A new footbridge was installed at Llanhilleth in South Wales last week by engineers from Network Rail and its contractors, AmcoGiffen, who used a mobile 230-tonne-crane to lift the fifteen-piece footbridge into place.

To install the footbridge required the closure of the line from Newport to Ebbw Vale Town for five days from Sunday, 25th to Thursday, 30th March. The footbridge consisted of eight columns, six sections of stairs, and a 17.9 metre-long bridge span that weighed 15.5 tonnes. It was manufactured away from the site, and had a total weight of nearly 65 tonnes.

A team of 13 engineers installed the bridge in sections and guided it onto its new foundations across the Ebbw Vale line. The crane lifts took just a day and a half to complete in very wet weather conditions.

The new footbridge forms part of the Ebbw Vale enhancement scheme that will allow an increase in services from Newport to Ebbw Vale Town to be increased. This is a £70m project that is being funded by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council through a loan from the Welsh Government, whilst the Department for Transport and Network Rail are providing a further £17m of funding for upgrading the signalling and renewal work.

The line is due to close again at the end of this month from Sunday, 23rd to Sunday, April to allow teams from Network Rail and AmcoGiffen to install two new lifts, thereby making the bridge fully accessible. Once the footbridge opens later this summer, local residents and passengers will be able to easily cross the railway.

Work across the whole length of the Ebbw Vale line will continue until late Summer 2023, and to enable the work to be carried out safely the line will need to be closed again on the following dates:

• Sunday, 21 May;
• Wednesday, 24th May to Sunday, 11th June inclusive;
• Sundays 18th and 25th June, 2nd, 9th and 16th July.

Thomas Edwards, project manager at Network Rail said: “It’s great to see this brand new fully accessible footbridge come together.

“We know how important it is to make the railway accessible for everyone and we would like to thank local residents and passengers for their understanding of the need to close the railway to make it happen.”

Matthew Richards, project manager at AmcoGiffen, added: “Despite some horrendous wet weather, we were lucky with the wind as the gusts weren’t too strong and were able to complete the lift in good time.

“It’s very pleasing to see the bridge installation take place. This is a combined effort, and we would like to thank all involved for the hard work put in over the past few months to get us to this point.”