Sustainable chalk fill transfer from Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Between 1999 and 2001, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and the A2/M2 widening scheme between Cobham and Junction 4 of the existing M2 motorway were both under construction in central Kent. The activity was particularly intense immediately to the east of the River Medway, where the earthworks for the two projects were immediately adjacent. Nearly 300 000 m3 of surplus chalk was exported from the CTRL works to the A2/M2 widening project in a fill transfer agreement that represented the successful culmination of about three years of negotiations between the two project teams and the local planning authorities. It was a good example of waste minimisation, sustainable design and construction, and cooperative working, and involved the resolution of several planning, technical and construction management issues. The ways in which these were successfully overcome are addressed in this paper.