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Section of decommissioned gas main under the M1 filled with minimum disruption

December 22, 2021

Steve Vick International’s Contract Service team were asked by Cadent Gas to assist in filling with grout an abandoned gas main running under the M1 motorway at Junction 15, Newport Pagnell. The 180mm diameter pipe had been diverted and replaced as part of the new road infrastructure, for the Northampton Gateway junction widening scheme.

The section of main was 140 metres long with a volume of 3.65 cubic metres. SVI technicians mixed the cementitious grout on site, setting up the rig 80 metres away from the injection point on the motorway embankment. The remote location made it safe to work and kept traffic management and interruption to a minimum.

Some 3,500 litres of water were required to mix the grout, and this was supplied by a tanker situated around 100 metres away from the motorway.

The project was completed in just over two hours. Andy Jones, Lead Delivery Engineer (Leicestershire and Northamptonshire), of Cadent Gas commented,

“The team from Steve Vick worked efficiently and quickly to complete these works in a safe manner and satisfied the request we had from Highways England to fully grout the abandoned gas main running under the M1.  I can’t thank them enough for the excellent works they completed on our behalf.”

Permanently filling unwanted pipes and voids from a remote location is just one of a wide variety of solutions for underground pipe renewal problems offered by Steve Vick International’s Contract Service team. The team have over 30 years’ experience, and have worked on many high profile projects including, work undertaken as part of HS2, work on the Caledonian Canal, at Surrey Quays, and at Heathrow Airport, to name but a few.  With engineers strategically placed at depots around the UK, Steve Vick International offer a nationwide service.