Moving operation almost a bridge too far...

Tom Dixon, 72, admits he was more than a bit worried when he realised that a 510-tonne railway bridge close to his home needed replacing – and it would need to be lifted just inches from the house that has been in his family for generations.

But the ageing bridge needed replacing and in the end the couple had to sit back and watch as the engineers carried out the careful operation.

Engineers invited homeowners Mr Dixon and his 74-year-old wife Mollie to witness the spectacular sight from a safe distance as the new structure, which cost £900,000, was put in place outside their home in Knottingley Road in Pontefract.

Mr and Mrs Dixon had good reason to feel more than a little bit anxious as they feared a repeat of the kind of devastation their 200-year-old home suffered almost exactly two years ago when a lorry smashed through the old bridge and into their cellar.

Engineers lifted the bridge into place during a painstaking 53-hour operation and Mr Dixon joked that beforehand he was worried his three-storey house might end up a bungalow.

Mr and Mrs Dixon stood by as engineers from Balfour Beatty, appointed by Network Rail, had to carefully lift the old 135-year-old, 200-tonne bridge from its position.

It was too low for traffic, at just under 15ft headroom, and was an accident black spot after being struck by more than 70 lorries in the past 20 years.

After it was carefully removed, the new bridge – which had been built on temporary supports in a nearby field – was lifted into place over the Easter holidays.

It passed just 500 millimetres – about 20 inches – away from the Dixons’ home, causing several heart-stopping moments for the couple.

Mr Dixon, a grandfather of three said he made sure his home insurance was all present and correct before the tricky procedure took place.

The retired lecturer, whose wife is a retired tour guide, said last night: “My great grandfather built the house in 1820 and he sold some land to bring the railway through in 1840.

“I bite my fingernails anyway, but I did so even more that night. It’s a three-storey house and I was thinking, they are going to turn it into a bungalow.

“It was nerve-racking, but I had every confidence in the lads from Balfour Beatty. They did a wonderful job,” he added.

Now the Dixons can sleep more easily, free from the fear that trucks may crash outside their door – or worse.

In May 2009, Mrs Dixon had a lucky escape when a lorry crashed through a cellar wall in the house.

She was at home on her own and had left her cellar two minutes before the white Scania lorry smashed through the wall of her house.

Speaking at the time she said: “If it had happened a couple of minutes earlier I would have been in its path. It’s a terrifying thought.”

The lorry had been travelling along the road towards Pontefract and was too tall to fit through the railway bridge next to her home and became trapped underneath it.

Mrs Dixon said: “I could see the driver was moving and dialled 999.

“I didn’t realise the lorry had hit the cellar until later on. There were bricks everywhere and coolant from the lorry was spilling into it – it was quite a big clean-up operation.”

Her husband, also, speaking at the time, said: “She was very lucky. Two minutes earlier she could have been badly hurt.”

The lorry driver was treated for minor injuries.

The accident almost two years ago at the Dixons’ homes was just one of many at the blackspot.

Following the operation over Easter the replacement bridge is now in place and traffic is already passing beneath.

Yesterday Balfour Beatty said it was “delighted” that operation had gone so well.

The company’s regional civil engineering site agent, Matt Morrell, said: “We are delighted with the result of this carefully planned delicate operation.

“The 200-metre route from the construction area to the bridge location included passing a house adjacent to the roadside, with a clearance of just 500mm.

”It was a spectacular sight when each bridge in turn was carefully moved past the house within our calculated limits,” Mr Morrell added.

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Where truckers fear to tread

The bridge has been the scene of numerous accidents over recent years.

As long as six years ago, there was a spate of incidents, with three lorries hitting the bridge in one month.

Locals have long complained about the dangers of the low structure.

In August 2005 a lorry driver was injured and traffic delayed after his HGV hit the bridge at the Pontefract accident black spot.

The driver was taken to hospital with minor head injuries after his lorry ran into the railway bridge and shed its load of cardboard on a Wednesday just before noon.

A local resident, who lives next to the bridge, said at the time it was a repeat of an accident that happens dozens of times every year.

He claimed the bridge was hit by three lorries in one month alone in 2005.

“Somebody is going to die at this bridge, and that is when the authorities will get something done,” he said.

He said he had spent the last 10 years writing to the local authorities urging that action should be taken.