Renewal of the Arrival Road at Liverpool Docks

During July 2013, Pearsons Engineering Services was trusted with the successful renewal of the Arrival Road at Liverpool Docks Quayside for Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.

This was a particularly tricky task since this is the only rail route into and out of the docks. Therefore, the renewal works needed to be undertaken as quickly as possible without impacting upon the quality of the finished relay. The works were undertaken in 2 phases such that important traffic could be conveyed mid way through the works. The main Arrival Road relay was completed in the first phase, trains were run then works on the second phase commenced.

The trouble with this scenario is that you don't know what you'll find once you begin digging below the surface. Even if you have original drawings you may not know if there are new cables, drains or water/gas mains.

The original track was dismantled and the foundations excavated to 200mm below sleeper level. Sand and geotextile Terram was installed followed by the bottom layer of granite ballast. This was then compacted using a remote controlled triple wacker. The concrete sleepers were then re-installed (we replaced 50% of these with serviceable to keep costs low) with new pads, nylons and clips using the original rail (we also replaced 25% of the rails as some of them were heavily worn).

The remaining ballast was added, profiled and then tamped using a mainline tamping machine. Finally the track was cleaned off using a hydraulically powered ballast brush (from our Road/rail machine TS4300) and checked through for gauge, level and conformity to standards.

To summarise, we finished this project early, in budget and to a high standard. The track can now carry the increased biomass traffic expected for many years to come.

View the Project Photo gallery