Glasgow Central station is one of the busiest railway stations in the UK outside London, with approximately 38 million people using it each year and an average of 1100 trains per day. The original station was opened by the Caledonian Railway in July 1879 and comprises a labyrinth of masonry and brick arches linked by vaulted arches and supported on substantial masonry piers founded in alluvial deposits. In 2009, as part of their continued commitment to improve rail services in Scotland, Network Rail commissioned the construction of two new tracks into the station, the first for 100 years. This presented a significant engineering challenge as the proposed alignment for the new tracks squeezes through the existing narrow masonry arch entrance structure, runs above a line of vaulted arches, which house a nightclub, theatre and restaurant, and is carried over the existing short-stay car park and ramp on a new reinforced concrete bridge. The new structures had to be supported on the existing Victorian infrastructure, demanding innovative, practical design solutions and skilful construction techniques to enable them to be built quickly and safely in a confined, busy public place.
Crossing the volatile River Nith at Portrack in Dumfriesshire has presented railway engineers with severe problems for over 150 years, at least one previous attempt having been destroyed in a flood. Despite ongoing maintenance and repairs, the existing 11 span wrought iron structure, which carries the increasingly important Glasgow and South West Scotland line over the river, needed urgent replacement to reduce long-term costs and improve the safety and efficiency of the route. Carillion Rail and Scott Wilson Scotland carefully evaluated a number of options before recommending a realignment of the railway, which involved the replacement of two viaducts. Working in an environmentally sensitive location, adjacent to a ‘live’ railway and to a tight deadline required a tremendous amount of planning, cooperation and ingenuity by all parties; even the local estate owner became the project's architectural advisor. The centre-piece of the scheme is a spectacular 90 m curved truss-girder crossing the river, which was erected using the world's largest mobile crane. The meticulous planning and teamwork paid off with the construction of the entire project being completed on time, within budget and without disruption to the railway.
<p>The M8 White Cart Viaduct was designed and constructed in accordance with the Department of Transport (DOT) and British Standards of the time and was opened to traffic in March 1968. It is one of the most important major bridges in Scotland, carrying more than 90,000 vehicles a day. However, following an unfavourable assessment of the bridge in 2001, the Scottish Executive Development Department (SEDD now Transport Scotland (TS)) engaged Scott Wilson Scotland Limited (since acquired by URS) to develop a phased refurbishment strategy to upgrade the bridge. The refurbishment proposals included the replacement of the parapets, replacement of the expansion joints, waterproofing, resurfacing, and strengthening of the steel box girders. This paper describes the design of the refurbishment works, particularly the steel box girder strengthening including the replacement of the vulnerable half-joints.</p>
The replacement of a strategic bridge at a remote, environmentally sensitive location on the UK's main west-coast railway in just five days required a tremendous amount of advance planning. The 135 year old Float viaduct crossing the upper reaches of the River Clyde needed to be replaced as part of Railtrack's upgrade of the busy route to suit 200 km/h electric trains. Working under a fixed-price design-and-construct contract, Carillion and Scott Wilson opted to move both the old bridge deck out and the new bridge deck in by lifting rather than sliding. Apart from the first span initially refusing to move, the meticulously planned project went without a hitch and was completed well within the five-day track possession.
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