Epsom Emergency Embankment Response – Stabilisation Works to get Trains Running
Huge congratulations to our One Team Wessex, including our supply chain, for safely and successfully completing embankment stabilisation works to allow the Epsom to London line to be reopened in time for the main return to work commuter rush on January 6th.
Having only just completed works to stabilise an embankment at Ashmead, just before Christmas our emergency response team were called out to another failed embankment, this time at Epsom. With the track collapsed between Epsom and Ewell West Stations, train services into Waterloo were suspended and our team began working around the clock to get passengers back to work by the end of the festive break.
This was a particularly difficult site to gain access to and our team have literally had to take over the end of residents’ back gardens, demolishing garden buildings to allow a haul road to be built to the required area. To allow works to begin, track monitoring was installed, and access staircases formed. The existing toe ditch was piped and in-filled to allow a haul road and piling mat to be formed. A man-safe system was installed at the crest of the embankment.
The affected section of track and ETE and HV supplies were removed and 13-metre-long sheet piles installed at the intervention on the upside of the embankment.
Hence the failure zone of the existing embankment was removed and reinstated with 4000 tonnes of granular fill.
A huge amount of design and site work has been completed in just 3 weeks, with many people sacrificing their festive plans to ensure that passengers could once again continue their journeys at the soonest opportunity.
Congratulations and Thank You Team Epsom. With particular praise to Jaswinder Rupra, Steve Early and Derek Rapson for their unwavering commitment in professionally delivering another earthworks emergency project. Thank you all for giving up your Christmas and New Year holidays with very little notice to ensure that we could get passengers moving as quickly as possible. We are hugely grateful to you all for your dedication and for putting passengers first.
