WORK on a new bridge over the Glasgow to Edinburgh railway line has begun, with cranes used to expand the iconic Anfield Stadium shipped in for its construction process.
The new dual-lane Winchburgh Rail Overbridge in West Lothian will create a high-capacity road to link traffic from both directions of the M9 to the new town centre via Junction 1B, reducing congestion on local roads and providing easy access to cities for commuters.
When completed the bridge will also feature pedestrian footpaths on either side.
One of the UK’s largest crawler cranes, which is capable of lifting 660 tonnes and was recently used for the expansion of Anfield Stadium, home of Liverpool FC, was transported to West Lothian by contractor I & H Brown for the project.
The installation of three of the beams over the main Edinburgh to Glasgow railway line, each spanning 36.5 metres and sitting 6.5 metres above the rail line, was completed on Monday.
The rest will be installed by July 10.
John Hamilton, CEO of Winchburgh Developments Limited, said: “It has been incredible to see not one, but two, of our key infrastructure projects go forward in the space of just a week.
"Winchburgh is one of Scotland’s biggest placemaking communities, and the fact that we’re seeing such progress is a testament to the commitment of the bridge contractors anddesigners.
Read More: 'A supreme failure': Affordable housing approvals in Scotland drop by 50 per cent
"Both projects require exceptional engineering and planning expertise, and we’re grateful for the support and co-operation we’ve had from both Network Rail and Scottish Canals.
“Now that the main beams are in place, we look forward to completing both the Rail Overbridge and the Canal Bridge by the end of this year so that the local community can reap the benefits of the village’s improved transport infrastructure.”
Duncan Brown, Director for I & H Brown Ltd, said: “Installing the beams for the Rail Overbridge marks a significant construction milestone, and will allow us to push on with the remainder of the project.
"It’s not every day you get to build a bridge over the main railway line between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It’s been a fantastic project for I & H Brown to be involved with alongside our specialist partner Story, and continues our involvement in delivering the Winchburgh Masterplan.”
Larry Higton, Project Manager for I & H Brown Ltd, added: “After many months of planning, it was great to see the first bridge beam lifted into position for our Overbridge Project. This complex operation was undertaken during the early hours of Saturday and Sunday. A special thanks to the project team who worked tirelessly to provide minimal disruption to the community.”
Jamie Corser, Business Development Manager for RJ Mcleod, said: “It’s great to see the development at Winchburgh taking shape. We recently completed the M9 Junction and are well advanced with the Winchburgh Canal Bridge, with half of the 19m long, 29 tonne beams now in place”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel