Noise Barriers
1998
Windsor, Berkshire
Private
Alfred McAlpine Ltd
Maccaferri Ltd
M4 Acoustic Bund
After construction
After construction
After construction
Problem
Bearing in mind the high cost of residential land and the excessive noise from the M4 motorway located adjacent to the development, the client’s aims were:
• To provide an acoustic barrier
• To construct a steep-sided embankment having long-term structural stability and allowing development to achieve maximum land take.
• To provide an aesthetically pleasing naturally vegetated embankment face.
Solution
Maccaferri’s solution was a soil-reinforced bund with a steep-sided embankment slope, 60 degrees from the horizontal, and a shallow rear face embankment slope of 30 degrees. The steep-sided face was formed using a temporary rising shutter system, allowing the ParaGrid to wrap around and provide an anchored slope face. A biodegradable matting, BioMac C, was used to retain topsoil behind the slope face and provide short-term erosion protection, thus encouraging rapid plant growth. Primary soil reinforcement was provided by ParaGrid. The finished embankment is 6m high and 1.2 km in length.