the left bank says goodbye to the covered railway trench
This stretch of road that passes over the railway tracks has had its day. “It dates from the years 1949-1950. It had been commissioned by the Ministry of Reconstruction“after the Second World War explains Julien Créa.
And if at the time the technique used for the construction of this work was innovative, more than 70 years later “there are water infiltrations, the steels are degraded, there are weaknesses in the structure, among other things“explains the operations pilot at SNCF Réseau in charge of this demolition site.
Preparatory work until the end of April
It would have been very expensive to renovate it and as automobile traffic could be deported below, on the Quai Jacques Anquetil, this trench no longer has any reason to exist and will therefore be completely demolished. This is the portion of road that rests, passing above the rails, the Mathilde and Corneille bridges, i.e. approximately 500 meters long.
The preparatory work therefore begins on Monday and will last until the end of April. In the coming weeks of February, it will mainly be a question of taking possession of the site then from the end will begin the work of asbestos removalcleaning and sawing of slabs in particular.
Two months of demolition between May and June
And then from the month of May will begin the demolition phase strictly speaking.
Nuisances have been taken into account and will be reduced as much as possible for the inhabitants of the surrounding area, in particular those who are close to the Corneille Bridge and those who are on the left bank of Ile Lacroix.
Car traffic on the quays should be subject to the least possible constraints. Traffic will never be interrupted but a lane may sometimes be condemned and therefore alternative traffic put in place.
Changed train traffic
The biggest organizational difficulty was to find common ground with manufacturers so as not to penalize their work too much. ‘Cause the rails above get pass this trench are the only rail access route for port industries.
“Sixteen trains a day run on this railway in both directions“ explains Julien Créa. “Initially we wanted to block traffic for eight weeks but in the end we found a way to live together” continue operations pilot.
Night passage slots will therefore be opens for a few trains that will have no other possibilities. Some manufacturers could transfer their traffic to the right bank, others could transfer to the road or river.
Finishing from July
If the schedule is kept, this demolition phase will end at the end of June and then begin in the heart of summer the finishing phase.
The work should be completed by the end of August. This trench will not be supported by any other structure. It means that trains will now run in the open. “There will be a kind of belvedere to observe the trains at the level of the Corneille bridgeexclaims Julien Créa.
The total cost of this work is 11 million 460 thousand euros financed by the SNCF, the State, the region, the department and the Metropolis of Rouen.