Projects in 2005

The rebuilding of Bridge No. 2, Shearwood Plantation Bridge, over the Cann Quarry Canal was the main project for the year. In 2004 the parapets were dismantled and any loose stones in the arch were also removed. Then the long job of rebuilding and strengthening the bridge commenced. All the work has been done by our own members helped and advised by a local stone mason and over seen by a qualified engineer. By July 2005 the parapets had been rebuilt back up to the tracked level and work progressed to install steel reinforcing bars across the arch prior to pouring a concrete raft across the top.

In October a week was spent on pouring some 15 cubic meters of concrete over the arch. This was done in three sections to allow for access to the top of the arch. The two outside sections were poured in one day, and then two days allowed to removed the shuttering and install the reinforcing rods in the centre section, with the final part being poured on the Friday.

A pause in digging new bridge foundations on the west side, February 2005.	The parapet is now up to the top of the arch on the west side, March.	The east side is also progressing well, March 2005.
The west side is nearly up to trackbed level, April.	The bottom of two layers of reinforcing rods are laid in, June.	The amount of concrete required for the raft is calculated, July.
The first concrete skip is emptied over the east side of the bridge arch. October 2005.	The concrete is vibrated to get rid of air pockets and smoothed down over the arch to the correct thickness.	The west side is then poured and smoothed down.
The final skip is emptied onto the centre section of the bridge. Friday 14th Oct 2005.	The concrete has been allowed to cure slowly and the bridge awaits backfilling.	The bridge has been back filled with the spoil that was dug out, and work starts on re-building the parapets.