Track and signalling

Britain’s biggest mobile crane helps build the new East London line

An extraordinary engineering feat took place at the end of March to help complete a crucial section of Transport for London’s East London line project

Britain’s biggest mobile crane was brought in to pick up and then gently lower into place a massive 350-tonne bridge over Shoreditch High Street. The bridge will carry the East London Railway over the busy City thoroughfare, when work to extend the line is complete.

The full operation to secure the bridge in position lasted the whole weekend.

The East London Railway will be part of TfL’s London Overground network when it opens in early 2010. It will run from Dalston Junction in the north to West Croydon in the south, connecting Hackney to the tube network for the first time. Over £1 billion is being invested in the railway, which will transform the transport network connections in East London, and involve the building of brand new stations at Shoreditch High Street, Hoxton, Haggerston, and Dalston Junction.

The spectacular bow-string bridge, so-called because it’s shaped like a massive archer’s bow, was constructed just yards from where it was manoeuvred into position. The complex feat of manoeuvring it into place could be followed all weekend on the TfL website via a webcam link.

In May, a second bridge was installed over Liverpool Street and a 600 tonne truss steel structure, the last of the three new East London line bridges to be installed within six weeks, was put into place at New Cross Gate.

FACTS AND FIGURES

1. The biggest mobile crane in the country was used (1200 tonnes) to lift the Shoreditch High Street bridge.
2. The bow-string bridge weighs 350 tonnes, is 35m long and 11m high.
3. The bridge is of the same design as the Regent’s Canal bridge in Haggerston, Hackney which will also carry ELL tracks
4. The bridge was manufactured at Fairfield Mabey’s workshops in Chepstow, and put together near the site where it will carry the East London line over Shoreditch High Street.
5. Once the bridge was positioned, the remaining concrete deck was installed, along with the tracks for the ELL and associated works.
6. The bridge will be coloured ‘papyrus’ white the same as the other bridges the East London line project has renovated on the Kingsland Viaduct.
7. The East London Railway will be part of TfL’s London Overground network and is costing £1 billion to build.

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