Week Ending Friday 6 March
Special edition update on the slip at Gotherington
Lots of action on the Bridge 37 up side slip this week; the soil nails have been completed along the slip face. The face has been sprayed with concrete (shotcrete) to seal the loose material. Finally a test train was run across the area, that went according to plan and the consulting engineer signed the track of as safe to run.
There's still a lot of work to do, 2 rows of steel piles to install, a 5 m row in the slope and 10 m piles fastened to the soil nails at the crest. 5 rows of soil nails across the 20 m stretch between the bridge and the slip and another 5 rows for a distance of 35m to the north of the slip. Equipment and materials for this work arrived today.
 |
| Steelwork for attaching the piles to the soil nails |
 |
| More high strength cement for the soil nails |
 |
| Rail wagon with the 10 m steel piles and the mixer truck |
 |
| Shotcrete in progress on Thursday |
 |
| Section of face covered in sprayed concrete |
 |
| Soil nails with mesh and plates fitted |
The toe of the slope will be dealt with in a later phase of the project, the cracks on the snout are being monitored.
 |
| Snout cracks |
 |
| Toe snout |
 |
| 5 m steel piles stockpiled for next week |
 |
| 10 m steel piles on the rail flat |
 |
| 10 mph Temporary Speed Restriction still in force |
 |
| Deliveries of equipment |
 |
| Traffic chaos in Manor Lane |
The test phase, and next stage design...
 |
| Contractors working out Stage 2 |
 |
| Busy day along the Manor Lane end |
 |
| The concreted face and the 10 m steel piles |
 |
| The design team working down the slope |
 |
| Looking along the slip face |
7820 Dinmore Manor had a steam test this morning, it made sense to us it to run down to travel over the slip to verify that the works have been successful
 |
| 7820 Dinmore Manor running over the slip |
 |
| Dinmore heads off after the test |
 |
| 10 m steel piles being unloaded |
 |
| 10 m steel piles laid out ready for installation |
 |
| Alastair with the 20 tonne Komatsu for the phase 2 soil nails |
 |
| Fitting the drilling head for the soil nails |
 |
35 Tonne Hyundai excavator with the vibrating pile driver
negotiating Manor Lane entrance |
 |
| 35 Tonner goes Round the corner into Manor Lane |
 |
| Squeezing into Manor Lane |
 |
| Hyundai 35 Tone excavator with the steel pile head |
 |
| Steel pile handling head |
The vibrating driver is being used as it should be less damaging to the surrounding area of the slope. A demonstration video of the vibrating head is on the web at:
Quick update on Winchcombe cutting up side slip, the 82 concrete blocks forming the interim repair are all in (205 tonnes of concrete). The instruments for measuring any activity have been installed in boreholes and 2 extra drains installed diagonally down the slope. This has been passed as safe for running, it will be monitored over the summer until a full repair can be done, hopefully later this year
 |
| Winchcombe cutting up side slip, station end |
 |
| Winchcombe cutting up side slip, tunnel end |
Thanks for the visual explanation and a relief trains can still run.
ReplyDeleteCertainly looks like it can do the job. Excellent pics.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Paul.
Thanks ever so much for the special update, it's good to see the details of the work.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering how much use the concrete on the slip face will be; it will prevent any crumbling of he face, but it seems to me the main issue has been the slumping of the side of the embankment; if that continued, the concrete-covered section will be left up in the air. Perhaps the piling will prevent further slumping? I will be interested to see the details of the next steps.
Still, good to see the repair didn't need total removal and replacement of the embankment, as at Chicken Curve.
Noel