Rib arches delivered by barge to Blackfriars

Old Father Thames has come to the aid of the Thameslink Programme team, helping Network Rail deliver and install new arches.

Floating platform: A novel way to install rib arches at Blackfriars station

Network Rail is rebuilding Blackfriars railway and Tube station to make it fit for the 21st century - and crucially to make it capable of accommodating the new congestion-busting 12-carriage Thameslink route trains that begin to enter service in December 2011.

Work has so far focused on the east side of the bridge where platforms 1, 2 and 3 once stood. Contractors Balfour Beatty are stripping the decking right down to its base structure of wrought iron rib arches which must be renovated and strengthened before the bridge superstructure can be rebuilt again from bottom up anew.

To give an idea of the task in hand, 37,000 Victorian rivets are being replaced and new deck plates installed.

Riveting work: 37,000 rivets are being replaced

The bridge will be widened on both sides - more so to the west where it will be built on to one row of piers remaining from the now-demolished London, Chatham & Dover Railway crossing.

To widen the east side, three new rib arches have been delivered by barge and installed from a floating platform. Each arch weighs 45 tonnes and comes in three sections. Each section took a day to put in place, engineers closing an arch at a time to river traffic and having to work around the Thames' tidal flows and wind.

Barges are being used to bring in other materials and are thought to be taking 2,000 lorry movements off central London streets in the next two years.

Ribs: The first of three arches is installed 

Plate work: Deck plates are cut and removed