MSE walls eliminating piled foundations for HS2 rail overbridge: a deep dive in carbon savings

Overview

This presentation will explore the design and construction of reinforced soil load bearing bridge abutments and wing walls to support an HS2 overbridge spanning Network Rail tracks.  

The original concept design comprised reinforced concrete (RC) bridge abutments and L-Shaped wing walls, all founded on piled foundations. The alternative design replaced the piled RC bridge abutments and wing walls with polymer geogrid reinforced soil bridge abutments and wing walls founded on shallow foundations. 

We will cover the technical solution eventually adopted and a comparison of the embodied carbon and cost related to both design options. The carbon emissions compared in this assessment includes the embodied carbon at the factory gate for the main materials and carbon emissions associated with transportation, on-site construction activities and waste disposal.

This is a joint event with the UK chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society.