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UK’s tallest and longest reinforced soil structures
Reinforced Earth Company were asked to provide our specialist technical services to undertake the design of 15 separate structures using a combination of products and techniques developed with our group. We supplied 15,500sqm of pre-cast faced walls, 1,600sqm of steep slopes and 110m of cut and cover tunnels. The central reserve wall is a record 1,500m in length and stands up to 8m in places and the headwalls above the arches are a record breaking 33m tall.
The Heads of the Valleys dualling project is one of the Welsh Government’s key drivers for promoting social and economic regeneration in the area. The exisiting A465 was built in the 1960s and is a single 3 lane carriageway with two lanes in uphill directions and one in the downhill. A regional traffic study in 1990 identified the need to improve the road. The improvment to the A465 is critical to the regeneration of the Heads of the Valleys area. Full details here
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On the Borders Railway, Reinforced Earth provided 26 structures – 9,600m2 of retaining walls of which seven structures and 5,000m2 of walls directly supported the rail lines. This included work on overbridges, underbridges, railway flyovers, footbridges and stations.
Reinforced Earth structures absorb the vibrations induced by passing trains inherently well as evidenced by numerous tests in the USA, France and Germany. This is especially critical for high-speed railway lines, such as LGV SEA where Reinforced Earth walls support the high-speed track up to speeds to 320 kph.
The railway applications use the same technologies as those used for roads. However, design is modified to take into account specific requirements concerning the surcharges or coefficients of safety, especially for high-speed trains.
Full brochure can be found here
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World Record 5MJ Rockfall Impact
Three years of research subjected to a few seconds of truth
The excitement was palpable at the Montagnole rockfall test site near Lyon, France on June 16.
Three years of collaborative research combining the expertise of Terre Armée and Gustave Eiffel University (formerly IFFSTAR) teams were distilled to a decisive moment of a mere five seconds.
The premise of thesis and the particularly slender rockfall protection bund using the Reinforced Earth® technique would either be shattered or withstand the test.
More than a dozen people stood and watched holding their breaths as the giant 12.4-tonne block was released from the crane at 41 m height with a clicking sound, then hit the structure a few seconds later, at no less than 103 km/h, resulting in an impact of 5.1 megajoules.
They saw all their hard work rewarded by a bund standing solidly; the big block – taller than an adult – now looking tiny in comparison, firmly embedded in the 15 m x 3 m x 6 m bund.
972 Employees
Key Figures:
- 186,000sqm on the I-66 Interstate
- Over 100m high shored Reinforced Earth walls in India
Read the report here
Janine Wallage from CISWO thanked Reinforced Earth and Prof Styles for their generous donation and for sharing his knowledge of the industry.
Reinforced Earth are the market leaders in retaining walls, precast arches, bridge abutments, green walls and noise barriers.
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The complex site geology meant that different solutions needed to be found along the corridor and to minimize excavation into rock. One solution involved the design of a unique panel system which acts as the facing for the Reinforced Earth system behind.