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Ballast Train bends Bridge

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fat_boy_pete

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Alas another Network Rail infrastructure cock up. The High Output Ballast Train operating on the GMEL has seriously bent an original GER Brick underbridge. :oops::roll:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33408093
Rail bridge cracks: Ballast replacement train investigated

Operations to replace track ballast on the line between Norwich and London may have caused a bridge in Essex to crack.

Network Rail (NR) said it was investigating if procedures were followed during work on Sunday morning.

A long-term project is under way along the line to replace worn out ballast chippings that support tracks.

The "ballast cleaner train" crews lay new material under tracks on lines and over bridges but this is the first time damage has occurred, NR said.

Masonry crumbled on the railway bridge between Witham and Hatfield Peverel when the train was working nearby.

Speed restrictions are in place as NR carries out repair work but it is not known how long this will take...
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fat_boy_pete

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DarloRich said:
alas according to the media/twitter it didn't!
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Well according to Network Rail spokesman, they think they did.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/update_network_rail_maintenance_train_damaged_railway_bridge_in_essex_as_disruption_expected_until_sunday_1_4140223

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Damage to the railway bridge at Blunts Hall in Witham was discovered on Sunday morning.

“Following temporary repairs, which took place throughout Sunday and on Sunday night, both lines reopened on Monday morning. A temporary speed limit is in place over the bridge – 40mph in one direction and 20mph in the other – meaning journeys through the affected area are taking a few minutes longer than normal.

“Engineers will inspect the bridge further to see if the speed limit over the bridge can be increased further and further repairs will also need to be carried out to the brickwork.

“Network Rail’s High Output Ballast Cleaner – which renews the crushed rock foundation on which the tracks and sleepers are laid – was working on the section of the track above the bridge when the damage occurred. We are currently reviewing if all procedures were followed during this work.
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snowball

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It looks to me from the picture that the damage is to the parapets rather than the substructure that holds the bridge up.
 
The Snap

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Looks to me like they've dumped too much ballast in the cess which has increased the load on the parapet, pushing the brickwork out.

I don't think it's anything more than that.

Either that or it's been smashed with a road-railer and they don't want to admit it! <D
 
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DarloRich

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fat_boy_pete said:
Well according to Network Rail spokesman, they think they did.
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Sadly, once again, if you read the statement it simply says the HOBC teams found the damage not that they created it.

The BBC report even quotes a spokesman as saying:

BBC said:
"It is not yet clear what caused the damage to the bridge and we continue to investigate how it happened"
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Now it is quite possible the HOBC caused the damage but that isn't confirmed at this stage.
 
najaB

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DarloRich said:
Sadly, once again, if you read the statement it simply says the HOBC teams found the damage not that they created it.

Now it is quite possible the HOBC caused the damage but that isn't confirmed at this stage.
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I'd put money on the actual failure having occurred ages ago, but it wasn't visible until the HOBC changed the load on the parapet. Had a (slightly) similar situation with a retaining wall near my house last year, it failed during the winter but it took until summer for it to actually fall down, with a slow-motion creep of the earth from above.
 
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jimm

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L&Y Robert said:
Is the "Crushed rock" referred to by the NR spokesman what we engineers would call ballast?
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Yes, but the spokesman is trying to put it in terms that people not necessarily familiar with the nuances of railway vocabulary could understand. Is there something wrong with that?
 
dk1

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Not too much of an issue on the down as TSR has been raised to 40mph. Its up road that causes issues. The TSR is still 20mph & with the neutral section & the 60mph TSR through Witham it only takes a slightly late running Norwich service to have an impact on the Braintree coming off the branch. I was suprised that it was delayed 5mins for us to pass today & must have been at least 8-9 down by Chelmsford. During the peak when timings are extremelly tight you can see why they need to thin the service out a tad.
 
DaveNewcastle

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I don't know what the details of the damage are - the platform edge may even be unscathed and perhaps the damage is confined to the track through platform 2 (the main northbound platform).
 
High Dyke

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SpacePhoenix said:
What's the most probable cause?
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Is it possible that whilst the HOBC didn't directly cause any damage to the bridge part of the process that is required to facilitate the HOBC has caused a problem. Lack of a stress relieving trench for example?

As for the incident in Newcastle a colleague of mine advises it could be a track defect as the likely cause. Whilst there was some superficial damage to the affected train all wagons were deemed in gauge and fit for continue after being examined.
 
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SpacePhoenix

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On a TV program I saw a special machine that vibrated the track a hell of a load of times to simulate a few k of trains passing over it, would that machine have been used for the track over the bridge?
 
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chrissawer

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Paul Sidorczuk said:
Is that similar to what occurred at the platform at Moston station near Manchester, or was that a different type of platform damage from a passing train?
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Moston was quite a nasty one with one end of the platform seriously damaged. It still hasn't been fixed - they've demolished that end of the platform and put a temporary fence up.
 
High Dyke

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SpacePhoenix said:
On a TV program I saw a special machine that vibrated the track a hell of a load of times to simulate a few k of trains passing over it, would that machine have been used for the track over the bridge?
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The Snap said:
Yeah it's called a tamper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamping_machine
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As mentioned by The Snap.

In the incident on the GEML this train was working in the area. Thread here: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73065
 
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jimm

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The Snap said:
Yeah it's called a tamper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamping_machine
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No, it's called a dynamic stabiliser, which follow tampers along the track to compact the ballast by surface vibration. A tamper lifts the sleepers slightly and packs the ballast in around them.

None of which is relevant in this case, as the train at fault was the high-output ballast cleaner, as clearly noted in the statement from Network Rail quoted in post 4.
 
DarloRich

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scott118

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-33443162


Trains have been running at a reduced speed over the bridge on Blunts Hall Road, Witham, since the damage was spotted on Sunday.
The repairs will also have a knock-on effect for road users, who are having to follow a four-mile diversion route.
Network Rail said further repairs to the brickwork were "urgently required".

Cracks appeared on the bridge over the weekend
Ballast that supports the line was being replaced at the weekend as part of a £170m upgrade of the mainline.
Network Rail said procedures were not followed and there was a build up of rock on one side of the bridge, that put too much pressure on it.
A letter to residents said: "J Murphy and Sons Ltd, working on behalf of Network Rail, will be undertaking this essential repair work to the railway bridge.
"The works will be continuous and require the road to be closed until 7 August 2015."
Network Rail told BBC Essex that the road under the bridge would be open "as soon as possible, and that could be next week".
 
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