The bridge's overhaul began with a detailed condition survey in 1999. "Stephenson designed for locomotives weighing 25t," explains Mott MacDonald senior project manager Tim Abbott. Modern locomotives can weigh up to 130t. But increased railway loading was already a problem by the 1890s, with locomotives weighing in at up to 65t. Stephenson designed the original bridge with three railway lines on the top deck, one between each set of arches.
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