GE19 bridge push: Day 2
After getting the GE19 bridge most of the way across yesterday, it was moved into its final position overnight. Here are some photos of it in its final position:
The extension on the front has ended up completely across Brick Lane:
It's not obvious in this picture, but the front extension curves upwards significantly. This meant as the bridge was pushed the front was lifted up, raising the bridge from the horizontal (how it was built) to a 1 in 30 gradient (needed to get the line over Brick Lane).
The area where the bridge was assembled:
If you look immediately underneath you can see the bracket where the strand jack was attached, and a corresponding hole in the framework on the ground that the cable was anchored to.
Inside the Bishopsgate Goods Yard compound:
The wall in the distance is obviously where the site borders Brick Lane. There's a fair gap between the under construction viaduct and the bridge, though the viaduct posts have been ready for a while. As far as I'm aware, the bridge over Brick Lane will simply be a concrete viaduct span rather than anything special.
Finally, a slightly wonky Autostitched panorama of the whole site:
From left to right: Bushes atop the Braithwaite Viaduct, Shoreditch High Street bridge (very small), Shoreditch High Street station, the extension, Brick Lane, the bridge, the bridge construction site, and just out of shot, Shoreditch tube station.
5 comments:
Wow. It really passes quite low over Brick Lane. That'll take some getting used to.
I don't imagine it'll be long before the natives make something 'special' out of that concrete viaduct span.
Obvioulsy being a regular vistor to LC, I knew this bridge move was happenning months ago, but this morning, as I passed beneath it for the first time I looked round the train carriage to see if anyone else was clocking it, but everyone seemed totally oblivious to the change except for one lady in her late 30's.
She looked up and we caught each other's gaze. I smiled and as I got off the train, she caught up with me and we started chatting about the bridge and the LC website. She's also a subscriber.
In short, the majority of commuters just carried on reading their papers / listening to their music / doing their make-up, but it turns out there are others out there who respect such feats of engineering.
Thanks to LC for the excellent coverage.
Good work over the weekend - have you a granstand seat arranged for New Cross for next weekend as well!
MS
Antonio: Too right - the yellow brick wall in the first picture was only built at Christmas.
MS: There's no organized viewing area at the New Cross Gate site, so I shan't be getting in. I'll probably end up going down there a couple of times during the weekend, but I don't know how much I'll be able to see. Hopefully there'll be a webcam again.
Excellent Work …..
….. by both the construction and blog teams.
I can even see how a bridge can be slid into the gap it is to occupy without falling into the hole in between!
The BBC should have covered the progress of this project instead of bleating about the possibility of another overrun on their local news reports.
People are more understanding (and forgiving) of problems when they are aware of the circumstances.
This bridge construction and delivery is a very clever bit of engineering – it is a disaster that this type of achievement goes unsung.
This is a most excellent blog – I spent a couple of very informative, educational and entertaining hours on Saturday evening reading through it.
If there is no spectator gallery at New Cross Gate, Mr Thant should be given a hard hat, safety boots, high vis vest and the freedom of the site!
This is good (excellent) publicity!
Grumpy Bear
Post a Comment