We wanted to let residents know that the railway bridge on Old Lodge Lane, which is located near to Reedham station, requires further refurbishment works, which will then give the bridge a maintenance free life of 15 to 20 years and will improve the appearance of the bridge.
The road under the bridge will close on the following weekends:
- 12-15 July 2024
- 28-29 December 2024
- 11 -12 January 2025
- 22-23 March 2025.
You can check the impact on the network, and the proposed diversion at https://one.network/?GBTMI32715611.
Network Rail have written to nearby residents with the following information. We hope that you will find this useful in planning your journey at the time when the bridge will be shut.
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Information from Network Rail
Regrettably, during a routine inspection of the bridge while we were carrying out these works, we found some further deterioration in the hidden elements of the bridge’s steelwork. These hidden steel elements could only be seen as we started to prepare the bridge for painting.
For safety reasons any significant repairs must go through a design process to make sure that the strengthening work is approved by the appropriate engineer, therefore we were not able to carry out the repairs while we were previously there. Therefore, we are sorry to have to let you know that we need to return to carry out these further strengthening and painting works.
We do appreciate that this may cause some inconvenience to you, and we would like to thank you for the support and co-operation that you have shown us. We have planned these works so that they can take place during weekend line closures in July 2024, December 2024, January 2025, and March 2025 as shown in the table below, but we will write to you again nearer the time with further information on the next phases of these works.
The works are due to start from 20:00 on the 13 July 2024 to 05:00 the 15 July 2024.
The work will involve carrying out steelwork repairs to the underside of the bridge and high-pressure water jetting from the trackside to remove any debris and then paint.
To facilitate these works, there will be traffic management in place which will involve a full road closure and bus stop suspensions on Old Lodge Lane during the weekend closure. Old Lodge Lane will be closed during the weekend from 20:00 on Saturday the 13 July 2024 to 05:00 Monday the 15 July 2024.
Pedestrians will still be able to walk from one side of the structure to the other within a protected scaffold tunnel during the closures. We will also be installing additional signage to make sure customers know that the businesses are still open as usual. There will be a shuttle bus service operating during this time which will replace the normal bus services.
The shuttle bus services will operate as follows:
- Shuttle buses will operate on Saturday from 20:00 to 23:00 and on Sunday the 14 July from 05:30 to 23:00 during the weekend closure.
- The shuttle bus will travel up and down Old Lodge Lane, stopping at each bus stop from Reedham station to New Valley School every 20 minutes.
- A separate bus service will run from Old Lodge Lane at the bridge to Tesco Extra in Purley. This bus will also stop at the Grovesdale bus stop on the way to Tesco.
The works have been planned to be carried out as follows, however should these dates change due to operational reasons we will write to you again. Due to the nature of the works, you may experience some disturbance, but every effort will be made to minimise as much noise as possible.
Due to the nature of the work, you may experience some disturbance which will be unavoidable. We apologise for any disturbance and inconvenience that these essential works may cause you to make sure we can run a safe, reliable railway.
All staff working on site are fully briefed on working responsibly in the local community and keeping noise levels to an absolute minimum level.
Delivering the highest standards of safety is paramount to our work and keeping people safe on and around the railway railway is at the heart of everything we do. We’re obliged to work, whenever possible at times that cause the least disruption to train services. Unfortunately, this means carrying out a lot of our improvements during the night and at weekends.
I hope this information is helpful to you and we apologise for any inconvenience that these works may cause you. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please telephone our 24-Hour National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41 or visit www.networkrail.co.uk quoting Old Lodge Lane Bridge Refurbishment Works.
See our blogs on the bridge works in 2023:
