20 – 31/07/20 DAY 132 to 138 of 138 • All rails retained. • New sleepers over structure. • Chairs, keys and spikes replaced as required. • New ballast over structure. • Reinstated over six days including reinstating cant. Track reinstatement and demobilisation

• Scaffold Bridge finally removed on 31st July. • Lots of volunteers turned up in final week so we pressed ahead with tidy up using spare resources. • Cleaned Ingrow West Station for return to a station. • Possession handed back after 138 days at 19:00 on Friday 31st July. Before and After First Trains & Remaining Work Thank Yous

• Although I was the overall project lead many other people were essential to delivering this project. • Track Engineering – Joe Curtis • Appointed Person – John Reddyhoff • Design and Planning – Arthur Walker • BLS and VCT at Ingrow for their support in delivering this project. • My wife as an ever patient engineer provided loads of support in the background with documentation. • My colleagues in NRDD, Taziker and J Murphy and Sons for providing key technical assistance in the build up and then helping with supervision on site using volunteer days. Using Volunteers

• Volunteers used for the vast majority of the project with the exception of: • Design – Cass Hayward. • Scaffold Bridge – Network Scaffolding. • Road Crane Lifts – Emsley Crane Hire. • Concreting – RN Wooler. • Waterproofing – Waterseal. • Overnight Security – Controlled Space. • Helped keep total cost to around £155,000, including design. Using Volunteers

• Over 100 different volunteers used on the job. • Roles included: CATERING DRIVER RESPONSIBLE OFFICER VEGETATION CONTROL TRACK INSPECTOR SITE FOREMAN CIVIL ENGINEER SLINGER STATION CARETAKER SECOND MAN LABOURER MACHINE OPERATOR GUARD APPOINTED PERSON S&T ENGINEER CRANE DRIVER TRACK ENGINEER CRANE FOREMAN LOOKOUT S&T LINESMAN MECHANICAL ENGINEER SURVEYOR TEA MAKER CHAINSAW Come Join Us!

I hope you have found this interesting, if you would be interested in getting involved from joining our maintenance gang to getting involved in our major projects. Please get in touch at: • [email protected] • www.kwvr.co.uk/getinvolved In three years we will be replacing Bridge 27, with options currently being developed. Thanks for Listening

Any Questions?