Bridge slide completed at Reading station

Working over the Christmas and New Year break Network Rail successfully installed a new 40m long × 17m wide bridge deck as part of its £850M project to upgrade Reading station.

Weighing 1,000t the deck is believed to be one of the largest orthotropic steel bridge decks in the UK. At just 650mm deep, the structure replaces four single span bridges.

The steel bridge structure is formed by up to 14 steel sections fabricated by Watson Steel Structures. Each section was delivered to site and then assembled on top of six precast beams.

The deck sits on a total of 44 bearings needed because the structure’s width needs to transfer live loads from seven tracks to the abutments without the use of supporting girders.