Skip to main content

Quick to install embankment support

Technology from Tensar played a vital role along the Dishforth-Leeming section of the North Yorkshire A1 improvement work in northern England where new carriageways are being built adjacent to the existing in-use highway.
February 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Technology from 340 Tensar played a vital role along the Dishforth-Leeming section of the North Yorkshire A1 improvement work in northern England where new carriageways are being built adjacent to the existing in-use highway.

By using a Tensartech TR2 Wall solution to create a temporary structure while raising a below grade section, the 2435 Carillion/2567 Morgan Sindall joint venture contractors are saving time and helping to minimise traffic disruption.

The existing 150m section of the A1 road either side of the Butcher House Bridge is up to 10m below the final required grade of the new motorway. An earth retaining structure with a near vertical face was required to support the new dual three-lane carriageway, which would allow the traffic to be switched to it while the old section was filled.

The conventional technique using extensive sheet piling along the embankment and for the bridge abutments to relieve lateral thrust would have been time consuming, and access for the equipment could have disrupted traffic flow.

Tensar developed a quick-to-install reinforced earth solution. With minimal disturbance to vehicles it temporarily supported the new south-bound embankment, bridge wing walls and abutments.

The contractor explained that as a temporary sacrificial structure, this was by far the best option and less expensive than other methods available.

The solution comprised compacted fill reinforced with layers of Tensar's uniaxial geogrid, securely connected to steel mesh facing units to form a 100m length of the 85˚ earth retaining structure up to 152 3M high; site won fill was used for this section.

For the bridge abutments and wing walls, a 26m length of vertical faced TR2 face, using imported granular fill and uniaxial geogrids, was built up to 9.5m. At either end of the embankment, a 45˚ slope was constructed using Tensartech.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cleveland Bridge is all decked out on the England’s A14 scheme
    June 4, 2019
    As part of Highways England’s A14 upgrade project from Cambridge to Huntington, Cleveland Bridge installed two 1,050tonne pre-assembled bridge decks in just 11 hours. Months of detailed planning and client liaison ensured the 47.5m-long bridge decks, each containing 330tonnes of steel and 720tonnes of concrete, were successfully travelled to the site and lowered onto the abutments. On-site civil engineering works were undertaken by the A14 Integrated Delivery Team, a joint venture between Costain,
  • Tackling flood damage with geosynthetics
    June 22, 2012
    Ian Fraser, Tensar International’s director of application technology, looks at the latest lessons learned from the flood-hit Workington Bridge project in Cumbria, North West England. Rarely has a disaster like the Cumbrian floods demonstrated with more clarity the benefit of designing working platforms and bridge abutments to tested performance standards, as opposed to slavishly following accepted, but often much less efficient, design norms.
  • Busy bridge in Beijing replaced quickly
    March 31, 2016
    The replacement of a very busy road bridge in China’s capital Beijing has been carried out successfully. Due to the volume of traffic using the bridge during week days, the work had to be carried out quickly so as to minimise traffic disruption. But despite being carried out in the centre of Beijing, the replacement work for the Sanyuan Bridge just took 43 hours from start to completion.
  • Bolivia’s new highway
    October 10, 2017
    Bolivia’s new highway will provide better access into mountain areas – Mauro Nogarin writes At the beginning of 2015, work began on the construction and paving for the Tupiza - Atocha - Uyuni highway project. The route is located in Bolivia’s Potosí department: it is 189m in length and forms part of the Southwest Basic Road Network (RVF) of Bolivia. The completion of this important route is requiring funding worth US$150 million, of which 72% is being delivered through loans from the European Investment