Mind the gap! Walsall railway bridge takes shape
Protective structures have been placed above the railway line in Walsall town centre as work to rebuild the train bridge ploughs forward.
Workers are forging ahead with phase 2 of the project to reconstruct the rail bridge at Park Street opposite Marks & Spencer and New Look.
At the weekend, engineers began installing protection underneath the bridge.
Thirty ton machines were used to split beams which were taken away to be recycled.
Network Rail, who are carrying out the work, has stated that the job is technically very straightforward but declared it had been logistically tricky due to the fact it was right in the middle of the town centre.
The project started last year and it took seven weeks prior to Christmas to complete the first phase which saw the demolition and replacement of the bridge on the station side.
This month work re-commenced on the opposite side of the high street.
A full road closure has been in place but pedestrians have been able to get past, meaning disruption to shops in the area has been minimised.
Councillor Mike Bird, the leader of Walsall Council, admitted the council had concerns about the work during the Christmas period but had not received any complaints about the work recently.
He said: "Obviously we were concerned before Christmas because of the works that were in front of Marks & Spencer at the busiest shopping time of the year.
"But I haven't heard anybody complain recently, especially shop keepers.
"It's an inconvenience of course it is, we all know that, but sometimes these works have to be carried out."
The bridge on Park Street is more than 100 years old and has had to be reconstructed to allow electricity cables to run underneath which will power the trains from December 2017. It is expected the bridge will be fully rebuilt by Easter.
