17th and 18th November

Two visits this week, one to the west side and one to the Icknield Way.   It was very dull and overcast
on Saturday but another glorious (if a bit cold) Sunday. Bus replacement service was in operation again so I expected work on the new junction would be continuing.  The concrete edging work was almost complete on the viaduct.  Quite a lot of construction workers were in evidence on the last sections to be installed.  Two cranes were working and while I was there a gantry of some sort was lowered into place.  The higher ground has now been cleared of of plant and equipment and the site huts have gone.  There is an air of winding down on that side of the construction site.

First picture shows the edging work going on on the last two sections to be installed.  And no, if you were wondering, that construction worker wasn't being lowered in by crane.  It is just an optical illusion!

The area in front was completely cleared of vegetation last winter.  This is where the new settlement ponds will be constructed.  However the power of nature is such that it has completely grown over again.

 Leaves have all gone so you can compare this shot to the original artist's impression on the Network Rail website to see if they got it right.

 Here is the gantry being installed.  Not an overhead gantry because it is too low and too far out.  Has climbing footholds on the outside.

 Looking back towards the scrapyard.

 

 Here you can see the cleared higher ground.  It is hard to see but wire mesh has been added to the railings over the mainline.  Presumably this is because dropping something there could be potentially more serious.

 This shows the viaduct sweeping round over the main line.  The appearance is softened by the completion of the concrete edging.  This was taken from the Icknield Way at the Letchworth end.

 And zooming in from the same spot.

 Looking from the entrance to the temporary quarry, work is continuing all along this section.

 Here a dumper truck is going up the temporary ramp onto the embankment.

 Work continues on the overheads on the road bridge.  You can also see the recently installed permanent access staircase up to the junction.  Notice how it is offset into four separate sections presumably for health and safety reasons.  This will be for ongoing maintenance access.

 Finally a mini work site has sprung up half way along the embankment.  From what I could see this looks like drainage work as there appeared to be large sections of concrete pipe stored on the ground. Sorry that these shots are a bit far away from the work but you can't get very close from this side without trespassing.