Codsall Drainage

A section of track northwest of Codsall Station in South Staffordshire had poor drainage and unable to cope with heavy persistent rain. As a result, the commuter services to and from Wolverhampton and Birmingham were becoming unreliable.

Pod-Trak was contracted to construct an access road, set up the compound and complete all drainage works. Once land access was agreed with the landowner, Pod-Trak made an opening in the hedge, installed a stock fence and a temporary access road & compound using the dura-base system from Terrafirma Roadways to minimise impact and damage to the land. Site setup included all welfare and offices.

The on track drainage consisted of 700m of 300mm diameter HDPE drainage pipe with 14 chambers. To support the existing flow from adjacent land two cascades were installed using the smart ditch channel lining system.

A 650mm diameter drainage UTX was also installed to move from one cess to another. As a result of the drainage works 150m of concrete troughing had to be removed and reinstalled to protect existing cables.

The off track drainage which was carried out during normal working hours consisted of 50m of 600mm diameter pipe and four precast header walls. All plant and material had to be delivered to the
land locked area using rail trailers during a possession. All existing local ditches were cleared out to allow for stone pitching.

The Project required careful planning due to short midweek possessions. Difficulties encountered on site included mud, stone and clinker through the dig along with excess water which needed to be
over pumped. During the UTX installation old buried rail was discovered which had to be burned out. Works were successfully delivered and the field was handed back to the landowner in excellent condition.