East London Line progress pictures

Time for another look at East London Line construction progress. You might want to look at the last one and the map of Shoreditch first.

We'll start with the dreaming spires of Dalston Junction - it recently gained a huge assortment of cranes, drills and piling rigs poking out of the station cutting. The trackbed has been tarmacced to allow road access, via a gate on the north-south bit of Richmond Road. They've only just started serious work here, and given the complex plan for the site it's likely to be the last bit to be completed, determining when the line opens.

Next, Haggerston station. They've demolished a couple of viaduct arches to build the station entrance.

The site of Hoxton station. Nothing much to see yet.

The end of the old viaduct in Shoreditch. A new viaduct will curve round to the right, leading to...

The bridge over Shoreditch High Street. The rebar for the abutments on either side is almost complete (left photo, surrounded by scaffolding), and a big bit of bridge deck has been delivered to the site. It'll be very similar in design and size to the new bridge over Regent's Canal between Haggerston and Hoxton.

After going through Shoreditch High Street station (which hasn't changed much since last month) and crossing Brick Lane, we come to the bridge over the Great Eastern Main Line. The abutments were just frames last month, but now they're solid concrete.

The massive framework for the bridge looms over the old Shoreditch station, with Weaver House in the distance. It's a lot like the bridge over Kingsland Road, but twice as long and, carrying only two tracks, half as wide.

Next Installment (March 2008) >>