Traffic speed reduction, drainage and biodiversity were among key challenges met by Brett Landscaping and civil engineers BDP as part of infrastructure work on Bradford’s new £19 million Enterprise Zone.
With heavy goods traffic due to rise significantly as the Enterprise Zone was constructed, BDP were looking for a solution to reduce the width of the carriageway in order to slow the speed of HGVs on the soon-to-be busy industrial road.
As BDP investigated designs for a central reservation incorporating a Vehicle Restraint System - to contain and redirect the vehicles - Brett was able to offer technical advice, market-leading kerbs and bespoke engineered solutions for the project.
To meet the strict design documents, BDP specified Brett’s Trief GST2A kerbs. The GST2A is also acknowledged as the only containment kerb in the UK which has been independently tested for impact protection - providing the designer with peace of mind that this system works.
Brett also provided bespoke units manufactured in their production plant to reduce manual handling and minimise the hazards of dust on site for the operatives.
As part of a commitment to sustainability and biodiversity it was also decided to provide a ‘wild meadow’ covered central reservation in this Brown Field development.
Creating the wild meadow central reservation required access points to be designed to allow maintenance vehicles onto the raised meadow. Drainage was also required through the kerb line to allow surface water to pass from the central reservation back out onto the carriageway.
Brett provided bespoke design advice on the construction of the maintenance access ramps and recommended an innovative solution to the drainage issue. The design incorporated a sack of geotextile - filled with free draining aggregate - to allow the water to collect behind the kerbs and filter through the factory-controlled, pre-drilled core hole without flushing through the soil behind.
Any excess water which may build up on the central reservation will now flow through the kerbs back into the carriageway where it will drain away via the first downstream gully it meets. It was calculated that if one in every five Trief GST2A were core drilled - it would provide enough capacity to allow drainage of the wild meadow reservation and reduce any hydrostatic pressure build up behind the kerb run.
Jamie Gledhill, National Specification Manager at BrettLandscaping, said: “It’s always a pleasure to work with BDP and we were happy to have been able to offer such detailed design advice and bespoke units for the project.
“Brett is the market leader for containment kerbs with a reputation for providing solutions, detailing of the kerb runs and knowledge of installation. We are also the only manufacturer to offer bespoke kerb units for contractors.”
The work, at Parry Lane Enterprise Zone, Bradford, was completed in June 2022.