A new footbridge that will be installed at Dumfries Railway Station has been built by engineers in an offsite trial.
Network Rail will install the footbridge and new lifts as part of its £3.6 million access for all scheme to make the station more accessible for those with reduced mobility, prams, and luggage.
The bridge’s steelwork, which was fabricated by M&S Engineering Ltd, was inspected and approved for the next stages of production by the project team. The footbridge weighs 51 tonnes and has 2,389 parts pieced together with 973 bolts. Incorporating details from the original footbridge, it includes a saltire design on the parapet and curved detail on the deck.
The trial build was undertaken in Annan, with the bridge now set to be dismantled and painted before being transported to Dumfries ahead of its night time installation by crane on Saturday April 13.
Preparatory works on site ahead of the installation have been making ‘great progress’ over the past months, Network Rail said. Pile installation is complete and work is now focussed on building the lift shafts and bridge foundations to support the new crossing, with 100 cubic metres of concrete and 20 tonnes of reinforcement to be used to construct the foundations.
Amanda Naughton, Network Rail’s scheme project manager for Dumfries station’s accessibility improvements, said, “It was great to see the bridge assembled and to get a sense of what it will look like ahead of installation.
“We are delighted with the progress that has been made on this project and would like to thank passengers and the wider public for their patience while this work is ongoing.”
