Contractors are on the site of the Great Central Railway’s ambitious Reunification project carrying out three weeks of work, to assess ground conditions. Fresh from the granting of planning consent which will allow the line to go ahead with the work, contractors moved onto site for the ground investigation programme.
Over the course of three weeks, sample pits will be dug along the route of new railway, with some bore holes extending to a depth of 30 metres. The soil samples will be analysed. The work is being led by Cass Hayward, internationally renowned railway bridge specialists.
“The ground investigation is logged and we use it to determine how strong the ground is, to help us design the foundations. The samples are tested in a lab and it all helps to give us a picture of how the ground is likely to behave. The more we know, the fewer surprises, the less risk and the cost is likely to be better for everybody.”
Richard Clough, partner at Cass Hayward
The project will see the creation of an eighteen mile heritage railway by joining two separate halves of the former Great Central main line back together, which requires the construction of 500 metres of new railway.The railway has two and a half million pounds banked for the project but the final cost is expected to be in the tens of millions. You can see the work in progress in the YouTube film below. If you like what you see, please consider a donation by clicking below. Thank you for your support.
