Network Rail completes £1.8m improvement programme on Mallaig Line

Network Rail has completed a £1.8 million programme of work that will improve the resilience of the railway on the Mallaig line at Lochailort in the West Highlands.

Starting in February of this year, the work delivered by Network Rail and supply chain partner QTS followed on from previous activity undertaken at this location in the summer of 2020 – when severe weather caused flash floods that washed away 80 metres of railway.

The initial phase of the improvement work involved installing a new concrete drainage tunnel, or culvert, next to the existing Allt na Criche bridge that carries the Allt na Criche burn under the railway.

Engineers removed 800 tonnes of material that formed the existing railway embankment in preparation of the new culvert being installed. The majority of material removed was then recycled on site for other elements of work.

Installation of the 63.3 tonne culvert took place in the spring during a 78-hour period of continuous working. Four, precast culvert sections were fitted by using a 250 tonne crane to carry out 10 lifts to complete the task. The area was then backfilled with 450 tonnes of stone and compact around the culvert to raise it back to track level and then reinstate the railway embankment.

After reinstating the embankment, contractor Story replaced 40 metres of rail and 200 tonnes of ballast.

Following installation of the culvert, attention focused of creating a new Terramesh bund 112 metres in length and ranging between 1 metre to 2.3 metres in height, and 5.3 metres wide at the base. This will help to protect the railway and surrounding land from future flooding events.