The repaired wall of the Lime Street to Edge Hill cutting, following collapse.

On Tuesday 28 February 2017, there was, without warning, a catastrophic collapse of a section of the original sandstone wall that ran along the top edge of the Lime Street to Edge Hill Cutting. The old Sandstone wall, was over 20 metres above track level and close to the Williamson’s Tunnels between Mason Street and Smithdown Lane. The collapse caused around 170+ tonnes of masonry and other debris to fall into the cutting below, blocking all four running lines and causing a great deal of damage to the Railway infrastructure within the cutting.

Thankfully, no trains were struck by the falling debris, so it was a huge relief that nobody was hurt. Liverpool Lime Street Station and the cutting, remained closed for 8 days, whilst the area around the collapse was made safe. Lime Street Station finally reopened on the 8th March 2017.

The repair and reinstatement of the wall was undertaken by ‘Stone Central‘, Stonemasonry and building restoration specialists, who were to rebuild the wall to as near as possible as the original. This would have been an extremely complex repair given the location and height of the wall, above a live railway.

Before work to rebuild the wall could begin, a complex frame and platform system had to be built at the top of the cutting. This would enable the stone masons to be able to work at height safely, whilst also allowing the stone mason’s to access the inside face of the cutting, so the new wall could be accessed from both sides. Amazingly, all this work took place whilst trains continued to run in the cutting below. The new section of finished wall is simply stunning and once weathered with time, will blend in with the old wall beautifully.