Skanska’s Clifton rail bridge replacement: logistics and safety lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Skanska and Network Rail have installed a new 4,200‑tonne, 130‑metre Clifton railway bridge over the M6 near Penrith using four Mammoet self‑propelled modular trailers with more than 600 wheels, as part of a £60m upgrade to the West Coast Main Line. The operation required two planned 60‑hour full closures of the M6 between junctions 39 and 40, but the motorway reopened 13 hours early despite sub‑zero conditions. Rail remains shut between Oxenholme and Carlisle until 05:00 on Thursday while new track, overhead line equipment and signalling are reinstated over the structure.
Technical Brief
- Demolition of the existing Clifton railway bridge was completed during the first weekend of 2026.
- Mammoet’s four SPMT units provided more than 600 individual wheels for load distribution and manoeuvrability.
- Two full-weekend, 60‑hour closures of the M6 between junctions 39 and 40 were pre‑planned.
- National Highways coordinated with Network Rail over “years of careful planning” for whole‑weekend motorway closures.
- Sub‑zero temperatures and adverse weather required maintaining safe working conditions for “hundreds of people” on site.
- Rail systems reinstatement includes new track, overhead power line reconnection and signalling integration over the renewed structure.
Our Take
The Clifton railway bridge works over the M6 in Cumbria have been tracked across multiple items in our database, from Cementation Skanska’s piling phase (Nov 2025) through demolition (Jan 2026) to this installation stage, underscoring how Network Rail’s North West and Central region is treating it as a flagship delivery benchmark for future West Coast Main Line interventions.
National Highways’ involvement at Clifton, alongside its role in the Lower Thames Crossing RAB scheme, signals that the agency is increasingly comfortable with complex, multi-stakeholder interfaces where motorway closures are traded against long-term resilience of adjacent strategic rail assets.
The use of four SPMTs with more than 600 wheels for the 130 m Clifton structure aligns with a small cluster of UK infrastructure pieces in our coverage where heavy modular moves are preferred to in-situ construction, typically to compress possession windows and reduce safety exposure on live corridors such as the M6 and West Coast Main Line.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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