Our Rail team were recently appointed by Dyer & Butler to respond to an emergency at the Honiton Tunnel in the Southern region.
On Tuesday 20 August, Network Rail’s earthworks sensors in the Honiton tunnel cutting detected movement on one of the slopes.
Upon receiving a call that afternoon, we mobilised plant and equipment arriving on site that evening to begin track clearance operations.
We successfully cleared the track and installed a temporary retaining system, which allowed Network Rail to reopen the line by 4 pm the following day.
Despite these efforts, the embankment continued to slip. We engaged additional resources to monitor the situation and carry out remedial work throughout the week.
We assisted the client with options to prepare a temporary design, which resulted in constructing a Kingpost retaining wall, with work commencing on Friday night.
Our team mobilised all necessary resources to build an augured concrete Kingpost wall along the foot of the embankment, and we completed the work, reopening the line by 5 am on Monday morning.
Find out more about our rail capabilities here: Rail Engineering – Van Elle (van-elle.co.uk)
