Digital Isometric Sketch 1:10 @ A3 by Karl Barrett (2013)
I have studied the Industrial Trafford Park for the academic year; it has given me a great insight into how a landscape architect can intervene within this post-industrial urban fabric. Due to the changes in manufacturing demand and importing from overseas, and changing technologies over the last 100 years, many materials have been left on site that are now defunct. There are many old railways running through Trafford Park that lack functionality; predominately this is because they are no longer used as transport links / networks. In a world where renewable sources are of key importance, the railway sleepers are an invaluable commodity, offering character from their weathered appearance to set the scene in a re-invented landscape.
While researching railway sleepers, both on site and as part of my desktop studies, I found the web site ‘Railway sleepers – what size and weight are they?’ This is where I have my measurement and dimensions from, reflecting my on site survey measurements. There are some Railway Sleepers I would choose to leave where they are, especially down the main roads in Trafford Park, however there are many areas that are not used to the same extent; so these could be recycled and re imagined within an urban reinvention…
Disused Railway Track. Satellite Image adapted from Google Earth (2013)














