Report examines partial failure of a structure inside Balcombe Tunnel in West Sussex. Partially blames resin used.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) examined a steel structure’s failure in the roof of the Balcombe tunnel in UK, which happened on September 23, 2011.

The structure, one of six within the tunnel, was designed to catch water leakage from the roof. The failure was detected in the resin used to connect the structure’s studs to the brick lining. According to the report, the resin was not selected properly due to insufficient evaluation of the technical data. Thus, three lessons were learned concerning the importance of the proper consideration of the manufacturers’ data sheets and the awareness of published information, as well as the need to make all the noteworthy tunnel defects visible from track level. Some recommendations have been also made in the report by the RAIB.

Read RAIB’s report into the Partial failure of a structure inside Balcombe Tunnel, West Sussex 23 September 2011.

Source: TheConstructionIndex.co.uk