Network Rail has announced that work to replace and improve a railway bridge at Crofton has been successfully finished.

The railway bridge at Crofton, located six miles South-East of Wakefield, carries the Knottingley to Leeds line.

A vital transport link for the area, it is essential the Doncaster Road bridge is fit for service.

The old bridge was approaching 140 years in age, also suffering from multiple hits from road traffic such as lorries, further damaging the bridge and shortening its life.

When a replacement bridge was in the pipeline, the decision was taken to try and increase the distance between the bottom of the bridge to the road, therefore hopefully reducing the number of vehicles hitting the bridge.

This in turn hopefully reducing downtime on the line when the damage to the bridge has to be assessed.

With design work complete on the £3.7 million project, work began.

Over a period of four months, with a number of road and rail closures, Network Rail’s team carried out the removal of the old bridge, prepared the site for the new bridge, and finally fitting the new 635-tonne bridge in place.

This work is now complete, with the new stronger bridge fit for many decades of service with reduced downtime.

Route Director for Network Rail’s North and East route Matt Rice said: “It’s great to see this major project to upgrade the railway bridge in Crofton complete, so it can continue to be used safely and reliably for future generations.

“The line that the bridge carries, as well as Doncaster Road which runs underneath it, are vital links for people in Wakefield to connect to other towns and cities across the region.

“We want to thank residents and businesses in Crofton for their patience whilst this essential work was carried out.”

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