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Ainscough Crane Hire’s Ossett depot and Heavy Cranes team has recently completed the £1.25m replacement of a 135-year-old bridge on behalf of The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Subject to extensive planning and design work, the project spanned over a year with the work itself being completed over a three-week closure period.
A 450-tonne Liebherr crane, the heaviest crane to have been used on the railway, lifted the new bridge deck, weighing about 50 tonnes, into place on 14 September. With the crane situated in the car park of neighbouring Wyedean Weaving, the deck was lifted onto pile caps which sit on top of the piles and transfer the load from the structure into the piles.
Securing the necessary approvals and space for the crane was a complex process involving close coordination with Bradford Council over an 18-month period. Despite technical challenges, the lift itself took just 45 minutes and was watched by hundreds of residents from Bridgehouse Lane.
The original bridge was built in 1867, before reconstruction works in 1889 and the late 1970s . Redevelopment plans were drawn up after several flooding incidents and outdated structural integrity.
With the project delivered on time, the line’s reopening between Haworth and Oxenhope has gone ahead as scheduled.
Bob Beardmore, heavy cranes manager at Ainscough Crane Hire said: “Infrastructure projects such as this are of vital importance for the day to day running of services. As such, we are pleased to have provided our extensive expertise in working alongside railway lines to accomplish this lift in a safe and timely manner.
“We thoroughly enjoyed working alongside the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and their extensive team of qualified volunteers on what is a project of large local significance and look forward to seeing the bridge in operation.”
The project was made possible thanks to £1 million in funding from the Community Ownership Fund, a government initiative part of the Levelling Up programme. With the project delivered on time, the line’s reopening between Haworth and Oxenhope has gone ahead as scheduled.
A new bridge ensures the continued safe operation of a cherished heritage line, which runs through the scenic Bronte Countryside and iconic stations featured in films like The Railway Children.
