Rail bridge boosts new road scheme

Published: 30th July 2015

Braehad bridge slides into place for M8

The Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland has released time-lapse video footage of a major new railway bridge being prepared and then slipped into place in time for the first scheduled train over it.

The bridge, weighing more than 2,000 tonnes, was constructed to take trains across a new section of the M8 motorway which is being completed as part of a £500 million scheme to improve the M8, M73 and M74 motorways.

The new bridge on the Rutherglen to Whifflet rail line carries tracks that connect onto the existing “Cutty Sark” rail bridge (so named because of a long-standing whisky advertisement visible from vehicles on the A8 road underneath).

The line was closed between 11 July and 26 July when it was returned to Network Rail for ScotRail train services to resume on 27 July.

Graeme Reid, Project Sponsor for Transport Scotland, said: “The success of the bridge slide marks a significant milestone as part of the M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project and is the first tangible improvement to the transport infrastructure. The time lapse gives a real sense of the challenges involved in delivering a project of this scale and encourages a greater understanding of civil engineering schemes and the benefits they can bring.”

To view the video footage lasting a little more than three minutes, click on a link available on the Transport Scotland website.

External Links

• http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/news
• Braehead Rail Bridge