March-ing on - Bridging gaps with innovation

The Big Stuff

A couple of big rail news items to acknowledge this issue. First and foremost is the unfolding tragedy in Greece which no doubt will be covered in-depth on mainstream media over the coming days and weeks - I'll not dwell on it here - with the exception of saying my thoughts are with all those affected.

Second is the Ohio derailment in East Palestine and resulting spill, fire and burning of hazardous cargo. Again this has been covered to varying levels by mainstream media - sometimes almost hysterically it seems with lots of misinformation and conspiracy theories stoking the media fire and residents concerns. But as the dust settles it seems the consequences could have been much worse. Perhaps opportunities were missed to prevent the incident from occurring in the first place and I hope the official investigations will nail that down more with facts rather than hearsay. With so much misinformation circulating around this accident, my learning point is this: Treat everything you read/hear/see in a dynamic unfolding situation with a healthy dose of scepticism. Media outlets sell clicks and views and so sensationalising news is a sadly natural outcome.

Bridging the gap

I've covered railway road (grade) crossing incidents in previous editions, as well as the occasional 'bridge bash' news too, so today I thought we'd take a look at some of the newer bridge options to connect people across the railways - safely.

A couple of old and new innovations have been present in my news and social feeds of late so I thought I'd take a look and compare a couple.

Looking at the old innovation for a moment - the header image for this article is the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct - an innovative use of mass concrete (made famous by the Harry Potter films). Who said concrete was always ugly! (Mass concrete isn't reinforced with steel - that innovation came later)

Plastic fantastic

The first new innovation is the flow bridge or more accurately FLOW (Fibre-reinforced polymer, Lower cost, Optimised design, Working) bridge. A rather contrived acronym but probably not the worst the railway has to offer, (Show me your terrible examples in the comments please!).

It is reportedly 40% cheaper than and weighs half as much as a conventional steel bridge. It certainly looks much lighter than a conventional steel bridge and also doesn't need conventional concrete foundations (using instead a web of micropiles) which can make for less intrusive installation. Its maintenance should also be less intrusive too, as painting to avoid corrosion is a costly business for conventional steel structures - a subject I'll come back to.

It was first demonstrated at the RailLive event in 2021, and when I tried it out it certainly looked and felt interesting, (it was a little "lively" when walking over it - Not unsafe - just different). It certainly puts the bridge users views and experience much higher in the design priorities than the industry is probably used to with it affording great views and lots of glass compared to the usual box designs.

There are obvious questions around accessibility of the demonstrator and they are reportedly working on accessible versions, but it certainly is an interesting departure from the functional boxes we usually get. Since it was showcased it has recently been moved to a real-use scenario, reinstating access over the railway after a high risk crossing was closed several years ago. It opened to the public at the end of January in a remote rural setting (where accessibility is already limited by the location). The BBC covered it in more detail here and it has its design partners created a website here.

Modern metal manufacturing

The second example is one I've had both a professional and slight commercial interest in. Whilst outwardly looking like just another 'standard' station bridge design, the devil is very much in the detail, and it has accessibility for all at its heart. Three key differences to standard bridge designs are:

1. Material - The structure is made from stainless steel, and uses modern higher strength duplex stainless steels too to use material efficiently. This results in a very low maintenance structure. The maintenance costs of standard steel bridges often greatly exceed original construction costs (typically costing over a million pounds each time a bridge is painted which is around every 30 years). There are clear savings to be made where structures may last a century.
2. Design - This is a modular 'flat pack' bridge that you can configure to fit each station - rather than needing a separate new design each time. Think of it a little like the Ikea Billy bookcases, (Lots of options from kits of parts) to suit almost every room.
3. Manufacturing - Rather than being many rolled steel sections welded together, either on site or being transported as large units the AVA bridge uses many more modern techniques to flat pack and aid off-site manufacture together with easing on-site assembly. Its aim is to reduce the total project time for a new bridge by 75%!

There is a 2.5min promo video about it here if you want more info.

Bridging the budget timeline gap

Whilst these two new options are taking very different approaches to getting people over the railway - I'm pleased to see both are putting whole life costs firmly in the list of important attributes. In the UK with relatively short funding timelines, (Control periods span 5 years), sometimes longer payback items don't get the priority that perhaps they may deserve. Perhaps finally we are making progress on this issue. Let's hope the upcoming industry changes here don't put this in jeopardy.

And finally

I usually manage to shoehorn a rail technical/learning article from me into my newsletter, but not today! Keep your eyes peeled for the #rail101 tag in your feed as I hope to get one (or more!) published soon.

Last I try to remind folks whilst they love (or should love) railways. As I am originally from Wales and I am typing this on St. David's day (the patron saint of Wales), I'll leave you with this lovely 3 minute footage of the Snowdon Mountain railway which climbs to the highest mountain peak in Wales.

Dydd G?yl Dewi Hapus - Happy St Davids day (in Welsh)

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