VolkerFitzpatrick will repair a huge landslip in Hampshire that is disrupting rail journeys.
by Rory Butler / February 1, 2023
The firm will support Network Rail to fix a collapsed track embankment to the northeast of Hook station.
The cool bit
In an unusual move, the firms will temporarily change the track layout so they can have a line running in each direction while they fix the embankment.
The railway itself will then need to be closed again once the embankment is repaired to restore the track layout to its original position.
Because of its remote location, a 580 m access is being built across fields to transport materials and machinery.
The team will construct a 60 m retaining wall, made up of almost 100 12-metre-long sheet piles which will be driven into the ground to stabilise the embankment.
They will also regrade the steepness of the embankment to reduce the risk of material falling.
‘A VolkerFitzpatrick first’
Onsite welfare facilities will be diesel free, and, in a first for the company, VolkerFitzpatrick will trial a hybrid generator using hydrogen and biodiesel.
“We’ll have hundreds of engineers working round the clock, but we still expect the fix to take a number of weeks, as it’s a very complex engineering project,” said Mark Killick, route director for Network Rail Wessex.
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