Glasgow to Edinburgh Mainline

Speed of installation was therefore of the essence and Maccaferri Construction working with First Engineering, Railtrack’s appointed contractors, was invited to come up with a design and construct package in association with Donaldson Associates of Glasgow.

The wall design progressed on site while site clearance and the removal of slipped material were carried out. The design process was accelerated by using Maccaferri’s MacSTARS software; which is a programme developed to analyse the stability of mass gravity gabion walls according to Encode 7. The design also had to overcome the practical problems resulting from the exceptional amount of water in the burn.

The solution provided a Gabion wall of 4 metres in height, with a length of 16 metres and an additional low-height wall extending to a further 20 metres. An unusual feature was the provision of pre-filled Gabions “ReadyMacs” to make up the lower courses of the new wall, essential to the remainder of the wall was completed using conventional polymeric coated hexagonal woven mesh Gabions erected on-site and filled with 10-200mm stone. This method of construction is ideal for ‘difficult’ locations with limited access and the site at Polmont, a deep ravine in a built-up area, presented a severe challenge in terms of access.

Maccaferri “ReadyMacs” are pre-filled gabion units. Built by Maccaferri to an exceptionally high standard to withstand the forces of transportation and lifting of the units, ReadyMacs are an ideal solution for these types of projects. They are also used in situations where water and difficult access are encountered. Working round the clock, Maccaferri employed two teams working in shifts to complete the job in less than the time allocated by Railtrack, allowing the line to be re-opened on time.