The £1.8M project started in February this year and followed on from emergency work undertaken at the site by QTS after an 80m sector of the rail route was washed away by flash floods in summer 2020.
The initial phase of the improvement work involved installing a new concrete drainage culvert next to the existing Allt na Criche bridge that carries the Allt na Criche burn under the railway.
QTS removed 800t of material from the existing railway embankment to allow the culvert installation to be undertaken and the majority of the excavated material was reused on site for other purposes. The work included excavation of peat material from the base of the embankment.
Installation of the 63.3t precast concrete culvert structure was undertaken in spring this year during a 78 hour track possession. The culvert was formed in four sections with a 250t crane used to position them. The embankment was then backfilled with 450t of aggregates to restore the rail route to track level before 40m of new rail line and 200t of ballast was placed on top by Story Rail.
The section of railway has been further protected from flood damage with construction of a 112m long bund, up to 2.3m in height and 5.3m in width formed with Terramesh for added scour protection.
Network Rail programme manage Jeremy Spence said: “Our work on the Mallaig line at Lochailort was a significant undertaking, given the sheer size of the culvert and the scale of the excavation involved.
“The successful delivery of the work and the significant benefits this project delivers will help tackle severe weather incidents that are increasingly frequently presenting challenges to the railway industry.
“By protecting the railway from extreme weather events, we also mitigate the risk of the impact of this for passengers, freight customers and lineside neighbours.
“I would like to thank our contractor QTS as well as the local community for their patience and support while we delivered this critical improvement to Scotland’s Railway”.
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Tagged with: flood network rail
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