Riverbank Restoration, Leeds

‘Build Back Better’: River Bank Restoration for Leeds Bus Stop

Under cutting of the riverbank by storm water flowing along Farnley Beck resulted in a collapse of the bank leading to the relocation of the Bus stop on Pudsey Road just outside Leeds.

Leeds City Council, invited specialists Platipus Anchors to provide a Conceptual Proposal for the remediation of this 15m long stretch. One of the problems here was that the bank needed to be stabilised before any rebuilding works could be carried out safely. Experienced in anchoring slopes for Temporary Works using a ‘Top Down’ construction and, indeed, ‘Bottom Up’ construction for Reinforced Soil applications; Platipus Geotechnical Engineers proposed a hybrid design combining both techniques.

Starting from the top: a geotextile material was fixed at the crest of the slope and rolled down, spreading the load of the Percussion Driven Earth Anchors (PDEA®) installed 5m into the slope. With a stable slope and a safe working area established, the restoration works could then start; bottom up. Beginning with a stone filled mattress at the toe, two further lifts of rock filled gabion baskets were added. Each basket was tied into the bank by coupling up to the anchor used for the temporary works. Normally, facing plates would terminate outside of the baskets but to provide an aesthetically pleasing finish; for this project the plates were terminated inside the baskets.

Progressing further up the slope, gabion baskets gave way to reinforced soil comprising stone filled layers of geocells, again tied into the bank by coupling up to the anchors. The outer cells were initially left empty so the plates could be hidden within the cell then filled with seeded topsoil to promote a green slope.

First Class workmanship by the Contractor, Coating Services, with design input from the Waterman Group, has resulted in a stunning finish and provides stabilisation for at least 120 years.

Only positive comments have been received from the local community and bus users.

For more information visit: www.platipus-anchors.com