Network Rail has announced that plans are being prepared to refurbish a railway bridge which will mean it can stay open during Faversham’s annual Hop Festival.

The footbridge has taken residents, churchgoers and passengers over the railway between Station Road and the church in St Catherine’s Drive, since the early 20th century.

However, it has never been strong enough to cope with the thousands that descend on the town for the street festival. This has lead to it being closed during each event.
Network Rail is now working with the local council to make sure that the revamp to the listed structure isn’t too harsh, whilst making sure it can be strengthened to make sure that it can stay open during the event.

Contractors will remove the bridge and complete the refurbishment off-site. However, there will be a small compound on Station Road where workers will operating during the day on other related works.

The bridge will be closed from 8 October until 28 January, while the work is carried out. There will be no additional disruption to rail services due to the work taking place during already planned maintenance.

The road closure will run from 6 pm on Friday, 12 October, to midday on Monday, 15 October, and again when the bridge is craned back in, from 6 pm on Friday, 11 January 2019, to midday on Monday, 14 January.

What did the officials say?

David Line, works delivery manager for Network Rail, said:

“This bridge has served as a vital right of way for this community for a century, initially starting out as a dedicated pathway for people to access the church.

“While it has safely carried people for decades, it was never intended to withstand the crowds who turnout each year for the Hop Festival.

“Therefore it needs an extensive makeover and significant improvements which mean it can stay open during the festival.”

“We really do appreciate how much impact works like these can have on communities, so we’ve given a lot of thought as to how we can keep disruption to an absolute minimum.

“While the majority of the work will happen during weekdays, we will need to use a crane to lift out the bridge deck on Sunday, 14 October, because that’s the safest and quickest way to do this.

“We will then crane the refurbished deck back in on Sunday, 13 January. When the crane is operational we will need to close Station Road temporarily for safety reasons, however people will still be able to use the car park.”

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