Peels Pit Haul Road - Transpennine Route Upgrade

Huddersfield, UK

Faced with importing a large volume of fill to construct a haul road to serve the track works, the Contractor, BAM, sought a value-engineered alternative design for the access. The works formed part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade near Huddersfield. BAM approached Tensar for their proposal for an alternative design for the haul road. Using Tensar+ software and Tensar InterAx stabilisation geogrid, a solution was found that saved an estimated 46% of the construction cost.

Client's Challenge

Principal Contractor BAM needed to reduce the volume of imported aggregate required for construction of a haul road to access the track works, without reducing load-carrying capacity. This required a re-design of the haul road to achieve a thinner construction profile, without reducing performance or increasing maintenance requirements. The subgrade conditions also gave potential for contamination and weakening of the aggregate layer under the action of traffic.

Tensar Solution

Tensar proposed the use of its Tensar+ software and the LAAMS methodology to design a Mechanically Stabilised Layer (MSL) incorporating Tensar InterAx geogrid. Using this method, BAM’s design consultants were able to reduce the road thickness by over 50%. A Tensar InterAx geocomposite was selected for the MSL. This incorporates a geotextile component to improve separation and reduce subgrade contamination of the aggregate.