A46 bridge work set to start

A 1,300-tonne railway bridge will be installed on the A46 at Bingham over the weekend.

Contractors are due to start work tomorrow and will work over the Christmas holiday to complete the work by Tuesday.

The bridge is part of the A46 dualling scheme. The A46 will not be affected by the work.

Highways Agency senior project manager Geoff Bethel said: “Working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and on the following two bank holidays is the perfect opportunity for us to get the job done with minimum disruption as this is the time of year when there are fewer rail services.

“Our staff will be working round the clock to get the bridge into position and I thank them for giving up their Christmas to do so.”

The work will take the new road under the existing railway.

The railway line at Bingham will be closed from 8.30pm on Christmas Eve until the morning of Tuesday, December 28.

Replacement bus services will run between Nottingham and Grantham.

Once the line closes, the team will remove the existing track and dig out 3,500 cubic metres of railway embankment to reveal six previously-installed concrete columns.

The piles — 2.4 metres in diameter and 17 metres deep — were driven into place over several weekends in September and October.

Track will be laid on the new section of bridge to link with the existing track and, after testing by Network Rail, the line will be re-opened on December 28.

Mr Bethel said: “We are working closely with Network Rail, both in terms of the work itself and to mitigate the effect it will have on rail users. Replacement bus services will be provided and we advise rail passengers to check details of their journey with East Midlands Trains before they travel.”

For more information about East Midlands Trains services visit www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

More information about rail travel during the closure is at www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/seasonal/Christmas_2010/eastmidlands.html