Ely Derailment Emergency Works -
Back to last pageProject Value: £700k
Client: Network Rail
click a small image below to enlarge
On 22nd June 2007 a Self Discharge Stone Train derailed and overturned at Ely, breaking through the deck of a steel bridge that carried the railway over the River Great Ouse:

The location was 1400m from the nearest road

Existing access was along a 3m wide farm track

A 1000t crane was required to remove the train and had to be sited on the marsh flood plain.


Buckingham Group's scope in a very tight two week window included the following:

Importing 18,000 tonnes of stone (by road) to Widen the access road to a minimum of 5m.

Building a new road 'shoulder' and increasing the thickness by 400mm incorporating geotextile and geogrid.

Building compound areas for Network Rail

Constructing the crane pad over the flood plain, approx 100m by 40m and 1.2m deep incorporating geotextile and 3 layers of geogrids.

When the 1000t crane was loaded, a maximum of 10mm deflection in the outriggers was detected. Safely inside the required limits.