Track record of success for rail refurbishment projects

The £75 million restoration of the Tay Bridge has won a major industry award.

Network Rail and main contractor Taziker won best entry at the 2018 National Railway Heritage Awards for the two-decade long refurbishment programme which was completed last year.

The category A-listed structure underwent an extensive programme of strengthening, repair and repainting.

The crossing, which carries the railway across the Firth of Tay, is the longest rail structure in Britain at two and threequarter miles.

Built between 1883 and 1887, the bridge consists of 80 spans constructed of wrought iron and 44 masonry arches on the approaches to the north and south.

Local repairs and repainting of its approach spans started in 1996, strengthening repairs were carried out between 2000 and 2004, and grit blasting and repainting began in 2006.

A total of 245,000 square metres of wrought iron and steel were repainted by the time it was completed.

Matthew Spence, Network Rail route delivery director for Scotland, said: “It is great to see the project recognised in this way, and this award caps two decades of hard work in what can be extremely testing conditions.

“Delivering a job of this scale in such an exposed location has been an ongoing challenge for our engineers and our contractors, but the bridge will require minimal maintenance for the next 25 years,” added Mr Spence.

Network Rail Scotland’s restoration of Wemyss Bay station was named best entry in 2017.