Cleeve Cutting Repair

Period Ending 28 November 

One good thing about the latest lockdown is that construction is still allowed to continue. This allowed us to engage contractors to repair the void on the cutting crest at Bishops Cleeve. After finding the big hole under the pipe along the crest drain it was realised that a repair had to be a priority. Another wet winter like last year might have seen the the slope washed out onto the track. 

The problem originates on the down side cutting crest, this is where a stream runs in under a lane that is parallel to the line. The void is under the length of twinwall pipe extending from the 90° bend, it's a roughly 2 cumtr irregular washout that is draining away under the slope surface. 

Existing arrangement on the crest 

The cess drain along this stretch is another length that has been topped with hollow concrete blocks, these have been discovered to be stopping the water draining in, this section is particularly bad as the blocks had filled with clay. This short section is being replaced with 40 mm clean stone. 

Cess drain exposed to improve drainage 
removed blocks can be seen across the track 

Excavation for the new manhole ring on the crest 

Trench down the slope for the void drainage 

A rainy day, it has shown how much the elbow is leaking 

Elbow on the inlet pipe 

Slope drain going in 

Standard catchpit rings in the cess 
for the new chamber 

Manhole ring cut out for pipe installation 

Drain down the slope to the cess

Void filled lined with permeable membrane 

Void exposed and lined with membrane 

New manhole on the crest on the end of the inlet pipe 

The void has been filled with 5 tonnes of 75mm stone, this will stabilise the area while still allowing the ground water to pass though. 

Extended crest drain pipe to reach the falling ground 

Slope drain installed into a new catchpit in the cess 

There's still a few finishing off jobs to do, but the bulk of the work is out of the way. 

A big thanks to the intrepid reporters for popping in to capture the pictures 😉