Luton Airport is London’s fourth-largest airport, with 16.5 million passengers per year. From 2021, an automated guided people mover, or light metro, will improve passenger experience and enable travellers to reach London in less than 30 minutes. ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products Sheet Piling supplied sheet piles for the project.

Our sheet piles in the Luton DART project

The Luton DART (Direct Air-Rail Transit) will connect the Luton Airport Parkway railway station to the terminal of London Luton Airport. It will replace the current shuttle bus, relieving the roads in peak times and providing a higher transport capacity.

ArcelorMittal steel sheet piles are being used in the construction of this state-of-the-art £225 million project. The works started in April 2019 and will be completed by summer 2021. The 2.1-km transit link consists of:

• a viaduct
• Gateway Bridge
• DART Parkway and Central Terminal Stations
• a maintenance area
• tunnel and approaches to the airport terminal

The project is full of complex technical challenges, but the main one is to minimise disruption to passengers and to the day-to-day operations of the airport.

ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products Sheet Piling supplied AZ 32-750 sheet piles up to 18.9 m long, produced in our mill in Belval, Luxembourg. The sheet piles were delivered in three phases according to a customised delivery plan developed with the main civil contractor, VolkerFitzpatrick - Kier, to make sure that the sheet piles arrive to the jobsite as the construction advances.

Fast, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly

Thanks to the DART, Luton Airport Parkway railway station will be linked to the airport terminal in under four minutes and passengers will be able to travel between St Pancras station and Luton Airport in just 30 minutes.

Transportation will be operated by a fully-automated double-shuttle, based on the latest system technology and design innovation, capable of operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This cable-driven system is energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Key dates of the project

• July 2017: planning permission received
• December 2017: contractors appointed
• April 2018: start of works
• December 2018: opening of temporary new drop-off zone
• Autumn 2019: bridge installation
• Autumn 2020: train installation
• Autumn 2021: open for service

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communications, Constructalia
Images: ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling, ArcelorMittal Europe

Related link(s)

Z sections

ArcelorMittal sheet piles in the construction of a tunnel under a taxiway for the Luton DART

Luton DART

The HZ®-M Steel wall system, which is an HZ/AZ combined wall system, is one of the most preferred solutions for port structures and other deep excavations. A new section (HZ 630M), a 2020 catalogue, and updated software are now available.

New HZ 630M section of the HZ®-M steel wall system

The new HZ 630M section completes the existing range of the already large HZ®-M series. It was developed mainly for use in very hard driving conditions (installation in compact soils) and for structures with restrictions on the height of the system.

The flange thickness is 24.2 mm and the maximum height of an HZ 630M solution is only 672 mm (including connectors).

This new profile is available from now on and replaces the HZ 680M LT.

2020 HZ®-M Steel wall system catalogue available

The new catalogue has been extended to systems based on the latest HZ®-M king pile range combined with our enhanced AZ®-800 steel sheet pile generation as intermediaries. It provides new technical data needed for design according to Eurocode and includes a revised table for resistance to water pressure.

HZM™-AZ® Stresses software

An updated version of the HZM™-AZ® Stresses software is available.

Stress analysis for the HZM™ / AZ® combined wall system is based on the 'allowable stress design' method. It allows the user to easily select a solution based on bending moments and chosen safety factors on the steel stresses. The user can also prepare a basic material list for a straight retaining wall.

Additional features of the 2019 update include: calculating the wall properties of any combination with an AZ® infill sheet pile ranging from AZ® 12-770 to AZ® 28-700N and the new HZ 630M piles.

Text: ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling, Constructalia
Images: ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling

Related link(s)

HZM™-AZ® Stresses

HZ®-M Steel Wall System cover

HZ®-M Steel Wall System cover

HZ 630 M / HZ®-M Steel wall system

ArcelorMittal Luxembourg received the Environment Award from the business federation FEDIL at the end of 2019 for its facility to recover the excess heat generated during the production of steel sheet piles on the ArcelorMittal Belval site.

The equivalent of 4000 heated houses per year

In June 2018, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Ecology, Étienne Schneider, and ArcelorMittal Luxembourg Chairman of the Board of Directors and ArcelorMittal Board Member, Michel Wurth, gathered for the inauguration of the surplus heat recovery plant.

Since its inauguration, the heat emitted by the mill supplies the districts of Belval, Nonnewisen, and Summit. 200 customers are connected and can then cover 70% of the heating needs of the SUDCAL heating network.

"It is a great pride to see this project, fruit of an exemplary cooperation between an industrial player, the State and an energy operator, crowned with such an award. The reduction of our environmental impact is one of the major axes of our policy in favor of sustainable development and the circular economy implemented by the group in Luxembourg. With this project, we have shown that the pooling of complementary talents to control the environmental impact of the industry, it works! This initiative opens up great prospects for other actors in Luxembourg, who will be able to draw inspiration from it to multiply it," states Roland Bastian, Managing Director of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg.

CO2 reduction

The Belval site is composed of an electric steel mill and two rolling mills, including the 'train 2.' The facility contains a reheating furnace for raising the semi-finished products to 1300° C and since last year its fumes have been used to power the SUDCAL heating network. Exiting at 400°C, the fumes are sent to the recuperator to heat the water which is then directed to a water/water heat exchanger, at which time the water is finally ready to be sent to the homes heated by SUDCAL .

Thanks to the reuse of this energy, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg contributes to the reduction of the national energy consumption of the Grand Duchy and thus allows SUDCAL to reduce its environmental impact up to 5000 t of CO2 per year.

Text: ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, Constructalia
Images: ArcelorMittal Luxembourg
Video: FEDIL

Related link(s)

Belval reheating furnace

FEDIL Environmental award ceremony