PIPE JACKING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTED ON MAINLINE RAIL ‘UNDER TRACK CROSSING’ PROJECT

Project: Drainage Improvement Scheme; Transpennine Route Upgrade, Ulleskelf Mire, North Yorkshire

Client: Network Rai

Main Contractor: Transpennine Route Upgrade East Alliance

Microtunnelling/Pipe Jacking Contractor: Active Tunnelling

FP McCann Product Supplied: 1800mm id Precast Concrete Jacking Pipes

A no-dig drainage improvement scheme has been successfully completed beneath a mainline railway in North Yorkshire. The 70 mile Transpennine Route between Manchester and York is undergoing a multi-billion pound upgrade to allow for more frequent, faster and heavier trains.

At Ulleskelf Mire near Tadcaster, the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) East Alliance working in conjunction Coventry based microtunnelling and pipe jacking specialist Active Tunnelling, has installed three new drainage tunnels beneath the four-track line replacing two 179 years old brick arches. The work was undertaken on the flood plain during late summer 2023 to allow for a speedy and successful completion.

In the first type of operation of its kind in the UK, the infrastructure work involved three tunnel boring machines (TBM’s) working simultaneously side by side. The three tunnels each measuring 17.8 metres long and 1.8 metres in diameter have been lined with FP McCann’s 1800mm id reinforced precast concrete jacking pipes supplied from the Company’s manufacturing facility in Alnwick, Northumberland.

The trenchless tunnelling and pipe jacking process is far less intrusive than the traditional open-cut method of drainage pipe laying and is particularly suited to projects where transport infrastructure must be crossed. In this case, the three TBM’s named Katherine. Nicola and Emma after the three project managers, bored below the rail lines to keep the operational railway open to trains and passengers for the maximum amount of time, thereby keeping disruption to a minimum. The drainage pipes were installed by Active Tunnelling in just 54 hours. The total volume of earth removed was 615 tonnes, significantly less than that of a similar length open-cut trench.

Commenting on the microtunnelling and pipe jacking drive Rob Graham Project Manager for Active Tunnelling says, “Despite the relatively short distance, the tunnelling preparation work was complex. Initial and extensive ground stabilisation works each side of the rail track had to be undertaken with the concrete earth retention walls installed also acting as entry and reception points for the TBM’s. On the simultaneous tunnel boring and pipe jacking itself, the drives were straightforward with the three crossings completed successfully within the short window of operation. With significant forces from the live track above, we were confident that FP McCann’s precast concrete jacking pipes were more than capable of withstanding this loading.”

FP McCann supply a full range of precast concrete jacking pipes from 450mm id to 2400mm id.