Reduced clearance below low bridge (Tan Lane, Marsh Barton, Exeter).

[Bornin1980s]

While travelling by bus through Marsh Barton, Exeter, I recently noticed that the clearance below the railway bridge at Tan Lane has been reduced to 10'3"/3.1m. It used to be 10'6". Why the reduction, and can it be raised again? As it is, it looks like a new fleet of electric buses ordered for the route under the bridge will be too tall (height 3.2m).

 

[stuu]

While travelling by bus through Marsh Barton, Exeter, I recently noticed that the clearance below the railway bridge at Tan Lane has been reduced to 10'3"/3.1m. It used to be 10'6". Why the reduction, and can it be raised again? As it is, it looks like a new fleet of electric buses ordered for the route under the bridge will be too tall (height 3.2m).

Either the road surface has changed or the bridge has been surveyed and found to be lower than previously recorded... either way it is unlikely to be a change that has happened on the railways

 

[ollyexe2808]

While travelling by bus through Marsh Barton, Exeter, I recently noticed that the clearance below the railway bridge at Tan Lane has been reduced to 10'3"/3.1m. It used to be 10'6". Why the reduction, and can it be raised again? As it is, it looks like a new fleet of electric buses ordered for the route under the bridge will be too tall (height 3.2m).

@stuu is correct, I believe this is due to road resurfacing a couple of years ago - a new layer of tarmac was applied which probably reduced the clearance underneath. There are further plans to amend the Tan Lane route for buses I believe, as part of the new Haven Banks/Marsh Barton development, though I don't know exactly what those plans are.

 

[padbus]

@stuu is correct, I believe this is due to road resurfacing a couple of years ago - a new layer of tarmac was applied which probably reduced the clearance underneath. There are further plans to amend the Tan Lane route for buses I believe, as part of the new Haven Banks/Marsh Barton development, though I don't know exactly what those plans are.

The new development is to be squeezed in between the rail line and the Exeter Ship Canal. Whilst access to the site will not use the Tan Lane Bridge it is included in the plans because there is a second bridge under the railway formerly used by a rail line to Exeter Quay. This, apparently, is higher than the existing road bridge so the plan is to divert the road under it and convert the existing road to a footpath and cycleway.

This information has come from the planning application on the Exeter City Council website (www.Exeter.Gov.uk). The planning ref is 23/1007/OUT. The specific link is https://publicaccess.exeter.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage. There are many, many documents listed but the most relevant is https://planningdocs.exeter.gov.uk/servlets/direct/Kjf0SuAX2IwqremJD40/2/868899/1/1/AS_PDF_FILE. This is an annotated pdf drawing showing what is planned for Tan Lane bridge so I cannot copy and paste it into the text of this message but here is a screen grab of part of it with a little diagram showing a bus fitting through the bridge. The bus that has been chosen as an example is a 11.20 metre SLF Dart which, according to the diagram notes is 11.009 metres long. Whilst the document is not specific about the height of the proposed bridge, the diagram suggests it is more than 3.3 metres.

The whole area was the port and industrial area of Exeter and there are many commercial buildings to be demolished. Work had just started on this when I was there last week but I suspect it will be a long time before any work is done on the Tan Lane bridges.

What ever is done will not really impact the railway so should this thread be merged into the Stagecoach SW thread in the buses part of the forum?

 

[Bornin1980s]

Yes, I would have posted in Stagecoach SW thread if it wasn't for the rule against double posting, though I did edit my last post there.

Of course, it should be a priority not to impact the railway.