Contractors have installed the first pre-cast concrete beams that will form the deck of a two-kilometre viaduct in Reading.
The new viaduct, which is one component of a £895 million redevelopment of rail infrastructure around Reading, will reduce congestion to the west of the city’s regenerated station when it opens in 2015.
Jim Weeden, Network Rail’s acting programme director for the Reading Station and Area Redevelopment, said: “This is another massive milestone in our investment in Reading’s railway and our £5bn upgrade of the entire Western route.
“Each beam weighs around 40 tonnes and at 23 metres long, lifting them on to the bases we have built was a challenge, especially as we were working next to a live railway.”
