Active Travel – Civil Water Management

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Active Travel

Advanced Material.

Manufactured from recycled tyre rubber and featuring avg. 45% void space to sustain permeability across its entire installation.

MODULAR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

Active Travel Overview.

Active travel schemes often require designers to balance drainage performance with environmental sensitivities, tree protection and restricted construction conditions.

Civil Water Management provides modular drainage systems that enable pathways and cycle routes to manage surface water effectively whilst protecting sensitive landscapes, supporting route resilience and reducing long-term maintenance requirements.

By reducing disturbance in constrained environments, they strengthen stakeholder confidence, supporting planning decisions and enabling project approvals.

Features

Unique suite of modular drainage panels, mats, stackers and troughs
Avg. 45% void ratio for optimal water intake
Vertical permeability of 49 l/m²/s maximises water infiltration for drainage immediacy
Self-correcting installation alignment
Long-term load fatigue tested
Chemical resistance withstands common chemicals e.g. petrol, diesel, salt and de-icer
Temperature resistance performs consistently in both and low temperature conditions
Manufactured from recycled tyre rubber supporting environmental sustainability
Designed to accommodate minor ground movements, reducing risk of structural failure
UV resistant to degradation from ultraviolet light, prolonging the lifespan of installations
Modular design and connection options for ease of install, extension and maintenance

Advantages

Modular drainage solutions have been designed for planners, architects, drainage designers, contractors, civil engineers, environmental specialists, transport, government and local authorities to provide:

Improved safety through enhanced design, build and water management
Reduced excavation, spoil management and carbon footprint benefits
Enabling adaptable whole-system approaches to drainage and water management
Increased drainage connectivity, attenuation, soakaway and outfall options
Improved land management and Biodiversity Net Gains
Stronger nature-based solutions, wildlife and ecology preservation
Infrastructure resilience against traditional drainage failure modes and climate change
Reduced maintenance burdens
Mitigation against formation, hardstanding and transition degradation
Whole-life cost savings
60+ year design life in standard conditions for drainage parts
60 year design life in active loading of 50 to 95 kPa

Technical

Download technical documents by clicking the links below:

Civil Engineering Overview
Technical Specification
Hydrotrench - Cycle Paths
Hydrotrench - House Builders

Modular Drainage Systems

A unique suite of modular drainage panels, mats, stacker and trough units designed to solve demanding surface water runoff, flood resilience and erosion protection challenges in active travel, pathway and public realm environments.

Lightweight modular construction
Faster installation than traditional concrete and aggregate solutions
Suitable for new-build and retrofit applications
Flexible configuration options for varying site conditions
Self-correcting installation alignment
Modular connections for extension and maintenance

Designed for Constrained Environments

Developed for locations where conventional drainage construction is impractical, undesirable or constrained by project approvals, environmental, physical or operational limitations.

Proven performance for cycle routes, footpaths and active travel corridors
Overcomes the limitations of shallow-depth installation requirements
Ideal for retrofit environments, including those with limited excavation depth parameters
Helps reduce excavation, spoil generation, environmental impact and barriers to project approvals
Minimises disruption during construction
Suitable where path levels, utilities, tree roots or environmental constraints restrict conventional drainage approaches

Surface Water Management

Provides highly-effective interception, conveyance and management of surface water to achieve project approvals, improve route resilience, community connectivity and usability.

Rapid water intake for vertical and lateral water movement, enabling drainage connectivity and attenuation
Significantly reduces flooding, standing water, and path erosion
Eliminates rotting timber edges, a major contributing factor to the deterioration of path surfaces and construction formations
Improves route accessibility throughout the year
Suitable where path levels, utilities, tree roots or environmental constraints restrict conventional drainage approaches

Tree Root & Environmental Protection

Developed to support projects where approvals, environmental sensitivity and landscape preservation are key considerations.

Supports construction methodologies around mature trees
Suitable for environmentally sensitive locations
Helps minimise disturbance within constrained sites
Compatible with parks, woodlands and green corridors
Supports drainage strategies that work alongside existing landscapes and root systems

Sustainable Materials

Manufactured from recycled tyre rubber using an advanced cold-cure encapsulation process to create durable, long-term infrastructure solutions.

90% recycled rubber content, zero virgin rubber
Cold-cure process, minimal energy manufacturing
60+ year design life reduces replacement demand
Recyclable at end of service life
Independently verified Product Carbon Footprint report in accordance with PAS 2050 methodology

Long-Term Performance

Engineered to deliver reliable performance in demanding environments.

