Construct - Issue 41

EUROTUNNEL IN NUMBERS 33 new bases built 221 loads of muck away 35.6t of steel rebar

490m 3 of concrete 571.5t of paving material laid

VISION In December 2020, when a new COVID variant was identified, France temporarily stopped any lorries entering the country, so the UK government initiated the Operation Brock traffic management system, resulting in thousands of trucks being parked on the nearby M20 and A20. Maidstone Ashford M25 LOCATION

“Eurotunnel’s business is taking passengers and freight to and fro. It’s a 24/7 operation, and we had to maintain that,” says Michael. “We shut lanes down while we built each base, but we did everything we could to open them back up as quickly as possible.” FM Conway’s consultancy division worked with concrete supplier Brett Concrete to design a self-compacting and fast-curing concrete mix, so the check-in lanes could be reopened quickly. The surfacing division has also been involved on the project, laying a total of 571.5t of material to build the new staff car park, surface the approach lanes and build a new footpath. All the material was supplied by the company’s Erith plant. Throughout the project, 90% of material that was excavated or broken out went for recycling at FM Conway’s plants, including 1,560t of concrete.

Chatham

M20

Dover

Folkestone

“We still had a live site that we had to get to,” says Michael. “We had to work outside the box to make sure we could get all our people and materials there.” Another challenge was ensuring everyone remained safe from COVID-19. Operatives were segregated into work gangs, each with their own welfare facilities. Constructing the bases involved digging 2.5m deep excavations, predominantly in soft sand, requiring substantial temporary works, which were designed in-house. The bases sit within the existing check-in lanes, which remained operational throughout the work.

Eastbourne

EUROTUNNEL

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