Working with Apley Estates over 6 weeks in Shropshire
CAN was appointed to protect a busy highway from rockfall, delivering a major cliff stabilisation project that improved long-term safety while minimising disruption to road users.
CAN was appointed as Principal Contractor to carry out install rock fall protection to a 75m high rock face immediately adjacent to a busy highway to protect road users from rock fall. The design solution was to install a passive rock fall netting drapery over the whole face to contain falling rock and guide it to the toe of the face, with rock bolts installed to secure the netting to the face and stabilise discrete block features.
A detailed phased programme of works was developed to minimise impact on road users, commencing with tree felling close to live overhead cables, vegetation clearance on the face and light hand scaling to remove loose rock from the surface. Rock bolts were then drilled using a long reach excavator mounted drill system. Where larger potentially unstable rock masses were encountered, these were removed where possible by controlled heavy scaling. In one area of the rock face, dentition works were required to stabilise a large overhanging rock feature, comprising 60m3 of P450 wet sprayed concrete supported by rock dowels and reinforcing steel fixed in the void.
Two sections of bespoke rock catch fence were also installed at height on the face where it was impractical to install netting. Access to the face was provided using a combination of rope access and MEWPS, with a mobile crane utilised to lift rock fall netting to the top of the towering cliff for installation. PVC-coated galvanised netting was used to provide containment across 7000m2 of rock face. This was craned from road level to the top of the cliff in rolls for installation on a top-down basis.
