Supporting Balfour Beatty over 14 weeks in Nottingham
CAN delivered slope stabilisation works for the Gedling Access Road scheme, helping create space for the new highway while ensuring the long-term stability of the cutting. Early involvement in the design process enabled a practical solution that combined engineering performance with an attractive vegetated finish.
CAN Geotechnical was contracted by Balfour Beatty to carry out stabilisation works to a new access road cutting on the Gedling Access Road scheme in Nottingham. Due to a lack of available land at the crest, the cutting face required steeping to create sufficient space for the new road to be constructed below.
This steep cut angle meant that a ground engineering solution was required to stabilise the new face, and CAN were consulted early in the design process to advise the client and designer on the practical buildability of a stabilisation solution.
The final design comprised a hybrid solution, which required drilling over 650 soil nails and 30 horizontal inclined drains into the face, along with installation of an 800 m2 rigid mesh facing to protect against both deep-seated and shallow surface failure.
A vegetated wall facing system was then installed, providing a stable soil medium to receive hydraseed, with the new growth creating an aesthetically pleasing, natural-looking green finish. At 7m high, the face posed a challenge for accessing to install the vegetated wall. CAN worked closely with suppliers to create a bespoke fixing to ensure the vegetated bags were securely fastened to the rigid mesh facing.
Specialist access techniques were used to install the soil-filled bags at height, using a telehandler to offer up the palletised loads of prefilled bags to reduce manual handling.
