Project overview

The £51.6m Downhill Lane improvement is part of a wider road upgrade scheme by National Highways to support the regional economy of Tyne and Wear and, in particular, support plans to extend the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP).

The Highways Drainage works are being delivered by Seymour Civil Engineering for National Highways’ delivery partner Costain and will provide extra capacity on the junction of the A19 and A1290 in Sunderland.

Surface water drainage is crucial for any road construction scheme, and the specification for this project called for a high strength, durable kerb and efficient drainage characteristics.

Solution

Project Engineer, Jacobs drew up the design specification including the requirement for E600 maximum loading classification. This exceeds the performance required by the standard D400 classification. Marshalls carried out hydraulic modelling and specified the appropriate products. Marshalls was selected to supply the pre‐cast drainage kerbs based on two criteria: quality and availability to Seymour Civil Engineering.

Only Marshalls could meet the requirement for E600 loading and this was assured through the use of its Mini Beany Splayed combined kerb and drainage system. This medium‐capacity solution offers excellent flow rates as well as superior strength to withstand extreme loadings in area with abnormally heavy wheel loads.

The Mini Beany is a two‐component product comprising a base channel and choice of top unit. This design reduces the risk of damage during the installation process.

A full range of top blocks, outfalls, access covers and associated components ensures the Mini Beany can fulfil installation requirements. On this project, 1,400m of E600 Mini Beany were installed.

For elevated sections of the scheme, 100m of Marshalls’ Bridge Beany, also in E600 classification, was supplied. In locations where the exceptionally high E600 classification is not required, Marshalls supplied 370m of Mono Beany 321 Splayed to D400 specification. All the products were ordered from the Hartlepool branch of Marshalls’ approved distributor Keyline and were delivered to site direct from the Marshalls factory.

Client comments

Marcus Swinburn, Project Manager for Seymour Civil Engineering on the Downhill Lane improvement scheme, has used Marshalls kerbs and drainage products on many projects in the past. “Here we were working to a firm specification from National Highways which required a E600 solution. Marshalls could satisfy that,” he says.

"The Mono Beany is quicker to install than the Mini Beany, which is in two sections and therefore more complex,” says Marcus. “But they are both excellent products. Our task was made easier by Marshall’s involvement right from the design stage of the job,” he adds.

Gareth Giles, Costain’s site agent on the Downhill Lane scheme, added: “The design specification actually only required D400 units. Marshalls’ units all are E600 so they are even better than what is required. One key advantage of the Mini Beany system is the hydraulic design service offered by Marshalls to ensure that the correct Mini Beany configurations are being used.

The biggest benefit to us on site has been the customer service from Lynsey Dunn and her team. When problems arose, she was extremely helpful and helped get the project over the line.”