Highways & Drainage

The dedicated highways specialists at SYSTRA have wide-ranging experience of designing all types of highway and drainage system for trunk roads, local and private roads, industrial, residential and retail road networks.

Connecting people and places

Developing new road networks on any scale is a complex process, involving multiple technical, engineering and regulatory considerations. New roads and associated drainage systems are required for all types of development, from small housing estates up to vast industrial sites with large road networks – and everything in between. Different road construction methods, materials and drainage systems are required for different sites, depending on traffic volumes, topography, location and environmental conditions.

Roads and drainage systems are not always the first priority in any new development, so schemes often need to be turned around quickly – from planning and design through to delivery. There are huge benefits in appointing a single consultant that can manage the entire process and navigate all regulatory, planning and environmental approvals.

SYSTRA has expertise across multiple design, planning, engineering and project management disciplines – enabling us to offer a complete design-to-delivery service for all highways and drainage schemes for any type of development.

our experience

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SYSTRA works with a wide range of government bodies, local authorities and developers to deliver highway networks and associated drainage systems on any scale.

Support for varied highway and drainage schemes

Our clients include private developers who need road networks for their residential, industrial, commercial or retail developments. We support local authorities and government bodies, who need to develop local and national road networks. Windfarm, energy-from-waste and other energy plant developers rely on our expertise to deliver robust access roads for their facilities. We also work with professional partners and contractors on a whole variety of road building projects.

Complete design-to-delivery road solutions

Our highways and drainage services cover every element of design and delivery, from initial feasibility studies and funding applications, through preliminary and detailed designs before procurement and support and administration/management of construction phases.

Delivering complete highways and drainage systems is a complex undertaking, involving specialists from multiple disciplines at SYSTRA, providing services such as transport planning, geotechnical surveys, structural engineering, environmental assessments, topographical surveys, road safety audits and landscape architecture services.

Highway design, construction and alignment

Using leading industry software such as Civils 3D, Bentley MX (XM) Openroads, PDS, Microdrainage (Windes) Autotrack, Signplot, and Autocad, we provide a powerful and flexible design service to help clients gain statutory approvals – such as S106, S38, S104 and S278 agreements, as well as Road Construction Consents and Section 56 approvals. We also provide expertise in Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) and legislative requirements.

We are experts in highways construction methods and the specification of materials for adoptable highways and industrial settings. We produce road designs that use readily available and economic materials, tailored for specific purposes.

Our designers and engineers have considerable experience in producing horizontal and vertical alignment designs, using the latest BIM software. We produce detailed 2D and 3D models showing existing and proposed surfaces, profiles, cross sections, contours and isopachytes. We can provide detailed reports of forward visibility, vehicle tracking, areas and volumes for cut-and-fill analysis and flow path analysis for highway run-off.

Road drainage system design and specification

Our highways specialists design surface-water systems, based on rainfall analysis, run-off calculations and network capacity. Our designs include allowances for climate change impacts, seasonal and location variations.

We design foul water drainage systems and industrial process water systems, taking into account the nature of the discharge and consent limitations. We design outfalls, interceptors and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to reduce the overall impact of new road and development drainage run-off on existing catchments and systems. Our SuDS are designed to suit land use and site constraints, taking into account site topography, history and ground conditions. We can provide both outline drainage strategies and detailed designs for construction.

SYSTRA is experienced in consulting with drainage and planning authorities on development matters, and carrying out technical submissions for formal agreements with the sewerage authorities.

Pavements, road signs and road markings

To provide a complete highways solution, we also design pavements for road networks and industrial estates, as well as road signs and markings. Pavements can be designed in a range of materials, in accordance with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges and British Standards. We also have experience in designing heavy-duty concrete pavements for energy-from-waste plants and port container terminals.

Our designs for standard and bespoke road signs and road markings are completed in accordance with the Traffic Signs Manual. Our solutions include foundation designs and wind loading calculations, siting limitations and clearances.

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