Shrewsbury railway bridge maintenance work to continue until January
Maintenance work on the Castle Foregate and Great Western railway under bridges in Shrewsbury is to continue until January [2027] to enable additional repairs to be completed safely. Work had been due to be completed this month (November).
The work includes cleaning, repairs and repainting of the bridge structures, together with essential steelwork repairs and the installation of new pigeon-proofing mesh beneath the bridges.
It is being carried out by Network Rail through their contractor, AmcoGiffen
During the course of the ongoing repairs, further investigations have identified additional steelwork defects that require remedial works before the scheme can be fully completed. These repairs are necessary to ensure the long-term structural integrity of the bridges and have resulted in a further extension to the programme.
The bridges will remain open to vehicular traffic during daytime hours. However, to enable the contractor to safely undertake the additional steelwork repairs and complete the remaining phases of the project, temporary road closures will continue to be required on Castle Foregate, Cross Street and Howard Street.
Access to certain elements of the bridge structure is only available during periods when there are no train movements and, following further investigations, additional steelwork repairs have been identified within these areas. To enable the contractor to safely complete these repairs, work will continue to be undertaken between 12.30am and 7am on Sunday mornings, with the associated road closures remaining in place on Saturday nights until the end of November 2026.
These closures will facilitate the completion of the additional steelwork repairs identified during the works, the installation and final adjustments to the new pigeon-proofing mesh, and preparatory works associated with the subsequent removal of the scaffold structure.
Further activities are programmed throughout December 2026, including the completion of outstanding repair work and associated project activities. To enable this work to be undertaken safely, temporary overnight road closures will be required on Sunday nights into Monday mornings, between 8pm and 6am, throughout December. Whilst the scaffolding will remain in place during this period, the existing arrangement will be amended to allow pedestrian access beneath the structure.
The final phase of the project will involve the dismantling and removal of the remaining scaffold structure. This work is currently anticipated to take place in early January 2027 and will require additional overnight road closures. Details of these closures will be communicated separately once the necessary arrangements have been agreed.
