Forest of Dean - historic footbridge in Lydney

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The Sun - please excuse the spam bait there

A HISTORIC UK^▸ (United Kingdom) bridge has collapsed after an engineering train smashed into it.

The train crashed into the Grade II listed bridge at Lydney, in the Forest of Dean, just before 11am yesterday.

It would appear that the old bridge at St Mary's Halt in Lydney has "come down" and from what I can read in the story it's not expected / intentional - talk of RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) taking a look at it, and of an engineering train being involved.

[Ralph Ayres]

Looks like it's this one https://deanforestrailway.co.uk/st-marys-bridge/; the link still works but it may soon be taken down to minimise embarrassment. Bit of an own goal by the Dean Forest Railway given the effort that went into restoring it.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Dean Forest Railway website:

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Listed iron footbridge is knocked over by train



A Grade II listed footbridge has been damaged after being hit by an engineering train on a heritage line.

The 133-year-old Victorian lattice iron bridge at St Mary's Halt in Lydney, Gloucestershire, was restored only in 2019 – and is said to be the last surviving piece of infrastructure from the historic Severn and Wye Railway.

Dean Forest Railway, which runs steam trains and heritage diesel services on the line, said no one was harmed in the incident, which happened just before 11:00 BST on Thursday.

It said its staff and volunteers were now working with the Office of Rail and Road and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.



The bridge, north of the A48 and to the west of Lydney Lake, was cordoned off to the public after being knocked over.

Severn and Wye Railway was originally constructed as a tramroad network in the Forest of Dean more than two centuries ago.

The only remaining part of it in use, for heritage trips, spans 4.5 miles (7.2km) from Lydney Junction Station, which is near Lydney Harbour, to Parkend.

Dean Forest Railway said it would be running a reduced service over the weekend.

[ChrisB]

Presumably will be covered by insurance - it'll have to be repaired/replaced as it forms part of a recognised public footpath.

[grahame]

Some pics from me of the bridge from August of last year (2024)

[grahame]

Although getting rarer, bridges of this type *are* still around in a few places

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for posting those images, grahame. 

It enables me to offer a 'before and after' view, from almost the same standpoint:





Oops! 

[Oxonhutch]

There is a rather suspicious yellow digger arm in front of the 08.

[ChrisB]

Yes, I had noticed that but was waiting for the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) to confirm.

[Oxonhutch]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) photo, I think I can confidently identify it as a digger arm. I will leave it to the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) to identify if it had any role to play in bridge’s demolition.

[grahame]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) photo, I think I can confidently identify it as a digger arm. I will leave it to the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) to identify if it had any role to play in bridge’s demolition.

RAIB write (email)

At 10:55 on Thursday 14 August, a footbridge spanning the Dean Forest Railway at St Mary’s Halt, Lydney, was struck and destroyed by a 360-degree excavator that was being transported on a railway wagon designed for that purpose. The excavator belonged to the railway and had been loaded at Lydney Junction, but with the boom positioned too high to safely pass under the footbridge. A collision occurred and part of the footbridge landed on the train, which included a guard’s van carrying railway volunteers. There were no injuries.

The footbridge connected public footpaths on either side of the railway.

We have undertaken a preliminary examination into the circumstances surrounding this incident. Having assessed the evidence which has been gathered to date, we have decided to publish a safety digest.

[ChrisB]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/collision-with-footbridge-on-the-dean-forest-railway

[Red Squirrel]

...a railway wagon designed for that purpose...

If the wagon was designed for the purpose of ramming backhoes into footbridges, then it has done its job very well.

[Oxonhutch]

..., then it has done its job very well.

If the well of the wagon was a couple of meters below track level, it wouldn't have worked at all.