Kibworth

History

Society

“Understanding yesterday, for the benefit of  today and tomorrow”

Kibworth Station, Aspects of the Midland Line Railway by John Lovell


This link will take you to a comprehensive article on the development of the railways through Kibworth. It is a pdf file and may be down-loaded without charge, although we do request that you acknowledge the source of the article if it is used for anything other than personal use.

Memories of the railways in and around Kibworth by David Smith


This link will take you to a “Memories” article written by David Smith, a resident of Kibworth who worked for British Railways from 1949 until 1993.

It is a pdf file and may be down-loaded without charge, although we do request that you acknowledge the source of the article if it is used for anything other than personal use.

© 2005-2013, 2014  All Rights Reserved  Kibworth History Society

Railway Bridge Reconstruction in 2013 [Bridge SPC3-19]


The Midland Railway formally opened its double track line through Kibworth in 1857, so linking Leicester and London. A road bridge over the railway, immediately by the new station, had been completed in the winter of 1856-57, so retaining essential access between Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt villages. Apparently the bridge was widened in the 1890s.


Early in the 21st century a decision was made to electrify the Midland line. The central curved arch of Kibworth bridge needed to be heightened slightly and also widened at its shoulders to allow for cabling and side movement of faster running trains. So Network Rail commissioned the partial replacement of Kibworth railway bridge and the main contractor appointed was Amco. This engineering work took place in the late summer/autum/winter of 2013 with bridge access for road traffic being closed from 9th September to 22nd December.


The following 30 photographs show, in brief, the partial bridge demolition and reconstruction. Interestingly, the foundations of the central arch were retained with the new precast concrete arches resting on cills over the original brickwork.


Norman Harrison 24/03/2014


[SPC3-19 equates to St Pancras-Chesterfield]