Balfour Beatty has been awarded Project of the Year with a Geotechnical Value of over £3 million at the Ground Engineering Awards 2016. The award recognises the work undertaken to stabilise a historic landslide in Lyme Regis and the efforts made to ensure the work did not impact on the area’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
The Lyme Regis contract was granted to Balfour Beatty in 2012 and completed in spring 2015, ahead of schedule and below budget. The design and build process used a wide range of techniques, including Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering, in-house piling capabilities to install large diameter bored piling and ground stabilisation anchors. This ensured the method used would allow for land sliding and earth movement in some locations, but offer full protection in others, fully complying to the design sensitivities outlined by Natural England, UNESCO and the detailed planning permission.
The £13.5 million works included the construction of a 400m wave wall and walkway built below the landslide areas, and the stabilisation of the major slope; which used 2,500 soil nails, a 27m deep, 200m long anchored piled wall with inclined anchors up to 46m long, dowel piles extending to 12m, and groundwater drainage to ensure the protection of 480 homes.
Commenting on the award win, Ground Engineering judges said, “This project showcases the exciting world of geotechnics and demonstrates innovation through a combination of solutions that protects the town but also allows the slopes to fail.
As well as winning this particular accolade, Balfour Beatty was also highly commended in the Sustainability category. Since completion, the Lyme Regis project has won multiple awards, including: ICE South West ‘Project of the Year 2015’, EA Project Excellence Awards 2015 ‘Programme and Project Delivery’ and Concrete Society ‘Project of the Year 2015’.