Lanes gives pedestrians a big lift with repair project

Lanes Group has carried out major repairs to a pedestrian railway bridge on the London Underground.

The bridge across the Central Line at White City, in West London, is used by London Underground workers to reach a signal box and staff accommodation.

Regular inspections had established that there was a risk that pad stands, upon which the 10m-long steel and concrete bridge sat, could become unstable.

Lanes Group’s Rail Division, based at Rainham, Essex, won the contract to replace them. A key condition was that the footbridge had to remain open while the repairs were being made.

Without the bridge, there was no access to the signal box. Creating a temporary bridge would have been very costly.

Lanes met the requirement by creating a complex scaffold structure around the bridge.

The scaffolding, designed and installed by a specialist contractor, held the bridge firmly and safely, taking its weight while the bridge pads were replaced.

Project Supervisor Trevor Osborne said: “With the scaffolding in place, we were able to work on the pad stands, knowing the bridge was fully supported.

“We removed brickwork around the bridge pads, allowing us to take them out.

“New bridge pads – in effect two 12-inch cubes of steel reinforced concrete – were installed, and the bridge supports were bolted directly to them.”

The brickwork could rebuilt around the pads. The scaffolding could then be removed, leaving the bridge sitting safely on its now very firm foundations.

This project forms part of a wider portfolio of civils maintenance works successfully carried out by Lanes Rail Division under its civils and drainage contracts for London Underground.

This includes: track and buildings drainage; water seepage; bridges and structures; station repairs; vegetation control; graffiti and vandalism; locks, doors and gate maintenance; coin counters; and safe maintenance.

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