THE Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) has just completed its biggest-ever civil engineering project, the £1.25 million renewal of Bridge 27 in Haworth, on time.
The railway is on schedule to reopen the line from Haworth to its upper terminus Oxenhope on Saturday (September 21) after being closed for a planned 19 days to allow the railway’s volunteer civil engineering team, supported by specialist contractors, to undertake the project.
The work to replace the bridge which spans Bridgehouse Beck, a tributary of the River Worth, climaxed with a giant 450-tonne crane lifting in a new bridge deck on Saturday, September 14.
James Barlow, the KWVR’s Chief Civil Engineer said: ” These 19 days have been the culmination of over a decade’s work by volunteers preparing for this incredibly complex civil engineering project.
“To deliver this scale of work with volunteers, supported by industry specialists, is a credit to the KWVR and its voluntary workforce who spent 2500 hours over the three weeks, as well as the designers, contractors and other suppliers who worked alongside us.”
The project was made possible because the KWVR was awarded £1 million from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund which is part of the “Levelling Up’ programme.
The old bridge was built in 1889 as part of a reconstruction of an earlier bridge erected in 1867 for the opening of the line and its renewal was essential due to the condition of the ageing structure and its supports.
Mr Barlow explained: “We have had the replacement of Bridge 27 on our radar for more than 10 years and we’ve been planning its renewal since around 2015.
“We’ve worked on the new design with our designers Cass Hayward since 2019 and engaged with our main contractor, Beaver Bridges, since July 2023.
“Additionally, during the last two years we’ve been working with the Environment Agency to ensure that our project would not adversely impact the river and their support in delivering this project has been fantastic.”
Contractors Keller installed twelve reinforced concrete piles behind the existing structure in May. Once that task was completed, volunteers restored the rails to enable the KWVR’s summer services to run and the engineers to complete the work in September.
Following the final day of the KWVR’s summer services on Sunday, September 1, the heritage railway’s volunteer staff removed the track and the old bridge to allow contractors to re-start work on Monday, September 2nd.
The Ingrow-based Bahamas Locomotive Society provided their 50-tonne steam crane for demolition work while the KWVR’s own ‘Grafton’ steam crane was employed on removing the track.
During the next ten days new foundations were constructed on top of the piles installed by Beaver Bridges and their sub-contractor, D&N Reinforcements, in May.
The new bridge deck, weighing in at around 40 tonnes, was delivered to Haworth on the evening of Monday, September 9th and it was so big that it had to have a Police escort!
A 450-tonne Ainscough Crane was placed in the car park of KWVR’s neighbours Wyedean Weaving and it swung the deck into place on Saturday, September 14th.
Mr Barlow outlined the complexities of putting the crane in position for the bridge lift.
He said: “Even before we committed to any other supplies or started the detailed design, I contacted Ainscough Crane Hire to discuss the project.
"We knew that if we could not get this crane to the site, the project could not go ahead in its current form.
"Ainscoughs worked with Bradford Council during 18-months to put both it and its supporting wagons safely on to the site for the lift.
“Amazingly, after all the planning, the crane completed the job in around 45 minutes with no problems at all.
“The day had a fantastic community feel to it with hundreds of local residents watching from the adjoining Bridgehouse Lane overbridge and we’d like to thank all our neighbours and the Worth Valley communities for their continuing support during this project, in spite of all the disruption.
“We’re immensely grateful to our neighbours Wyedean Weaving, who have supported us throughout with uninterrupted access to the site through their car park, including completely closing it for more than six weeks to use it as our site compound.”
KWVR volunteers have spent the last few days re-instating the track and preparing the site in readiness for a resumption of the railway’s full line services from Keighley to Oxenhope on Saturday, September 21.
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