UK Universal Piling & Geotechnical Completes 428-Meter Rockfall Barrier Project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Universal Piling & Geotechnical has completed a major rockfall protection and slope stability project at Maidstone East Rock Cutting in the UK during a nine-day possession. The work involved installing 428 meters of Geobrugg 100A-R rockfall barrier on a cutting with a history of rockfall and instability events, along with soil nailing and rockfall mitigation measures.

After vegetation clearance and barrier line layout, signs of instability were identified on a section of the cutting face below the proposed barrier line. A joint inspection during the possession by Network Rail, Southern Renewals Enterprise, and designer Tony Gee determined that additional stabilization measures were required to ensure the long-term integrity of the slope and safe railway operations. The design team quickly developed and approved a revised stabilization plan, adding 30 soil nails and 176 square meters of passive rockfall netting beyond the original scope.

Through flexible scheduling by the supply chain management and operations team, all additional materials, specialized equipment, and resources were procured and mobilized within 24 hours of the designer's site visit. The supplementary works were completed within the possession window, with time remaining for handover. The project demonstrated the company's multidisciplinary capabilities in rope access, specialist drilling, soil nailing, rockfall protection, and barrier installation, as well as its ability to adapt to changing site conditions while ensuring safety, schedule, and quality.

The scope included mobilizing to site one week before the possession to receive and organize all machinery, equipment, and materials. At the start of the possession, a specialist vegetation clearance team used Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs) mounted on Rail Road Vehicles (RRVs) to clear vegetation from the lower cutting face. Subsequently, an RRV with a drill mast installed 98 R32 soil nails to a depth of 3.5 meters, using high-strength rapid-set grout to achieve full design strength within 24 hours. A second RRV was then deployed to lift and position barrier posts, coordinated by Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA)-certified rope technicians. After drilling was completed, the drill mast vehicle was removed from the track, and the rope access team carried out cable work, threading and tensioning the wire rope system, and installing mesh panels, ultimately completing barrier installation on both the up and down sides of the cutting.

Safety management and schedule coordination were critical given the limited possession time, multiple concurrent contractors, and the proximity of fiber optic and high-voltage lines within the track bed. Strict exclusion zones were established during drilling, and Terram membrane and crash barriers were installed to protect underground utilities and prevent ballast contamination. Access to the top of the cutting required crossing third-party property, so entry and exit arrangements were carefully managed to minimize disruption to landowners.

Key activities included setting out and pre-drilling surveys using MEWPs mounted on RRVs, installing 98 R32 soil nails, installing 35 barrier posts, 4 support posts, and 8 anchor separators for support ropes, constructing and commissioning 428 meters of Geobrugg 100A-R rockfall barrier (168 meters on the down side and 260 meters on the up side), using approximately 1,300 meters of cable, 130 cable clamps, and 180 spiral coils. The team also conducted load testing on sacrificial test nails to full design depth, and through collaborative design optimization by sharing test results with Tony Gee engineers, reduced soil nail lengths. After identifying potentially unstable rock faces, an enhanced stabilization plan was developed, including an additional 30 soil nails and 176 square meters of passive protection netting.

Upon completion of all works, machinery and equipment were safely removed via designated Rail Road Access Points (RRAPs). The site and railway infrastructure were thoroughly cleaned, the track was high-pressure washed, waste materials were removed, and the area was handed over in a clean, safe, and fully operational condition. Through meticulous pre-possession planning, effective stakeholder collaboration, and the integration of specialist drilling, rope access, and geotechnical expertise, the project safely and on schedule delivered 428 meters of barrier and associated stabilization measures. When previously unidentified rock face instability was encountered during the possession, the company worked with Network Rail and Tony Gee to develop and implement an enhanced stabilization solution within a short timeframe, ensuring the long-term stability of the cutting and safe railway operations.