Carlisle NetworkRail Station

Sector context

Carlisle is a major junction on the West Coast Main Line, 102 miles south of Glasgow Central and 299 miles north of London Euston. It carries more than a million passenger movements a year and sits within a conservation zone. Refurbishing the glazed train-shed roof meant working above live platforms and running lines, on a listed structure, every day of the year.

The challenge

Galliford Try's brief for Network Rail was to refurbish the train-shed roof and extend the building's life by at least 30 years, replacing defective glazing across the whole station.

• The glazed high-level roof holds 4,004 glazing panels (upper 2,340mm × 600mm, lower 2,440mm × 600mm), cracked and broken across the station.
• The roof spans roughly 47m east to west across the concourse, two platforms and three rail tracks, and 160m north to south.
• Works could not interfere with a railway running 365 days a year, and had to protect passengers and staff below.

The Palmers solution

Palmers designed a modular access and protection-deck scaffold around its 1350 Bridge Panel System. The panels work either as beam structures to span the railway or as support columns for the protection decks, so one kit of parts did both jobs.

• The bridging panels spanned the live railway lines, so refurbishment carried on overhead without interrupting services.
• The scaffold measured circa 47m span by 160m long, around 7,520 m² on plan, with access to more than 13 roof bays.
• A continuous working level sat 9m above ground across the platforms, with protection decks shielding the concourse, platforms and tracks below.