Sixteen tonnes of steel will be lowered into place by Railtrack engineers in the dead of night on Sunday (May 21).

Railtrack, the company which owns the stations and track of the rail system, is spending £700,000 on the replacement bridge between The Avenue and Sylvia Avenue, Hatch End.

The bridge, simply called Footbrdge 51, is 72ft long and 18ft high and was constructed off-site.

Work on putting it in place will begin at 1.30am and is expected to finish around 7am.

A Railtrack spokesman said: 'The entire job will take most of the weekend, so we have had to take possession of the track.

'That means that at various times over the weekend different sections of the line will be closed.'

The bridge will span six tracks ,, four West Coast Mainline and two electrified lines.

The previous bridge was removed in March.

The job has been incorporated into the festivities planned by the region for the Hatch End Millennium Festival.

As reported in last week's edition of the Times, the Hatch End Association has organised three days of activities to celebrate the millennium.

The weekend begins at 7pm on Friday night with a ticket-only service at the Kol Chai Synagogue. Tickets are available by calling 020 8428 5819.

It ends with an ecumenical service at Free Church, Rowlands Avenue at 3.30pm on Sunday.

In between, highlights include a Family Fun Day from 11am on Saturday at Grimsdyke School and at 6pm the unveiling of the Millennium Map by Gareth Thomas MP at Hatch End Station.

On Sunday those of an athletic persuasion can take part in the Hatch End triathlon which starts at 8am on Hatch End Playing Fields or watch Hatch End Cubs bury their time capsule at Elliott Hall at 12.30pm.

BY SIMON BELGARD

sbelgard@london.newsquest.co.uk

Sixteen tonnes of steel will be lowered into place by Railtrack engineers in the dead of night on Sunday (May 21).

Railtrack, the company which owns the stations and track of the rail system, is spending £700,000 on the replacement bridge between The Avenue and Sylvia Avenue, Hatch End.

The bridge, simply called Footbrdge 51, is 72ft long and 18ft high and was constructed off-site.

Work on putting it in place will begin at 1.30am and is expected to finish around 7am.

A Railtrack spokesman said: 'The entire job will take most of the weekend, so we have had to take possession of the track.

'That means that at various times over the weekend different sections of the line will be closed.'

The bridge will span six tracks ,, four West Coast Mainline and two electrified lines. The previous bridge was removed in March.

The job has been incorporated into the festivities planned in the area for the Hatch End Millennium Festival. As reported in last week's edition of the Times, the Hatch End Association has organised three days of activities to celebrate the millennium.

The weekend begins at 7pm on Friday night with a ticket-only service at the Kol Chai Synagogue. Tickets are available by calling 020 8428 5819.

It ends with an ecumenical service at Free Church, Rowlands Avenue at 3.30pm on Sunday.

In between, highlights include a Family Fun Day from 11am on Saturday at Grimsdyke School and at 6pm the unveiling of the Millennium Map by Gareth Thomas MP at Hatch End Station.

On Sunday, those of an athletic persuasion can take part in the Hatch End triathlon which starts at 8am on Hatch End Playing Fields or watch Hatch End Cubs bury their time capsule at Elliott Hall at 12.30pm.