Birmingham Rail Freight Terminal (BRFT)

Project Description

Birmingham Rail Freight Terminal (BRFT) is one of the UK’s most critical intermodal freight hubs, connecting road and rail logistics from seaports across the Midlands. As part of a major redevelopment of the site, Maritime Transport (Maritime) required the replacement of the paved rail reception area in their container yard, adjacent to rail sidings to service trains, alongside a new lorry park and associated infrastructure improvements.

The existing slabs were severely degraded, leading to excessive wear during container handling and limiting loading patterns. Replacement works needed to be delivered within a live, fully operational terminal, maintaining 24/7 access for trains, HGVs, and a fleet of container handling straddle carriers.

Scope of Works

Glencar was appointed as the main contractor to deliver the replacement lorry park, container yard repairs, and rail apron, managing all civils, infrastructure, and structural works under stringent live site conditions.
Working collaboratively with the client and engineers, Glencar developed a phased delivery strategy that ensured uninterrupted freight and logistics operations throughout the construction period. Possession was carefully sequenced across 2 controlled phases, both in container and HGV yards, with each section fully operational before the next phase began.

This included:
» Construction of a new jointed reinforced concrete lorry park pavement.
» Heavy-duty container yard slab reconstruction and rail apron installation.
» Under-slab drainage.
» Hardstanding, kerbing, wheel stops, CCTV ducting, CCTV tower, and reinstatement works.

Technical Delivery

This technically demanding scheme required specialist civil and structural engineering to design pavements capable of withstanding extreme point loads, straddle carriers handling containers up to 30 tonnes.
Designs were developed to achieve a 25-year pavement life cycle.

Key engineering features included:
» Reuse of crushed concrete to form new Type 1 sub-base, reducing waste and embodied carbon.
» Steel mesh and fibre reinforcement for enhanced load transfer and impact resistance.
» Advanced joint layout and crack management planning for long-term durability.
» Maintenance and durability report to support a 25-year service life.

The Outcome

Glencar delivered a high-performance and sustainable yard infrastructure designed to meet the operational and loading demands of one of the UK’s busiest inland freight terminals.

Through close coordination with Maritime’s operational teams, all works were completed with little disruption to terminal activities - a critical achievement in this live, logistics-heavy environment.

The completed facility delivers:
» A future-ready intermodal terminal capable of handling increased container volumes.
» Extended asset life through advanced slab design and maintenance strategy.
» Improved operational safety and efficiency.