NETWORK RAIL, BEWSEY STREET

INNOVATING WITH OUR JACKING SYSTEM

Osprey’s heavy lift teams have moved and installed all kinds of bridges for road and rail clients. Network Rail is upgrading rail infrastructure across the UK, and each time we’re involved, we try to add valuable insights to the project. It’s also open learning – whenever we can, we gather and then use the accrued insights on other projects. Things like using the Enerpac JS250 jacking system to overcome the challenges of an extremely confined working environment.

BEWSEY STREET

On behalf of J Murphy & Sons Limited, working for Network Rail as the end client, we removed and replaced a Structure 129 railway bridge during a 72-hour possession in Warrington town centre.

• This involved carrying out a full swept path analysis along ¼ of a mile of the public highway – you can see the reasons for millimetre precision in the video, below. This analysis lets us plan ahead to navigate trees and street furniture with confidence and minimise disruption for local residents.
• The weathering 150Te bridge was lifted clear of its abutments with our Enerpac JS250 system, aboard a 10 axle, 4 file SPMT arrangement.
• The bridge was then temporarily stooled at height in a designated compound, away from the site. When ready, we lowered the old bridge infrastructure to the floor, ready for demolition, with our 450Te gantry system.
• The new 26m long, 350Te bridge was loaded onto our SPMTs and installed less than 18 hours after the existing bridge was lifted clear.

By using the Enerpac JS250 system, we showed that our team can innovate for the situation at hand – while at the same time, delivering efficient and safe operations, of course. We built up over 4,000 accident-free hours working alongside other contractors throughout the possession weekend.