The renovation and strengthening of Glan yr Afon Bridge (UB95) was one of the largest tasks not only within Phase 3, but also within the WHR Project as a whole. It represented Contract 3C-2, let to Jones Bros, and was a specialised project involving tasks such as modification and renewal of the bracing of the two massive wrought iron girders which are the basis of the structure, and work on and around a seized expansion bearing on one of the piers. To complicate matters, access to the bridge was far from easy, as it is approached by curves at either end, in addition to standing high above a fast-flowing river. The site is remote, and all but invisible from the surrounding countryside. The left-hand picture below shows the site from across the valley, after work had started; the trackbed from the Glanrafon Sidings site can be made out on the right about a third of the way up, and the bridge is hidden by the trees of the Treweunydd gorge in the centre. The middle picture (Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd) shows this stretch from close to the bridge, looking back south towards Glanrafon Sidings. Sub-base had been laid to facilitate vehicular access to the bridge. An early move was to fence off the bridge securely (right-hand picture).

The first task was the scaffolding of the structure, a challenging task in itself given the location. The scaffold contractor started work on site in the second week of July 2002. The following pictures (Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd) show the scene at and adjacent to the bridge on July 12th, when a start was being made on the scaffolding job. The chainsawn remains of old timbers removed from the bridge are visible.

The pictures below (Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd) show the structure encased in scaffolding on July 25th, viewed from both ends.

The renovated bridge features new steelwork in combination with the original main beams, including replacement of the original cross bracing, as a part of the process of consolidating the structure and strengthening it for heavier trains. The new steel fabrications are by the small Caernarfon company D.J. Williams, Brunswick Iron Works, which has made other items for the railway in recent years, including the bases of the Caernarfon and Waunfawr water towers, and the steel structure of Waunfawr footbridge - another example of the railway's commitment to the local economy.

The bridge is seen below on September 26th (picture: Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd).

By the middle of November the basic repairs to the abutments were complete. Brunswick Iron Works were making progress in Caernarfon with manufacture of the new steelwork, incorporating a simplified method they had devised for strengthening up across plate joins, which had been approved by the civil engineering consultants for the contract.

Fitting of the new vertical stiffening pieces in the webs of the main beams started on November 25th 2002, and was reported as complete by mid-January 2003. Roger Dick's pictures below were taken between the beams on November 26th (with scaffolding walkways above and below); a new stiffener can be seen in the right-hand picture.

Painting of the structure followed this work, prior to the fitting of further new steel crossbeams to support longitudinal waybeams. The left-hand and middle pictures below show the bridge on May 1st, with the crossbeams in place. The right-hand picture shows the painted outer face of one of the main girders, complete with web stiffeners.

Jan Woods' pictures below show the bridge fast approaching completion on May 29th. The waybeams are seen in place on top of the crossbeams seen above, and a continuous deck of sleepers was being laid, similar to that on UB56. The walkways were still be be fitted.

The bridge was completed in mid-June 2003, with walkways fitted and scaffolding removed. Tracklaying to close the gap across the bridge was in hand from the southern end (see the Glanrafon page).

Track was laid across the bridge by June 19th, as seen below complete with train in Jan Woods' pictures. Check rails were still to be added to the track across the bridge. Work is also seen in progress to close the short gap on the Snowdon Ranger side of the bridge, to allow the tamper and ballast train to work on north to Snowdon Ranger. This gap was closed on the 20th.

All the work done on the bridge has done nothing to make it any more obvious to the viewer from any distance away; in the picture below the ballast train is "disappearing" as it moves onto the bridge from the south, heading north with a load of top ballast for the section towards Snowdon Ranger.