Old Havant footbridge lifted by cranes to make way for modern upgrade
The 79-year-old bridge has been dismantled
Work has begun on a major crane operation to lift away the Havant footbridge in order to replace it with a more accessible crossing in a £12.8m project.
Parts of the 79-year-old structure that crossed the railway line could be seen being swung away from the train tracks by a tall crane earlier today (October 27).
The ageing structure had shown signs of deterioration in recent years, so it was decided that the bridge would be removed during a planned Network Rail track blockade to reduce disruption caused by the operation.
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Two large cranes were brought on to the site near Havant station on Monday October 26 to dismantle and remove the 185-metre-long bridge and connecting ramps.
After a delay in the lifting due to heavy winds, parts of the bridge weighing up to 50 tonnes were lifted out of the way by the main crane, which has a vertical lift capacity of 650 tonnes.
Geoff Rhodes, programme manager for Network Rail, said: “It’s quite a big area that's closed for our signalling project, so we're carrying out other works as well, some of which could be done on a number of weekends, but we’re doing them now for efficiency, for cost efficiencies, but also deficiencies in disruption. We don’t want to disrupt our neighbours more than we need to.
“One of them is the removal of the Havant footbridge, which the council is in charge of. They're demolishing this to put a new one up, so they've jumped into this access to carry out that work at the same time as ours.”
Councillor Kirsty North, Hampshire County Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Lead for Universal Services, said: "This a major milestone for our modernisation scheme, requiring specialist teams to carefully dismantle and lift out the ageing metal bridge.
“It is a highly complex engineering operation which can only take place when the railway line is fully closed, so it is being carried out in close coordination with Network Rail's own programme of works taking place over the October half term holidays.
"The timing of the lifting operations will be dependent on a range of factors, including weather conditions and wind speeds, and plans may need to be adjusted at short notice to ensure the work can be completed safely.
“We appreciate that residents and businesses may experience some disruption while this important stage of the project is carried out and would like to thank the local community for their ongoing patience and understanding."
The replacement crossing is expected to take up to a year to complete, and will provide significant improvements for users. It will be twice as wide as the existing structure and feature gentler ramps, making it more accessible for cyclists, wheelchair and mobility scooter users, as well as people travelling with prams or pushchairs.