Construction activity at the Gipsy Patch Lane railway bridge site stepped up a gear in the fourth week of October as contractors Alun Griffiths began excavating the railway embankment on the east side of the bridge following a period of vegetation clearance.

The excavation work, to both flanks of the bridge, is a precursor to the commencement of piling work necessary to create foundations that will support the much wider replacement bridge at each of its four corners.

In late September, South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) announced that piling work at the site was expected to start on 14th October and last for around three months. However, as we went to press in late October, it still hadn’t started and we understand that a new commencement date of 4th November has been scheduled.

The excavation work on the east side of the bridge has required a large amount of material to be transported under the bridge to the site compound on the other side, which has necessitated the use of traffic control using stop/go boards. This work has so far been restricted to off-peak times, which has minimised disruption on the road network.

The new bridge will weigh approximately 4,500 tonnes and it will sit on foundations piled to a depth of 25 metres. To minimise disturbance for local residents, noise mitigation measures such as sound barriers will be used around the piling equipment.

Most of the piling will take place during the daytime between the hours of 7.30am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. However, SGC says it is not expected that piling will be carried out every day during this time.

It is anticipated that overnight work will be required for approximately 18 nights during the first two months of the piling. This will be carried out between the hours of 6pm and 3am. If weekend work is required, this will only take place on Saturday mornings between 8am and 1pm.

In other news, SGC has published a more detailed construction programme for the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension project (see below) which shows that highway-widening works on Gipsy Patch Lane east of the bridge will now not begin until autumn 2020. This is a change to the programme previously published as part of the planning application which foresaw this work starting in summer 2019 and requiring a one-way closure of a stretch of Gipsy Patch Lane for 12 months.

More: CPME construction programme. Bridge construction to start soon. »

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Three-way temporary traffic lights are to return to Gipsy Patch Lane next week (from Monday 14th October) – and this time they will be in operation around the clock, i.e. including the morning and afternoon rush hours.

The lights will need to be positioned at the railway bridge and will include the junction with Station Road.

The temporary lights are needed by Wales and West Utilities whilst diversionary work is carried out on the gas main in preparation for the replacement railway bridge next year.

The work is expected to take up to two weeks to complete.

A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said:

“It was hoped that this work could be completed without the need for traffic lights but for the safety of all road users this is no longer the case. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your continued patience.”

All shops and businesses on and near Gipsy Patch Lane will be open as normal.

Three-way temporary traffic lights were in operation at the same location for around three weeks in September, but during that period they were only in place during off-peak times.

Photo: Three-way temporary traffic lights in operation at the bridge during September.

More information:

• Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension (SGC)
• MetroBus Extension Build (SGJ)

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Work around the Gipsy Patch Lane railway bridge has intensified in recent weeks after the main construction period for the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension (CPME) began in early August.

Activity close to the bridge has focused on clearing trees and shrubs to permit access to locations where excavation and pile driving needs to take place in order to create load-bearing foundations for the replacement bridge (see visualisation below).

As planned, three-way temporary traffic lights have been in operation at the bridge during off-peak times only since Monday 2nd September. These have sometimes caused long tailbacks along Gipsy Patch Lane, although it has been observed that the one-way flow under the bridge has meant that queues disperse quickly during the ‘green’ phases.

The temporary lights were supposed to be in place for two weeks before being replaced by the intermittent use of stop/go boards, however, it was announced in mid-September that the lights would be needed for at least a further week. The extension was said to be needed to “enable additional work to lower a utility cable”.

An eight-month full closure of Gipsy Patch Lane remains on the cards for early next year, either side of a 12-day closure of the railway line over Easter during which the existing bridge will be dismantled and its much wider replacement moved into place.

The precise dates of the full closure have not been announced, but information on roadworks.org suggests that it will commence on 5th March.

More: Uncertainty over traffic management plans; What happens next? »

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Roadworks are due to begin on Gipsy Patch Lane from Monday 2nd September in preparation for construction work to replace the Victorian era railway bridge and widen the road as part of the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension (CPME).

The September roadworks, which will involve the use of three-way traffic lights at the railway bridge, follow a four-week full closure of the road in June 2019, which was required to allow BT to divert underground services ahead of the main project commencing in August.

Network Rail’s contractors Alun Griffiths duly commenced work at the site on Friday 9th August and they have already carried out some vegetation clearance along the railway corridor near the bridge. Ground preparations have also been carried out within the designated site compound area within the Horizon Business Park immediately south west of the bridge.

Following reports in the press that one business, Tyres Direct, saw a 40 percent drop in takings during the June road closure, South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is emphasising that all businesses in and around Gipsy Patch Lane will be open as usual during this latest phase of work.

Work due to take place from September will include:

• Continuing work on establishing a construction site in the Horizon 38 Business Park next to the railway bridge. This is where the new bridge will be constructed before it is moved into position over Easter 2020
• Further clearance of trees and shrubs will take place around the existing bridge, including the removal of the large trees outside the Pegasus Park business area
• Preparation for foundation work at the four corners of the new bridge and the installation of dropped kerbs for temporary pedestrian crossing points on Gipsy Patch Lane

Piling works will need to be carried out from October to construct foundations for the new bridge.

More: Three-way temporary traffic lights from Monday 2nd September »

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