On Friday the 14th of June 2002 East Lancashire was hit by severe rainstorms causing rivers
and roads to flood. The East Lancashire Railway was also hit by flooding at Ramsbottom and
Townsendfold and after the waters had subsided all seemed well, however, during the storm
the River Irwell (which runs under the track in several places) had swollen to such an extent
that a very large tree became uprooted and was carried along the river. The tree eventually came
to rest after impacting with Ashenbottom Bridge (The second bridge over the river between Irwell
Vale and Rawtenstall - MAP)
and shattered the middle supporting pier. Train services from Bury could only now travel as far
as Irwell Vale and in most cases only ran to Ramsbottom using an emergency timetable. Early estimates
put the cost of repairing the bridge at as much as £250,000. The good news is that after only a little over
5 months from the damage the pier was dismantled, rebuilt and the bridge is now back in use restoring
the Railway's connection with Rawtenstall. The sets of photographs below show the progress from
start to finish.
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