Stable and sturdy noise barrier

Situation

The Neuss-Allerheiligen development area is surrounded by four sources of noise: the Krefeld-Neuss-Cologne railway line, aluminium industry plants, the A57 motorway and a district road. Several noise barriers were to be installed to protect the area. Among other things, a noise barrier was planned which, with a height of 10 m and a track-side angle of inclination of ß=68°, required special safety measures. It was also necessary to keep construction time and costs to a minimum.

Solution

The noise barrier consists of a combination of a gabion wall – aligned with the tracks – and a standard embankment facing the residential area. In accordance with the client’s requirements, the backfill area was to be reinforced in such a way that the geogrids would brace the earthworks into a monolithic earth block. The gabions were backed up and secured using geogrids. To achieve this, the geogrids were inserted into the wire baskets and fixed in place using a spiral spring and the weight of the gabion fill. By planting the gabions, the noise barrier becomes a ‘green wall’. Flexibility is also combined with enormous resilience in this product: geogrids have a high resistance to microorganisms and chemicals in the soil, as well as to UV radiation and mechanical damage.

Advantages

• High tensile strength with low elongation
• High specific strength
• Low creep tendency
• Good interlocking effect with the reinforced soil