Long-term load fatigue tested 506,000+ cycles
Creep Deformation <2% over 50 years
Resistant to petrol, diesel, salt and de-icing chemicals
Freeze-Thaw Resistance 100+ cycles
Operating Temperature -40°C to +80°C
UV Stability 50+ years
Design life exceeding 60 years
Reduced maintenance life cycle frequency

Proven in Award-Winning Active Travel Infrastructure

Civil Water Management is the recipient of a Department for Transport Sustainability Award, recognising an innovative approach to delivering resilient active travel infrastructure.

The award-winning approach is now supporting cycle route and footpath projects across the UK.

Over 1,000 metres of pathway installations have already been delivered, with several kilometres of path construction plans accepted for live schemes.

Delivering Better Outcomes

✔ Keeps routes accessible throughout the year

✔ Enables project approvals to widen and remediate pathways

✔ Reduces flooding, standing water, waterlogging and path erosion

✔ Improves user experience for walkers, cyclists and mobility users

✔ Supports safer, more reliable and more connected active travel infrastructure

✔ Enhances route resilience during extreme weather events

✔ Helps extend the usable life of pathway assets and eliminates rotting timber edges

Supporting Active Travel Stakeholders

✔ Unlocks planning, consenting and stakeholder approval processes in constrained environments

✔ Reduced maintenance requirements and intervention frequency

✔ Reduced disruption from ongoing repair and maintenance works

✔ Improved whole-life value and asset performance

✔ Practical solutions for constrained and environmentally sensitive sites

✔ Suitable for both new-build and retrofit projects

✔ Integrates with both existing drainage networks and new infrastructure schemes

✔ Supports long-term path construction and asset management objectives

✔ Faster and safer installation compared with heavier, traditional aggregate and concrete drainage systems

Overcoming Constrained Environments

✔ Flexible modular configurations to overcome challenging project approvals, design, construction, environmental and site conditions

✔ Suitable where tree roots, utilities, shallow construction depths or environmental constraints restrict conventional drainage approaches

✔ Supports construction methodologies around mature trees and Root Protection Areas (RPAs)

✔ Helps minimise excavation, spoil generation and construction disturbance

✔ Suitable for parks, woodlands, green corridors and public realm environments

Environmental & Social Benefits

✔ Up to 50% carbon reduction potential compared to traditional methods

✔ Manufactured from recycled end-of-life tyre rubber containing 90% recycled content and zero virgin rubber

✔ Independently verified social value benefits

✔ Potential to generate returns on social value impact investment of £5.49 for every £1 invested

✔ Full path upgrades have the potential to deliver over £3,157,333 of social value over ten years

✔ Supports environmental stewardship, biodiversity and ecology objectives

✔ Helps deliver sustainability targets, funding objectives and wider social outcomes

✔ Contributes to more attractive, accessible and usable public spaces

Trusted by Industry

✔ Proven on National Cycle Network projects

✔ Department for Transport Sustainability Award recipient

✔ Successfully deployed in parks, pathways and public realm environments

✔ Supporting active travel projects across the UK

✔ Backed by independently verified hydraulic performance, carbon and impact data

✔ Design life exceeding 60 years, supported by independently verified, long-term durability and performance testing data

✔ Durable performance supports long-term route resilience and reduced maintenance requirements

Proven Performance.

Real-world applications demonstrating the performance and versatility of modular drainage systems in challenging environments

Download our case studies by clicking the links below:

Walk Wheel Cycle Trust NCN Route 6 Cycle Path
Liverpool City Council: Transpennine Trail
Liverpool City Council: Newsham Park

Download technical documents by clicking the links below:

Active Travel Overview
Active Travel - Cycle Paths & Paths Introduction
Active Travel - Cycle Paths & Paths How it Works
Active Travel - Cycle Paths & Paths Slideshow
Active Travel - Cycle Paths & Paths FAQs
Technical Specification

Technical highlights:

Unique suite of modular drainage panels, mats, stacker and trough units
Reduced excavation, spoil management, project approvals and carbon footprint benefits
Avg. 45% void ratio for rapid water intake
Vertical permeability of 49 l/m²/s maximises water infiltration for drainage immediacy
Self-correcting installation alignment
Long-term load fatigue tested
Chemical resistance withstands common chemicals e.g. petrol, diesel, salt and de-icer
Temperature resistance performs consistently in both and low temperature conditions
Manufactured from recycled tyre rubber supporting environmental sustainability
Designed to accommodate minor ground movements, reducing risk of structural failure
UV resistant to degradation from ultraviolet light, prolonging the lifespan of installations
Modular design and connection options for ease of install, extension and maintenance
Increased drainage connectivity, attenuation and climate change resilience