February / March 2019 engineering closures

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

OK.  I'll try again....... http://www.tunnelsonline.info/news/whiteball-tunnel-to-be-refurbished-6076330

[Southernman]

Intereresting info on the work going on in Whiteball tunnel: http://www.avocetline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/15m-rail-improvement-at-Whiteball-tunnel-v1.pdf

Think that may be last time it was closed?

Yes but ... if it closed five years ago for:

Network Rail will be carrying out works to repair Whiteball tunnel to prevent the aging structure from further deteriorating. In addition, work will be carried out to expand the drainage system and to improve the embankment around the area as part of a wider programme to alleviate flood risks posed by extreme weather.

why does it now need:

WORK: 19 DAY BLOCKADE FOR WHITEBALL TUNNEL LINING REPAIRS.

? (There is also some drainage work, though that may not have needed a long closure).

Oh, and how are all the newts? Last time,

Due to the proximity of the worksite to a local pond known to be home to Great Crested Newts; a protected species, Network Rail has installed environmental fencing along the boundary of the worksite.

The building of the exclusion fence meant that Natural England could issue a licence, allowing the work to take place.

Has environmental fencing been deployed again, or are there still "newt-free zone" signs put up last time?

And yes, I did think "environmental fencing" was what took place between NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and the locals (see under "Goring").

I believe that the required re-lining work was always to be carried out in two stages - although the current work was due to be done a few years ago!

[a-driver]

Work at Whiteball tunnel is reportedly well behind schedule and won’t be reopening as planned tomorrow.......

[TaplowGreen]

Work at Whiteball tunnel is reportedly well behind schedule and won’t be reopening as planned tomorrow.......

Well, there's a surprise.

[a-driver]

Work at Whiteball tunnel is reportedly well behind schedule and won’t be reopening as planned tomorrow.......

Well, there's a surprise.

Isn’t it just. Work is just over half completed.... and that’s from 2 separate sources within NR^» (Network Rail - home page). 

If you look on Network Rail Western on Twitter they mention how well work at Marley Tunnel is progressing but strangely quiet about Whiteball.

[Timmer]

Just over half!??! It’s been closed for three weeks.

No mention of this on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website. When are they planning to let people know?

[grahame]

Just over half!??! It’s been closed for three weeks.

No mention of this on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website. When are they planning to let people know?

But are they planning to extend the stoppage?  Is the nature of the work such that it could be suspended and then the remaining work scheduled for a later date / further closure?

[TaplowGreen]

Just over half!??! It’s been closed for three weeks.

No mention of this on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website. When are they planning to let people know?

If they haven't yet, it's pretty much too late by now?

[bobm]

Looks like both up and down sleepers went via Whiteball rather than Yeovil.

[Timmer]

But are they planning to extend the stoppage?  Is the nature of the work such that it could be suspended and then the remaining work scheduled for a later date / further closure?

All running normally so it must be open. Maybe as you say a further closure may be required if things haven’t gone well or it’s a bigger problem than first thought.

Interesting observation made by a-driver though as I follow Network Rail on Twitter and its all been about the work taking place in Marley Tunnel not Whiteball.

I was surprised that Whiteball was closed again for work not that many years after it was last closed for major work. Is there a problem with this tunnel that needs addressing every few years?

[TaplowGreen]

Didn't get a response to my tweet from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) (surprise surprise) but clearly someone from Crosscountry read it as they tweeted me & a couple of others to say that the possession was handed back ahead of time.

[bradshaw]

RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) has the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) ecs from Taunton to Laira passing Crewkerne just after midnight. After that the GW^▸ (Great Western) and freight went via Taunton.

[stuving]

I was surprised that Whiteball was closed again for work not that many years after it was last closed for major work. Is there a problem with this tunnel that needs addressing every few years?

When that question was raised two weeks ago (by Timmer, as it happens!) it got half an answer. Poking about a bit more, and trying to pick the more reliable third party sources, it seems that:

• In 2011/12, a third of the tunnel was lined as an emergency measure with RamArch steel mesh to catch the falling bricks.
• During the three-week closure in 2014, at least the crown of that section of the tunnel was sprayed with concrete to form a new lining, and by some reports the rest of the tunnel was lined with RamArch and the crown sprayed with concrete. But reports are contradictory.
• The plan then was for a new clever train-mounted rig to spray one side at a time during overnight closures while the other line was open for trains to run by day. This was from AMCO, now AMCO-Giffen, who made the multiple-head drilling trains for fixing the RamArch and also for the conductor rail in the Severn Tunnel.
• But in 2109 there was a three-week closure to spray the tunnel sides, though other work may have been done as well. So it looks like another of NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s clever high-output on-track machines has to be marked as "disappointing".
• It now appears that there is more work that still needs doing after that closure has ended. Presumably this is the in the parts of the tunnel where relining is less urgent. Whether it can be done without a full closure, we'll have to wait and see.

Further reading/pictures from Cornwall RS, and on P 92 of the March 2014 issue of The Rail  Engineer (Archive).

[Timmer]

Thanks stuving. Looks like another Whiteball closure during a future winter.

[stuving]

Thanks stuving. Looks like another Whiteball closure during a future winter.

We'll see - maybe this new trick can be made to work. I've realised I didn't describe that right; the clever bit isn't the sprayer, it's a folding screen to protect the other (non-work) side from overspray and general mess, self-erected from a train on that other track each night.