Headbolt Lane

84 metres of embankment stabilisation and 150 metres of finished platform in just 50 hours!

In April 2023, working alongside Buckingham Group at the brand new Headbolt Lane Station in Liverpool, MegaTech Projects installed a 150 metre EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) railway platform and 84 metres of EPS embankment stabilisation in just 50 working hours.

Platform 3 at Headbolt Lane came with a challenge. The footprint of the proposed new platform fell on a steep embankment which sat atop a protected culvert. MegaTech Projects were asked if we could find a solution to the problem. By replacing the steepest section of the embankment (over the top of the culvert) with EPS, 2 problems were overcome.

Problem number one was the fear of overbearing the culvert with a new 4m wide railway platform on top of the existing loadings. In replacing the soil embankment with EPS, the excessive loadings were removed but stability remained.

The EPS finished level above the culvert then provided a flat finished surface on top of the embankment for the new railway platform to straddle, solving problem number 2. The final platform was installed in just 4nr shifts during an April Blockade.

Headbolt Lane’s embankment provided another great example of how MPL’s EPS system can be adapted to suit site specific requirements, whilst the speedy installation of the finished platform demonstrated the programme efficiencies found in all applications of the EPS platform system.

Working alongside principal contractor Buckingham Group Contracting and delivering for Mersey Rail was a first for MPL, but hopefully not the last.