The skilled art of brickwork ‘pointing’ got a special mention when AmcoGiffen’s craftsmen were put to the test in a West Yorkshire town where they had just days to put the finishing touches to two infilled bridge spans.
MVN2/178 Woodhouse Lane bridge in Brighouse crosses the Leeds to Manchester line, however, two of the structure’s six spans were deemed to be under-strength and in poor condition.
Partner, Jon Livesey, takes up the story: “The four masonry arches were fine, but two metallic spans at one end of the bridge – they once crossed former sidings lines – were nearing the end of their life.
“All parties – namely HBPW, Network Rail (NR) and contractor AmcoGiffen – agreed that these two spans were unlikely to be used again and, to all intents and purposes, were redundant.”
NR’s initial remit was to carry out a feasibility study to determine how best to deal with the two metal spans, however, because of their location, and the fact that they no longer had a meaningful use, it quickly became obvious that the solution was to infill the two spans, negating the need for a feasibility study.
“Utilising the principles of PACE and SPEED, which allow great project flexibility, we all agreed to move straight to a combined F001/F002/F003 design submission for infilling the spans,” added Jon, “utilising the tried and tested solution of masonry faced concrete block walls with the infilling in foamed concrete.”
The solution created a maintenance free outcome, completely in keeping with the surrounding area and existing bridge, but it also delivered another benefit that came as something of a surprise to Mr Livesey!
“I have to say that the masonry facing was exceptional, a word I rarely use, and I only have praise for the stonemasons who worked on this job. The stone utilised was new, however, the arrangement of the replacement stonework was identical to the original one from an earlier century.
“Someone really thought this job through before they started and it shows. This is not easy stonework to lay but the outcome was superb.”
Client: Network Rail
Contractor: AmcoGiffen