Fancy That!

A team led by IDE Member George Brabham has demolished a Victorian railway bridge  . . . sixty-six years after it was attacked by the Luftwaffe . . .  and with a dispute still raging about the incident!

Built in 1895, the 90-ton Doughty Road Bridge in the centre of Grimsby was removed and replaced with a brand new structure in less than 48 hours. The main Grimsby to Cleethorpes railway line and the road under the bridge had to be closed to allow the work to go ahead.

George and his team from Ron Hull Demolition of Rotherham were brought in by main contractor Spencer, a Humber based civil engineering company, to dismantle the historic structure. Members of the team cut the bridge into three slices that were then lifted clear by a 1000-ton mobile crane.

George said: "You have to hand it to those Victorian engineers, they certainly knew how to build. Despite being hit by numerous high-sided vehicles over the years and being attacked by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, not to mention enduring more than a century of normal wear and tear, it remained in astonishingly good nick."

"The project involved a number of specialist teams, including Network Rail, who lifted the track for us, through to Ainscough, the crane firm, and the main contractor Spencer. At one stage in the operation there were 120 people working on the site."

"It went very smoothly and we had the bridge out on schedule, which allowed the new bridge to be put in place and the track laid and reopened for the trains to begin running again - on time!"

Meanwhile George's team has cleared the way for local historians to settle the big question: Was the bridge bombed in 1943 - or was it strafed?

At the request of the local authority the holed section of the bridge side was cut out and is to be preserved.

George said: "One group is absolutely certain that the holes were caused by bombing or shrapnel during an air raid, whilst the other is equally sure that the bridge was shot up, possibly by a Messerschmit that was attacking a train."

"We found that the holes were neat, in pairs and in a line. It looked to us as if they were bullet holes, rather than the random damage that would have been caused by bombs or shrapnel. Either way it did not impact on the use of the bridge. The damage was cosmetic."

The main structure of the bridge has now been transported to the firm's site at Mangham Road in Rotherham where the steel will be recycled. Meanwhile other materials recovered at the site are being recycled and used in the local area.

For further information please contact David Wall at Ron Hull Demolition on  01709-524115 or (mobile)  07595-781777