Following the catastrophic loss of a section of railway embankment during a convective storm event, Fairhurst undertook rapid response inspection and design of reinstatement works, which were installed by our CP6 partners QTS. Fairhurst was subsequently commissioned to design a scheme to Increase the resilience of the section against future flooding.
The multi-disciplinary scheme, designed fully in-house, protects the track, adjacent housing and trunk road from flooding by bunds, while simultaneously channelling water under the track via a flood relief culvert. The design of temporary works (working platform for a 200T crane) was also undertaken in-house.
Variable depths of compressible peat were overcome through the development of a sustainable solution, utilising two forms of ‘floating’ bunds, the largest of which is formed of Maccaferri Terramesh baskets. The flood relief culvert has a 2.4m span with a robust kerb, installed as 10 pre-cast pieces.
The scheme was shortlisted as a finalist for a Ground Engineering award (£1 to £3M project value category) in recognition of its sustainable innovation, demonstrable increase in asset resilience and exceptional collaboration with out project partners, Network Rail and QTS.
Photography: © QTS
