NETWORK Rail’s ‘orange army’ replaced a footbridge in Corsham at the weekend, using a 500-tonne crane to lift the new bridge over a block of flats and into position.

And this time-lapse photography was used to create this stunning video, showing what happened and the scale of the project.

The replacement of the footbridge between The Cleeve and Pound Mead is an essential part of Network Rail’s £7.5bn Great Western Electrification Programme.

The new bridge is higher, creating the additional space needed for the overhead wires that will power a new fleet of electric trains to run underneath. These trains are longer, faster, quieter and greener, benefitting passengers and those who live close to the railway line.

To minimise disruption for residents and any risk of the work overrunning, the project team and their contractor, Hochtief, built the new bridge off site, negating the need for a longer road closure that would have been required if the bridge was reconstructed on site.

The new footbridge was then transported by road and with the use of a 500-tonne crane lifted up ten metres, over a block of flats, and into position in the early hours of yesterday.

Work is now taking place to divert utility services and tie in the existing road so the new footbridge can open in June.

Andy Haynes, Network Rail’s west of England project director, said: “Where we can we will always choose methods of working that minimise disruption for local communities, and I would like to thank residents for their continued patience as we complete our work on this footbridge in preparation for electrification and the arrival of the new fleet of electric trains.”