NETWORK Rail engineers are to carry out repair work on a damaged bridge between Stonehaven and Montrose until Monday (February 1).
Located three miles north of Carmont, the rail bridge has been closed since January 15 after masonry fell from the sidewall on its southbound side. The rail management firm confirmed that full structural assessments have been completed on the 19th century crossing and plans are in place to complete its repairs.
Network Rail said its engineers will work ‘around-the-clock’ to fix the damaged sidewall and to provide additional strengthening of the bridge deck beneath the southbound line. It said to do this, engineers will first install additional concrete supports on the bridge deck to help retain and support the track and ballast.
The parapet wall will then be reconstructed and ties installed on the bridge to further strengthen the masonry on the structure. Once this is complete, the ballast and track will be relaid.
Network Rail’s capital delivery director for Scotland’s railway, Kris Kinnear, said, “We’re working hard to quickly deliver these repairs and reopen the line, but these are significant engineering works and will take time to complete.
”The rural location of the bridge and the fact our engineers will be working at considerable height in an exposed location also mean this project is a challenging one for our team.
“We are working around-the-clock to safely reopen the railway as soon as we possibly can for our customers.”
