How Loughborough’s new bridge will look
HIGH quality computer visualisations of the new bridge to carry the Great Central Railway over the A60 at Loughborough have been produced.
As reported in issue 293, an all-new bridge opposite the town’s Brush Works is to be built in October at a cost of more than £1 million, replacing the 120-year-old life-expired current structure as part of the GCR’s Reunification project. VolkerLaser is the lead contractor.
The Friends of the Great Central Main Line has sponsored the series of visualisations by HBPW of Retford, the consulting engineers for the scheme.
The new bridge has been partfunded by public donations of £220,000 with more coming in, and GCR-supporting registered charity the David Clarke Railway Trust. The reunification scheme will not only link the two heritage-era Great Central lines to provide an 18-mile railway between the outskirts of Nottingham and Leicester, but will also provide the ‘southern’ GCR at Loughborough with a main line connection for the first time.
Friends chairman Andy Fillingham said: “With costs of raw materials rising, we were delighted to receive such strong and timely support from so many people.
“The reunification project has captured imaginations. We said 2022 would see another piece of the jigsaw in place; the images show what it will look like! We hope that will inspire others to support this part of the project or find out more the rest of the reunification scheme and contribute. The more of us getting behind the plan, the sooner it will be completed and we will unlock the economic benefits.”
➜ Donations for the A60 bridge replacement can be made at www. gcrailway.co.uk/unify or via cheque sent through the post, made payable to the ‘David Clarke Railway Trust’, to: DCRT, Lovatt House, 3 Wharncliffe Road, Loughborough LE11 1SL.