ABSTRACT
The United Kingdom’s (UK’s) railway infrastructure was largely constructed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the network’s effective operation is critically dependent on many structures which are more than 150 years old. The replacement structure involved the design and construction of the UK’s first expanded polystyrene (EPS) embankment for railway use, it is also one of the world’s largest EPS embankments. A pre-load embankment, between a height of 4 and 4.5 m, was judged to be a highly effective means of reducing long-term settlement. The observational method could be readily applied via progressive modification, simply by modifying the pre-load embankment construction sequence. Prior to embankment construction, instruments were installed and a series of readings were taken during a period of about 8–10 weeks to verify that they were functioning correctly and identify any environmental effects.
