The UK’s ScotRail Alliance has announced that the West Coast Main Line (WCML) will remain closed in southern Scotland until March, as repairs continue at Lamington Viaduct.
Located around ten miles south of Carstairs on the WCML, the Lamington Viaduct was severely damaged by the recent Storm Frank.
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Engineers have now discovered that the viaduct has suffered further damage due to the high water levels.
Engineers are currently working to divert the river with more than 1,500t of stone and stabilise the structure after the viaduct’s second pier had been left on the brink of collapse.
Although the pier was stabilised using more than 300m³ of fast-setting concrete, structural checks have now revealed more damage, including three steel bearings that support the bridge deck.
Engineers have now been able to perform structural checks on viaduct sections previously too dangerous to inspect.
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By GlobalDataIt was previously hoped that work to reinstate the viaduct would have been completed by 1 February; however, the latest inspections have shown that the damage is worse than previously thought and it needs more time and significantly more work to properly stabilise the structure.
ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said: "The damage caused by Storm Frank to the Lamington Viaduct has been very serious.
"Our engineers have been in a race against time to get the structure stabilised and prevent it from collapsing into the Clyde. Only now that we have won that race can we really see the full extent of the damage.
"The damage from the floodwaters is significant. We have had to use hundreds of tons of rock to divert and reduce the flow rates at the piers and an extraordinary amount of concrete just to stabilise the second pier.
"Unfortunately, the scale of the damage and the complex nature of the engineering challenges mean that the repair is going to take longer than we initially thought."
Rail companies operating on WCML are currently working together to keep people and goods moving.
The ScotRail Alliance is a close working relationship between Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail Scotland Route and aims to improve the railway network in Scotland.
According to the alliance, the temporary timetables and arrangements that have been in place for the past couple of weeks are going to have to continue.
Virgin Trains operations and projects executive director Phil Bearpark said: "Safety is our priority and we fully support Network Rail in their work to repair the Lamington Viaduct.
"We have worked really hard with our industry partners in ScotRail and Network Rail to put a train diversionary service in place via Dumfries.
"This means that journeys take around an hour longer than normal but customers travelling between Glasgow and Carlisle are able to take a replacement train rather than a bus."
In order to support the structure from a much wider and lower base, additional concrete supports will be equipped on either side of the second pier, before installing additional rock anchors and mini piles through the pier’s foundations.
To reduce future water pressure on the structure, structural repairs to the third pier will also be completed and the course of the river widened.
Image: Lamington Viaduct recovery works. Photo: courtesy of Network Rail.
