Birmingham Health Innovation Campus

Project Overview

As part of the development of the new Birmingham Health Innovation Campus all available land needed to be maximised where possible. The original design included extending the existing contiguous piled wall which wasn’t favourable due to the cost and proximity of the railway line. The project was complex with the slope being between a rail line and a proposed high voltage substation. An alternative design, incorporating a permanent cut faced slope and Percussion Driven Earth Anchors (PDEA®), was proposed as a safer and more cost effective solution. As the substation was to be constructed at the toe of the slope, to prevent potential electrical arcing, no steel components were allowed to daylight upon the slope face.

Solution

The asset is Network Rail owned and the project was undertaken by Bruntwood SciTech on behalf of the University of Birmingham with the design being prepared by Geo-Environmental Services Limited. The specified design included a 60° cut faced slope with permanent anchors and facing materials. A top down construction was completed by Vertical Access Limited which included B4 and S8 anchors being installed to 5.85m. A cellular confinement system was then fitted and finished with hydroseeding to achieve the desired vegetated permanent slope. Plati-Drains were also installed at the base of the slope to reduce any pore water pressure.