Hats off to Polypipe

Ridgidrain allows pipe sections to be cut without affecting pipe integrity.
By David Arminas May 15, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Polypipe’s “top hats” adorn a major expansion of England’s M4 motorway near London

Over 3.2km of Ridgidrain and 1,000 “top hat” chamber base connectors from Polypipe under have been laid under an M4 motorway project in the UK.

Highways England is investing US$1.1 billion to create a “smart” section of the M4 motorway near London. A joint venture between Balfour Beatty and VINCI subsidiaries VINCI Grands Projets and Taylor Woodrow is delivering the upgrades, including widening the motorway from three to four lanes, rebuilding 13 major structures and deploying active traffic management technologies.

The joint venture started drainage upgrade work in October 2018. It used Ridgidrain pipe is a non-pressure surface water and subsurface water structured-wall carrier drain system. It is manufactured to nominal stiffness SN6 and has a high crush-resistance and strength-to-weight ratio. This makes it ideal for stormwater applications where high traffic loads are expected. Integral sockets for easy pipe alignment make installation rapid and straightforward, says the manufacturer, Polypipe Civils and Infrastructure - one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of plastic piping systems.

“Ridgidrain allows for pipe sections to be cut to length to meet onsite requirements without affecting pipe integrity or the ability to link it with the other components of the motorway’s surface water management system,” says Guy Miller, a Taylor Woodrow engineer.

Plain-ended pipes are available in diameters between 100-600mm and internally-socketed versions from 400-900mm. Ridgidrain is the first twinwall surface water drainage system with Highways Authority Product Approval Scheme (HAPAS) up to diameters of 900mm.

When connecting the plastic subsurface network with concrete drainage elements on the surface of the motorway, the bespoke flange “top hat” chamber base connectors act as inlets and conduits for the slip-formed concrete slot drains sited along the central reservation, says John Moss, business development director, with Polypipe Civils.

Polypipe is also providing a combination of Ridgidrain and “top hat” connectors with bespoke flange connections for the next phase of the project. This involves installing surface water drainage along the grass verges flanking the carriageways.

The M4 smart motorway works are due to finish in 2022.

Road Structures

Related Content

  • Building Egypt's world class Desert Highway
    April 13, 2012
    A huge highway upgrade project will transform the Cairo-Alexandria road link into a world-class connection as Mike Woof reports. The work to upgrade the Desert Highway connecting Egypt's sprawling capital Cairo with its major port Alexandria, is one of the country's largest infrastructure projects for many years. This 220km highway link is being widened and improved to cope with the hugely increased traffic volumes resulting partly from Egypt's fast growing vehicle population. The Egyptian economy is strong
    Read More
  • Improved drainage offering from ACO
    February 6, 2020
    ACO has added two new composite edge rails to its Qmax range of large capacity slot drainage systems. The two rails are the Q-Flow and Q-Guard series, the latter coming with Heelguard channel inlet detail, suiting it to use in areas with pedestrian ways. As well as providing a durable and long-lasting surface finish, the new rails are also claimed to aid vertical and horizontal alignment during the laying of long channels runs.
    Read More
  • Storstrom Bridge to be Denmark’s third longest
    March 8, 2018
    Form and functionality come together in Denmark’s latest Storstrom Bridge design. David Arminas reports. An Italian joint venture recently won the construction contract for what will be one of Denmark’s longest bridges, the replacement 4km-long road and rail Storstrom Bridge. The Danish Road Directorate - Vejdirektoratet - awarded the work to a joint venture of Condotte and Grandi Lavori Fincosit along with bridge design consultant Seteco Ingegneria as a subcontractor. Estimated cost is around €550 milli
    Read More
  • Managing urban motorway complexity in Sydney
    October 4, 2012
    Sydney’s Hills M2 motorway is being widened while still carrying traffic and meeting tough environmental criteria More than 100,000 vehicles and over 27,000 bus commuters use the Hills M2 motorway on a typical workday, making it one of Sydney’s busiest motorway corridors. Owned and managed by Hills Motorway Ltd (HML) and a key part of the city’s orbital motorway network, the road stretches over 21km, providing a seamless link between the Lane Cove Tunnel and Westlink M7. The Hills M2 Upgrade is one of many
    Read More

Highlighted Content