Demolition of Clifton Railway Bridge is Finally Underway after Bridge Movement Caused Delays

After four years in the planning by Network Rail the demolition of the Clifton Railway Bridge that has carried the Westcoast mainline across the M6 for 60 years has after delays earlier in the day to the start of the demolition after the bridge moved following the cutting of some of the tension cables running through the bridge from the embankments in preparation for the demolition.

The demolition of the bridge finally started as darkness fell with the bridge illuminated by floodlights the first machine moved in and clamped its mechanical claws onto a section of the bridge and began to chew and pull followed by others that chewed away section of the concrete bridge quickly encasing the bridge in a cloud of dust.

Leaving what was described as one local resident observing as “a scene from war of the worlds or Jurassic park”.  

Network Rail Project manager William Brandon  said it had taken "slightly longer than anticipated", but work would be carried out on time. "It has taken slightly longer than anticipated due to the complex nature of this bridge,"

Mr Brandon added "When we plan these civil engineering projects we always build in contingency time and we are confident that we will hand back the M6 on time on Monday morning."

Work will now continue though the night and into Sunday to demolish the bridge and carry away the rubble into the construction compound along side the M6 with Network Rail working to a deadline to hand the M6 back to National Highways for reopening to traffic by 5am on Monday morning.

The Closure of the M6 has brought expected traffic disruption to most roads in the area with traffic on the M6 Southbound facing delays across all three lanes of one and a half hours this afternoon travelling between junction 41 and the exit at junction 40 to join the diversion route.

The A6 carrying the M6 Northbound Diversions has also faced long delays from broken down vehicles including a HGV in Clifton that party

Blocked the A6 for over five hours this afternoon only for the recovery vehicle to face its own technical issues during the recovery.

The A6 was also fully closed for a period following a crash near Hackthorpe that resulted in multiple police fire and ambulances rushing to the scene along with the Air ambulance.

The road has now reopened and traffic on the M6 diversion once again moving as are most local roads in and around Penrith with the increased traffic.