The Ordsall Chord, UK: conservation architecture and engineering – part 2: masonry repairs

The Ordsall Chord is a new railway connecting the main-line stations in Manchester, UK, for the first time, reducing congestion, introducing new passenger services and bringing significant economic benefits. The new railway intersects the line of George Stephenson’s 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway and connects to two further nineteenth-century railway viaducts. It had a significant physical and visual impact on highly sensitive heritage assets. The companion paper (part 1) summarises the project, explaining the history of the heritage structures, the consent process and the overall conservation approach. It discusses the design of new structures in the heritage context and the works undertaken to historic metal structures. This second part of the pair of companion papers addresses the brickwork and stonework structures affected. It reviews the condition of the structures at the project outset and describes how a bespoke project specification for repairs was developed. The Grade I-listed Stephenson’s Bridge is discussed in detail.