If you happen to be walking Wistanstow, near Craven Arms in Shropshire, you may well come across a bold new structure designed to carry people safely over a busy part of the Newport-Shrewsbury ‘North and West’ route. It opened to the public on 17 January.
With a line speed of 90mph plus a goods loop, the pedestrian level crossing was long on the radar of Network Rail Project Manager Andy Cross to replace with a footbridge. However, conventional steel footbridges are expensive and time-consuming to install and often jar with local surroundings.
Mr Cross explains how a radical new design of footbridge was conceived: ‘There is a desire to eliminate many foot crossings because while signalling systems and indicators might help mitigate risks to pedestrians, they don’t eliminate them.
‘I thought we could do something better than steel bridges which are expensive and often disliked by communities, so I asked whether I could come up with something that addresses the problem of closing crossings.’
He presented his proposals to Network Rail, which provided research and development funding. ‘From the start,’ explains Mr Cross, ‘something very different was desired.’ The use of lightweight composite materials was envisaged, offering flex…
