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Amended 15/5/2019
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The Jubilee River story - Wraysbury railway bridge collapse - May 1988
This is how the area looked before the event (Click image to enlarge)
The following is a series of photographs (taken by me) that record conditions before and after the railway bridge collapse at Wraysbury, Berkshire in May 1988.
The bridge footings were washed away by uncontrolled water flow due to failure to appreciate the need for proper drainage and clear watercourses during a gravel extraction operation.
Fortunately nobody was hurt, but the train ended up de-railed in Wraysbury Station at midnight, and the authorities and insurance companies were left with a big problem.
The end of the passenger platform collapsed and two sets of railway lines were left hanging in space over a water-filled hole.
The fifteen images are about 650kB each, and accompanied by a brief description.
Click here for incident details as published in the 1988 Annual Report on Railway Safety
Click here for 15 thumbnail images
Click here for the first of 15 images
Wraysbury - 1947 flood images - with 2009 comparison
Added 20/2/2019
Below is the map showing the positions of the Wraysbury and Horton Drains in 1985.
I have coloured the original watercourses in blue and the new channel in red.
At the time of the railway bridge collapse in 1988 - areas marked '1' and '2' had been worked.
The intended water flow was via the new channel parallel to the railway and coloured in red.
Added 15/5/2019 -
Thanks to TK who located an overhead image of the site
(detailed image available from NCAP)
