Embankment stabilisation work on the main freight line from London to the Channel Tunnel has been awarded to Kvaerner Cementation Foundations (KCF) by Railtrack/Laing Programme Management Partnership.
Due to deteriorating conditions on a section of the mainline at Lenham, between Maidstone and Ashford in Kent, KCF’s ground engineering specialists are working to complete the entire contract, from site investigation and design through to construction, in under six months.
Valued at £1.65 million, this fast-track project is scheduled to be finished this summer and has been won on the strength of the company’s proven expertise in similar work on both Railtrack and London Underground networks.
Working with Railtrack/Laing PMP, the KCF rail team and their appointed designer, Mott MacDonald, are restoring some 1,600 metres of embankment on CTR2, the Channel Tunnel rail route to and from London via Maidstone.
With rapid growth in freight traffic on the line - a large proportion of it supplying materials for construction works on the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the remedial work is critical, requiring around 1,200 vertical piles and 400 raking piles in all, running both sides of an 800-metre stretch of embankment, which has an average height of five metres.
Initial surveying work has been undertaken to establish the exact number and depth of piles required to install a retaining wall along the top, comprising anchored bored piling topped with a reinforced capping beam, plus graded earthworks forming the sloping sides.
KCF will also be responsible for monitoring track levels during stabilisation operations to ensure they remain within the close tolerances set by Railtrack.
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