Long Marston’s new sustainable platform makes its debut
A newly installed platform at Long Marson Rail Innovation Centre featured for the first time at Rail Live 2022.
Located near to the site entrance, and only a short walk from the main entrance to Rail Live, PlatformZERO was designed and built by Wirral-based Plura Innovations, in co-operation with partners ECSL and CSM projects. It is a permanent fixture, offering a predicated lifespan in excess of 100 years.
Built entirely from fibreglassreinforced polymer (GRP), PlatformZERO is marketed as a greener and simpler method of building new platforms and platform extensions.
In the absence of any concrete or brickwork, there is no ‘wet trade’ requirement, while fewer possessions are needed than for any other type of platform.
Central to its design are 2.7-metre-wide modular sections that are simply added as required. The piling and sliding procedure used in the construction phase allows the building work to take place away from the trackside, thereby increasing safety and reducing disruption.
All elements of PlatformZERO are manufactured in the UK and incorporate a GRP substructure and a GRP POLYplatform twinsore deck that includes GRIPfast surfacing, tactile strips and nosing. Drainage is built into the platform structure.
GRP is also more sustainable than producing steel, using around 75% less energy, is long-lasting, reducing the need for replacement, and 100% recyclable.
Continuing the sustainability theme, a team from Network Rail demonstrated how recyclable plastic composite sleepers can be used to replace more conventional wooden or concrete examples.
NR has already used these plastic sleepers on the network, to reduce the weight of track crossing the Sherrington Viaduct between Salisbury and Warminster.
Now their use will expand rapidly - NR has placed an order for more with Middlesbrough based Sicut, which is increasing production to meet demand.
However, this track engineering demonstration was about more than recycling, with carbon emissions also addressed. There wasn’t a diesel-powered element in sight as the sleepers were lowered into position by a batterypowered mobile crane running along sections of LMRIC’s sidings (see highlights, pages 38-39).