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

  • Onsite asphalt recycling
    December 15, 2020
    Equipment from Ammann has played a key role in renovating a section of the N2 highway in Switzerland
    Read More
  • Key projects free up Auckland's congested motorway network
    June 14, 2012
    A number of key projects in Auckland, New Zealand will free-up the city’s congested motorway network - Mary Searle reports.Auckland is a sprawling city, home to 1.4 million people, one third of New Zealand’s total population. Until recently, greater Auckland comprised Auckland city, North Shore city over the harbour bridge to the north, Waitakere city to the west and Manukau city to the south. An amalgamation of these various cities’ councils, plus the regional council and three district councils into one,
    Read More
  • Sandvik on drill at the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary project
    April 4, 2018
    The Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point project is creating a seventh land crossing, including highways and tunnels, between Shenzhen in China and Hong Kong There are already two control points on the eastern side of the New Territories between China and Hong Kong - at Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok – to access eastern Shenzhen and Guangdong. All cross-boundary traffic travelling from these points must use busy local roads in Hong Kong and Shenzhen before joining the major highway systems. The US
    Read More
  • Upgrading a busy A road link in the UK
    July 4, 2018
    The upgrade to the UK’s busy A14 route will address a significant traffic bottleneck - Mike Woof writes The UK is suffering badly from traffic congestion, a problem that is particularly severe in and around its major cities. Lack of investment in road construction over many years has resulted in a major backlog of work, while the country has seen growing vehicle numbers. To make matters worse, there have been few additions to the major road network since the late 1980s and early 1990s. And the combinatio
    Read More

Highlighted Content