Tensar appointed to £82 million Hitachi Rail plant

Tensar International, a global leader in ground stabilisation technology and soil-reinforcement, will provide products for the construction of Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd’s new £82million manufacturing plant in Merchant Park, County Durham.

The project, due for completion in 2015, will utilise 30,000m2 of Tensar’s market leading TriAx geogrids to act in a subgrade stabilisation function.

Tensar’s design and supply experts are working closely with Hall Construction and Shepherd on the creation of the mechanically stabilised layer (MSL) below the site’s access road, using TriAx geogrid.

The unique triangular aperture TriAx geogrids work to interlock with and confine the granular particles, which significantly improves the properties and performance of the resulting Tensar mechanically stabilised layer.

Peter Wills, UK & International Business Manager at Tensar, said: “Tensar is delighted to have been appointed to this project, which is great news for the rail industry in the UK and the North East as a region. We’re particularly pleased that in an application such as this, where the considerable loads of trains, associated machinery and haulage vehicles are likely to be applied, TriAx® has been selected as the most suitable system for the job.”

Work at the Hitachi Rail site in Newton Aycliffe commenced in December 2013. The site is 32 acres in size.