Reading Station, Vastern Road Bridge Reconstruction and short AGM

Fifty years ago, in 1973, construction work started to widen the 12 metre span Vastern Road underbridge east of Reading station to accommodate a 30 metre wide dual carriageway for Stage 3 of Reading Borough Council’s new Inner Distribution Road.

This illustrated presentation explores the history of this site at Reading station and describes the development of the bridge design using novel methods to minimise disruption to rail and road traffic and to reduce costs, including the use of parts of previous buried structures to support the new bridge.

Also described are how the bridge design facilitated lowering of the road to increase headroom, and the construction of a tanking slab below it, by Reading Borough Council, and the later extension of the bridge for additional track and platform lengthening in connection with the 2011/13 Reading Station Redevelopment scheme.