Having shown our readers the latest news on the re-opening, a couple of pictures have come to light showing the final preparations just before. There is also news on bridge 2, which has managed to keep a low profile up to now.

Bridge 1, Broadway

The final, hectic hours before re-opening.

Tarpaulins, paint, the shot blaster's lorry, engineering bricks and a mixer all in use just before the great day. The balustrades are up - don't they look great - and the whole is watched over by the big bracket signal, put up a few weeks ago.

Underneath the bridge, the props are down and electricians are busy with the cable ducting being attached to the abutments.

Outside the bridge, wasp stripes have been fitted. These are a new feature. The height restriction sign is illuminated.

Will they work?

Your blogger's personal view is that most lorry drivers know the height of their vehicle. However, most of the bridge strikes we have had were done by a low vehicle that is carrying something  high e.g. a construction vehicle such as a JCB or 360 digger. In that case, the driver doesn't realise the total height of the vehicle, or as I have heard say in one case, the jib of the machine actually inched its way up as the load went along. Looking at the previous damage to the bridge, the strikes have all been by something hard and quite sharp, just a few inches across. How do you prevent these?

Bird netting has been installed on top of the abutments - neat. This will stop roosting and nesting up there.

The props are being dismantled and lifted out by the mini digger. Then the scaffolding was taken down - see below.

Broadway bridge was finally re-opened on Monday morning at 10am - two days early. Well done all ! A magnificent achievement, and we can all be proud of the part we played. Now we need two pacifics on top for a load test... for that we need rails... the share issue is still open, and not yet fully subscribed. Any excess will go on to the next stage, the purchase of the rails. If you buy the shares before October 31st, you can still do it under the EIS scheme, and qualify for a 30% tax rebate. Worked for me, and it's so satisfying to get something back from HMRC.

Bridge 2, Childswickham Road
This one has been lurking in the background, waiting patiently for Broadway bridge to reopen. In construction it's pretty much identical to Broadway, but smaller and not so badly damaged by bridge strikes. The jobs that need doing are very similar too - damage repair, new deck water proofing, shot blast & repaint, balustrade repairs or even replacement with new, drainage and brick repairs. But the total bill here is much lower, bridges 1 and 5 being the principal cost items.

Childswickham Road bridge is now closed, and work has started.

Luckily, it spans only a relatively minor road, and can easily be avoided by using the re-opened Broadway bridge. When your blogger drove past on Monday morning on his way to CRC2, contractors were just starting to put up the road signage and as the picture above shows, the closure is now in place and indeed work has already started. We don't hang around you know !

The first job to be undertaken was to strip off the old ballast and waterproofing on the deck. You can see the mini digger busy on top. And what did they find?

A hole! Well that was no surprise, this is why the bridge is getting a refurbishment. It's amazing though how rust can nibble its way through thick steel, once the waterproofing has failed. This will be addressed.

An update report on the other bridges in hand - work is now in progress on all 5 'Bridges to Broadway' - will be posted shortly.