Day four and five 26/27th February 2026

 Day Four and Five

On Thursday 26th February 2026 we had our usual Project Progress meeting with all those from Beaver Bridges and the Spa Valley Railway Project Team together.  We use these meetings to review progress, discuss issues and the entire project.

I conveyed my thanks to all those on site for mobilising and whilst there was one or two issues, they were swiftly resolved.

Work on the crane pad continues and some testing around the abutments have taken place.

There's been no big visual changes on site.

No exciting end to the working week, just colleagues who have worked hard on our bridge replacement.

Best wishes

Mark D.

Day two and three - 24/25th February 2026

Second day on site was continuing with the site setup, including items arriving which got missed on Day one.

The crane pad area in the Scouts field is setup with Heras fencing and track matt roadway, which will protect the field.

It's an impressive site and the joint working as part of a larger project team with Beaver Bridges has gone really well.

The Railway's p-way team were also on the Railway side of the site, and what a miracle they have performed...

All materials have been removed and the area made available to our Contractor Beaver Bridges by mid afternoon on Tuesday.  That's 3 days ahead of schedule.

Alan our Civil Engineering Manager was also on site.

Our friends at OnWatch also visited and have installed additional CCTV for site protection.  Thank you.

Before I left site, we had an informal and brief client meeting to catch up, this was very helpful and shows how well we are working together.

Moving onto day 3, I didn't visit site today and won't be able to every day, but have kept in touch with the team.

Beaver Bridges have taken the opportunity of the earlier access to the Railway to undertake some core drilling, which we are waiting the results of.

Work on the crane pad also continued.

Not a lot visually on site, and there will be many days like this, but be assured that we are making good progress.

Away from site was the exciting development - The New Broom Lane Bridge has arrived at Beaver Bridges HQ for the concrete and waterproofind works, having been painted.  The bridge arrived around lunch time on a Beaver Bridge' own lorry!

Below are the photos that have been shared with me.

Bonus Photos from Site

Day One 23rd February 2026

Day one - What a day!

The Railway really came together yesterday afternoon following the last public passenger train over the existing bridge.

They removed the track (sleepers/rails) and a large amount of ballast by early evening, we really do come together as a team when needed.

Thank you to you all for coming in and work your magic from all of us on the Project Team.

I arrived on site late morning as expected, Beaver Bridges already there and our fencing contractors nearly finished removing fencing to allow access for the lorries.  A few more of the team arrived over the next hour or so.

At track level we had our p-way team who continue to work miracles, removing more ballast and the bridge really does look bare now and hard to believe that trains were running over it yesterday.

We had volunteers from outside the Railway also helping, which we are very grateful for.

Then the track mat system arrived, followed by additional mats and immediately began laying in the field.  This system will protect the field as much as possible, whilst also providing a safe way to get people and vehicles into the crane pad site.

Then the site buildings arrived, a client office, site office, canteen and welfare facilities, further items are due to arrive tomorrow.

Items of plant were next to arrive and put into action straight away.

A really positive day, great project team work and I believe achieving all that we wanted for day one.

The pway gang working hard

Photo Credit - Beaver Bridges

Not bad for the first day.

Best wishes

Mark D.

Welcome to the Broom Lane Bridge Replacement Project - Blog!

Hello and welcome to the first blog entry!

Today is 22nd February 2026, the day before site mobilisation begins!

We've been waiting a long time for this day, our new bridge - it's really happening!

The new physical bridge is currently at the painters in Doncaster, having been fabricated in a facility in Nottinghamshire.

The plan for today is:

• Begin removal of the track over the existing bridge, following the last passenger train service.
• Track removed 5 metres each side of the bridge

The weather isn't on our side today either!

Tomorrow the road closure is put in place until early April and the site office/welfare/canteen arrives, followed by continuing to remove the track.

Thank you to all our Volunteers, supporters, donors we are all very grateful.

The Project Team is small and the pressure on us is high, however as a team we've worked very well.

If you are able to spare some funds to help, please head over to our Just Giving page - https://spvr.link/broomlane every penny counts.

I will update this as often as I can, to enable you all to follow the progress.