The first phase of a major design project undertaken by Owen Williams Railways, six years in the making, has finally been realised this week with the re-opening of Nuneaton station in the West Midlands.
The work carried out at Nuneaton forms part of Network Rail’s £7.6 billion upgrade of the West Coast Main Line. Since 1998, Owen Williams Railways has been involved in the optioneering, feasibility and design of a raft of works to ease congestion and allow 125mph trains through the station.
Detailed work undertaken by the team included the design of the new railway line and structures, plus the assessment and reinstatement of ‘Rocker Bridge’, to take the new line over the existing WCML tracks. Extensive groundbreaking geotechnical work from Owen Williams saw one of the first uses of lightweight expanded polystyrene blocks in the rail sector, to form a new embankment over a large buried river bridge.
Last week a full blockade took place to allow engineers to commission two new platforms, 1km of new embankment, 500m of retaining walls, a new footbridge, the Rocker Bridge flyover, 2.5km of double track, formation and drainage, associated overhead line equipment and a new bridge carrying the four tracks of the WCML.
Phase II of the project now involves Owen Williams completing the detailed design for the complex 5-way railway junction at Nuneaton which will improve railway operational flexibility and allow 125mph running on the WCML.
A team of around 60 staff have been working on this £10m design contract since June 2002 with substantial completion expected by the winter of 2004.