Borders Railway: Work to repair Redbridge Viaduct erosion
- Published
The listed Redbridge Viaduct spans the River Tweed between Tweedbank and Galashiels
A £2.4m project has begun to repair a 172-year-old Victorian viaduct on the Borders railway route.
The first phase of work has been completed on the Redbridge Viaduct, which spans the River Tweed between Tweedbank and Galashiels.
Network Rail said repairs to the structure would continue throughout the summer and be completed in October.
The work aims to protect the listed viaduct from further erosion in the years ahead.
The listed structure was built in 1849
The repairs involve so-called scour protection, which will see the removal of the existing riverbed around the base of the bridge and then the installation of a "mattress" filled with concrete.
It will help to shield the structure from potential damage by fast flowing water.
The viaduct reopened to rail passengers in 2015
Christina Thomson, Network Rail's project manager for the work, said: "The viaduct is an historic Victorian structure that continues to play an important role in carrying passenger trains on the Borders railway route.
"When work is complete in October, we won't need to undertake repairs on this scale for many years to come."
The Redbridge Viaduct was built in 1849 by North British Railway as part of the Edinburgh to Carlisle main line and closed in 1969.
It reopened to passengers in September 2015 as part of the Borders Railway project.