Maccaferri’s Terramesh® System was chosen to create an access road to the new Meralco power plant worksite in Atimonan, Philippines. Structural integrity is among the reasons of the choice, as demonstrated last September, when a typhoon destroyed other stone masonry structures but left our structure undamaged.
With the country’s increasing demand in power generation, Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the largest electric distribution utility in the Philippines, through its wholly owned subsidiary Meralco PowerGen Corporation, will build a 2 x 600MW Supercritical coal-fired power plant in the town of Atimonan, Quezon Province, 114km South East of Metro Manila.
As part of the initial phase of development, a 1.64km access road traversing the coastal village of Brgy. Caridad Ilaya in Atimonan must be constructed. This will serve as the main access road for supplies and equipment throughout construction of the power plant. Construction of the road presents a number of challenges; specifically, 250m must be designed with revetment protection. In places, road elevation will be in excess of 9m to maximise available space.
In close consultation with the project consultant, GHD Philippines, Maccaferri proposed a mechanically stabilised earth wall using Terramesh® System units. Due to its economy and ease of installation, in addition to the known structural integrity of Terramesh® MSE wall systems, the project proponent and GHD approved the design. To further assist on this project, we helped train engineers and contractors. 1,800m³ of Terramesh®, 600m³ of PVC-coated Reno Mattress® and 8,500m² of MacTex® filtration geotextile were provided for the project.
Construction commenced in May 2017 and it took the contractor five months to reach the wall’s final elevation and station. The rainy season and the challenges in transporting filling materials to the site were overcome to ensure there were no delays in construction. The structural integrity of the wall was tested last September when a local typhoon ‘Maring’ inundated the town of Atimonan and parts of Southern and Central Luzon. The typhoon destroyed some previously installed stone masonry however, the Terramesh® wall has stood its ground without damage.
