Leyland Station is located on the West Coast Mainline. Access between the outer and central platforms was via a footbridge with staircases. This restricted passengers with limited
mobility getting from one platform to the other without having to take a 500m circuitous route via the adjacent road bridge. Direct access to the central platform was not possible for these passengers.
In order to make all areas of the station accessible to everyone; the project was to provide a new modern footbridge which could be accessed via either the staircase or a 16 person lift at each of the 3 platforms, thus making all areas to the station accessible to all.
The project came under the Access-For-All (AFA) scheme, which is funded by the Department for Transport.
RB liaised with the main contractor AMCO and the project designers. RB offered a solution which changed the pile design from driven to bored. Also, to alleviate the project designer’s fears that the ground conditions may precipitate the pile walls collapsing during its construction, a hollow stem Sectional Flight Auger (SFA) pile was recommended and adopted as the best solution. The design was subsequently revised to SFA piles and upon completion of the final design, 69no piles were required varying from 7.0m to 12.5m deep.