The new Bryn Gloch overbridge is some 20m south of the site of the old one. As well as having a much wider roadway, the opening for the railway is wider (4 metres) than before, as this new bridge has to conform to modern width clearance regulations, from which the existing bridges have an exemption. The opening is also taller, to accommodate the Garratts.

Mid-February 2002 saw dramatic progress at Bryn Gloch. The stretch including and to the south of the site for the new bridge was excavated to a considerable depth, in preparation for the building of the new overbridge, and to form the southern end of the deepened cutting at the southern end of Bryn Gloch. The new bridge is relatively wide to allow the passage of caravans, and thus required very substantial foundations in the soft ground of the valley floor.

The pictures below (Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd) taken on February 19th illustrate the relative positions of the old and new bridges.

Another week later, reinforcing rodding was in place for the foundations, and a pump was at work where the bottom of the pit had flooded; its excavation coincided with a period of exceptionally wet weather (even for Snowdonia in winter!).

The trees and scrub which occupied the trackbed north of the old bridge were cleared ahead of the start of the bird nesting season on March 1st; the cleared land is seen below, looking back towards OB53. The line of the trackbed lies on or just to the left of the flooded ditch; the railway also owns a small parcel of land alongside the trackbed between the two bridges, to the left-hand side as seen below.

By the middle of March this stretch had been worked on, and the line of the trackbed was clear, showing a slight lowering of the level on the approach to the new bridge. The left-hand view is looking back towards OB53 on March 22nd, and the middle one (taken a week earlier) towards OB54; the crane is lifting formwork into place for casting the bridge's western abutment. The right-hand view (March 27th) shows the curvature of the trackbed looking back towards OB53.

Horizontal reinforcing mesh and shuttering were fitted to the bridge foundations in the following days, ahead of the initial concrete pour for the foundations, which took place on March 1st, as seen below (pictures by Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd).

By the time the picture below was taken on March 9th, work above ground level was in hand on the reinforcing around which the eastern abutment of the new bridge would be cast.

On March 15th, concrete had been cast for the eastern abutment, and work was advanced on reinforcing mesh and placing shuttering for casting the western abutment (pictures: Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd).

By March 22nd, the western abutment was in place, with scaffolding being erected for the contractors to proceed with the bridge deck (pictures: Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd).

On March 27th the bridge is seen below with casting of the wing walls of the eastern abutment in progress (pictures: Jan Woods, WHLR Ltd). As is suggested by the shape of the framework taking shape in the bridge opening, the span is a slightly flattened arch, with a similar profile to the old bridge.

By April 6th, with the formwork under way for casting the arched deck, it was possible to get a better idea of how the completed bridge would fit in with its surroundings. Although a much taller structure than the original, almost all of this height lies below the caravan park's ground level on either side, and it only represents a modest hump to road vehicles crossing it, and it also reduces the obtrusiveness of the railway at this point to a minimum. The initial deep excavation for the new bridge's location and foundations also included that for the deepened cutting to the south (see below); excavation was also necessary to the north of the bridge, through the site of the old one, to lower the trackbed on that side to meet the track level through the new bridge. This could only be done once the new bridge is ready for road vehicles, as it would cut through the temporary access roadway.

All four wing walls had been cast by April 13th, and the wooden formwork for casting the arch (as opposed to the metal panels used for the vertical components) well advanced. The arch was cast in the following week, and a start was made on the slate cladding on both faces of the bridge.

Another week further on, most of the cladding in riven slate had been done, and three of the four courses of yellow brick had been laid above the arch at the southern end; falsework was in place for the same to be done at the northern end; the external impression of an enlarged NWNGR bridge was starting to become apparent.

By the May Day holiday, the full four courses of brick were in place on each side of the bridge, and cladding of the main structure was largely done, with work also in hand on the southern parapet.

In the next week, the slate wall of the southern parapet was completed, and the northern one reached an advanced stage. In addition, short edge walls for the road approaches were cast on the southern side, and shuttering was put in place for casting those on the northern side.

Jan Woods' photos below, taken from the south on May 13th, show just how successfully the exterior of the new bridge captures the traditional NWNGR style.

The scaffolding came down in the following days. Work was proceeding on the roadway approaches prior to the bridge being brought into use.

While the western roadway approach is only on a gentle curve, the eastern side (nearer the caravan park entrance) accommodates a right-angled turn from a three-way junction approach parallel to the railway, allowing access to plots on the east side of the line as well as the main part of the caravan park to the west; this sharp turn is one reason why the roadway across the bridge is so wide.

The picture immediately above (June 15th) also shows coping stones fixed in place on the south parapet, and lying waiting to be added to the northern one. Jan Woods's picture on the left below (June 19th) shows the finished effect from the south; the right-hand picture (June 23rd) shows the completed northern parapet.

By June 23rd, with the scaffolding etc cleared away, work was proceeding on finishing the short stretch of deep cutting on the Waunfawr side of the bridge, leaving just the temporary caravan park access roadway to be excavated to give a continuous lowered trackbed through Bryn Gloch.

The bridge roadway came into use in the first week of July, allowing the closure of the temporary access for excavation.

Jan Woods' pictures below show the scene on the trackbed on July 12th, with excavation of this last stretch well advanced; OB53 is visible in the background on the left-hand and centre pictures, showing the relationship between the two work sites.

The following pictures of the new cutting were taken from OB53 and OB54 on July 17th. The ground level had been raised significantly where it formed the new western side of the cutting, providing a certain amount of level ground on the top for the use of the caravan park.

Where the cutting sides meet OB54, they were modelled to join it with a gentle curve, consolidated with large stones. This masks the "stepped" join between the concrete structure and slate cladding which is evident on earlier pictures above.

The new rock cutting south of the new bridge is seen here looking towards the waterworks which lies beside the line between Bryn Gloch and Tros y Gol. It is at least two metres deeper than the original, to give an alignment matching the new bridge. The new alignment is slightly to the west of the original.

By late July the sub-base had been laid, and markers were in place for ballasting; on the right-hand picture Jones Bros staff can be seen at work in the background, close to the waterworks.On the other side of the bridge, work was in hand on electricity cables crossing the new cutting.

By August 3rd, a briefly isolated length of ballast had been laid and rolled through OB54, and bundles of new sleepers had been delivered ready for tracklaying. All the roadway/pedestrian approaches to the bridge had been neatly fenced. Another sign of the approaching completion of work at this site was that the remaining old water main pipes from the 2001 water main diversion job had been removed to the Tros-y-Gol compound.

Tracklaying northwards from the Tros-y-Gol base reached Bryn Gloch cutting during the volunteer working party on September 7-8th 2002, by which time greenery was starting to establish itself on the cutting sides.

Track was laid through OB54 and towards the end of this section a fortnight later.

This section of the railway lay fallow for almost ten months until connected with the Waunfawr - Betws Garmon section in early July 2003. Finishing work in the form of extra top ballast, ballast ploughing, tamping and lining was achieved very quickly, and the high quality results are seen below just two days after the "ballast train" started work on this section.

To the east of the bridge, a new LPG cylinder store was provided for the caravan park, to replace an existing one adjacent to the site of the old bridge which was demolished prior to the excavation of the north end of the cutting is excavated. This modest breeze block structure has been clad to match OB54.