Luxemburg farmers place their faith in the E+S Site Road - Optimum load distribution

"The section from Beckerich to Nordange is part of the project ‘Assainissement Général de la Vallée de l’Attert", explains Yves Scholtes, 1ier commis technique principal at SIDERO. Construction work started four years ago. "About 15,000 residents will be linked up to the 16 km of new sewers by 2010. This way the sewage can be purified in accordance with the latest guidelines at the central biological treatment plant in Böwingen/Attert," Scholtes continues. The construction work, for which almost 14 million euros has been budgeted, comprises not only the construction of supply lines and sewers, but also the creation of stormwater tanks, reservoirs and pump stations. Since May of this year, Weiland Bau has been working on the section between the localities of Beckerich and Nordange. A district heating pipeline is being laid next to the new collecting system. This is part of the energy strategy of Beckerich local authority, which has been a member of the so-called Climate Alliance since 1995. The alliance’s aim is to reduce CO2 emissions significantly by 2010 by adopting modern and environmentally positive processes. "This is a challenge that can only be mastered in many small steps," explains Camille Gira, Mayor of Beckerich. He sees the main task of the Climate Alliance members as one of considering the climatic impact of each local authority project – which is consistently practised in this Luxemburg community. "19 farms are already connected to our biogas system," Gira continues. "This is where electricity and heat are produced from liquid manure and renewable resources." The goal is to connect all households to this network in the next 20 to 30 years in order to become independent of oil.

A good choice

Since the 2.5 m wide and up to 3.5 m deep trench passes almost exclusively through valuable pasture, the concerns of the affected farmers were initially considerable. It was essential that the construction vehicles should do as little damage as possible to the topsoil. It was also important not to destroy the drainage system in the clayey soils typical of the region that tend to become waterlogged. For this reason, the client opted for a temporary site road – a procedure that, in the opinion of everyone concerned, has paid off. The production and removal of a conventional site road of crushed rock is generally extremely laborious. "The tasks involve bulldozing or excavating the topsoil and storing it temporarily, laying a geotextile and a course of crushed rock with subsequent compaction, excavating and removing the crushed rock, and replacing the topsoil," explains Project Manager Edgar Krings, Weiland Bau S.à.r.l. With the new E+S Site Road, all these tasks are omitted. No special vehicles are needed for moving materials to and from the site. The individual Site Road elements can be laid directly, without any large-scale preliminary earth moving. At the same time, they also withstand extreme loading. Owing to their good load distribution – point loads are spread over an area of about 9 m2 – the Site Road elements provide the necessary stability even on soft ground.

Optimum adaptation to the terrain

What’s more, thanks to simple design and special connectors, assembly is relatively quick. "The Site Road is composed of rugged angle elements laid lengthwise and special transverse profiles," explains Frank Abeling, Site Road Product Manager, Emunds+Staudinger GmbH, describing the elements that have already been successfully used in building construction and civil engineering assignments at home and abroad. "Assembly of the 2.4 m long and 3.8 m wide elements on site couldn't be simpler," Abeling continues. An excavator lifts the elements one after another from a reversing truck, and then they are joined together with a kind of chain joint. For the project in Luxemburg, however, it was possible to omit this step, as the panels pressed themselves immovably into the clayey ground.

In the opinion of all the parties involved in the project, the Site Road has satisfied all expectations. "It is easy to transport and quickly laid," says Project Manager Krings, summing up the advantages. The temporary Site Road is also distinguished by its versatility and simple handling, a fact confirmed by project managers, foremen and excavator operators. Krings: "On a site on open ground, the use of a site road is indispensable to give access for heavy plant. A conventional site road is of course pretty inflexible. Re-laying or re-routing it is time-consuming and costly. With the Site Road from E+S, the contractor has much more freedom of movement. To meet the needs on site, the elements can be re-laid and extended in next to no time."