The Rail Engineer - Issue 88 - February 2012

February 2012

i s s u e

written by rail engineers for rail engineers available online at www.therailengineer.com

Draining Dove HolesA track formation beset withtoo much water and very littledrainage.

Bridge over theriver AwbegA life expired two spanunderbridge is replaced with aconcrete box culvert structure.

New Year atNew StreetNigel Wordsworth reports onthe latest developments atBirmingham New Street.

When it pays to BOGOFONE OLD BRIDGE WAS REMOVED AND SUCCESSFULLY REPLACED WITH TWO NEW ONES

88

february 2012 | the rail engineer | 3welcome

Operating noticeGrahame Taylor’s

EditorGrahame [email protected]

Production and designAdam O'[email protected]

Engineering [email protected]@[email protected]@therailengineer.comgraeme.bickerdike@[email protected]@[email protected]@therailengineer.comstuart.rackley@[email protected]

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When it pays to BOGOF 6One old bridge was removed and successfullyreplaced at Sandhills Lane, Liverpool.

Back to Battersea 13Five new bridges and one new superstructure.

Bridge over the River Awbeg 16A life expired two span underbridge is replacedwith a concrete box culvert structure.

Draining Dove Holes 18A track formation beset with too much water andvery little drainage in the Peak District.

Strengthening masonry arches 25Archtec has been successfully used by many bridgeowners to help manage their bridge stock.

New Year at New Street 30Nigel Wordsworth reports on the latestdevelopments at Birmingham New Street.

Success in the South 36Phase 1 of the East Kent Resignalling Project wascommissioned over the Christmas 2011 period.

Skipton Expansion 54Network Rail and Carillion, working under a MAFA agreement enhance the stabling capacity atSkipton for Northern Rail.

Signalling & Telecoms; Earthworks March

Infrarail Show Special; Environment April

in this issue

forthcomingfeatures

The Christmas blockades have come and gone.This month’s issue of The Rail Engineer gives youjust a taste of what went on.

Our cover story is Mungo Stacy’s account of theSandhill’s two-for-one bridge offer. Bridgereplacements are generally pretty straightforwardexercises. It’s the services that complicate matters.And sure enough Sandhills Lane bridge carriedsignalling cables to the adjacent IECC signallingcentre and down in the road were the inevitable highvoltage cables and, of course, a cast iron gas main.

Ore tunnel in East Sussex presented a wholecatalogue of problems including a distorted liningin an aggressively excavated geology. Luck was onthe side of the engineers when it came to accessthough. Not often does a tunnel have a completepurpose-made goods yard at one end lurking inthe bushes.

The Maryport to Carlisle line never seems to befar away from a river. The Ellen, Waver, Wampooland Caldew, as well as innumerable becks. The firstmajor viaduct after Carlisle is at Cummersdale overthe Caldew. David Shirres went to look at therefurbishment and redecking. Although free ofwhite-clawed crayfishes in the river, there werenevertheless several other issues to take care of.

Collin Carr has been delving into the ratherdubious ground conditions around Bridge 6 next tothe Battersea Dog’s Home. Dog walking routes,WW2 ordnance and the residue of the local powerstation were but a few of the hazards. Once sorted,the bridge renewal involved casting a concrete boxwithin each of five spans ready for the Christmasblockade.

Here’s yet another piece of infrastructure that wasinstalled within living memory and which is nowlife expired. The partial resignalling of the KentCoast route at the time of electrification in the late1950s is coming to the end of its serviceable life.Clive Kessell looks at the first of three stages which

will be controlled by East Kent Signalling Centrelocated at Gillingham - the shape of SignallingControl Centres for the future.

Four million rail passengers are likely to beaffected by cable theft this year. This is the starkmessage behind Stuart Marsh’s article on whatappears to be an unchecked bonanza for stolencopper. With much of the loot landing up in theshadier parts of the scrap industry it seems almostimpossible to stop the racket. But there are practicalattempts to turn the tide. Watch out for the red dye!

Nigel Wordsworth has produced two contrastingpieces this month. He’s been talking to Jon Shaw, aSenior Director at Bombardier to hear about howthe train builder is recruiting - yes, recruiting -engineering staff this year. This is slightly at odds,perhaps, with the received wisdom of ordinarynews coverage.

As it’s January, Nigel has been back to stygianBirmingham New Street to catch up with progresson making the station less....stygian. The first stagesof demolition of the void above the tracks have juststarted. In what sounds like a horrible job, guyswith jackhammers are attacking the concrete slababove them. The new concourse is due to becomplete in time for our next visit in January 2013.

In its widest meaning, the term permanent waycan include everything right out to the boundary.Terry Whitley reminds us of what’s involved inkeeping a railway’s fences intact. It’s not just stock-proof fencing but the burgeoning crop of noisebarriers and high security fences.

And finally, my former colleagues in Manchesterwill probably raise a wry smile when they see thatI’ve covered Dove Holes tunnel this month -definitely the ‘short straw’ when it came to tunnelinspections. What should have been a mundanedrainage renewal was complicated by limestoneslurry and rivers of water - quite literally. Ghastlyplace - especially at Christmas!

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Network Rail has announced newframework agreements of up toseven years to deliver railwaysignalling projects worthapproximately £1.5 billion.

Network Rail intends to awardframework agreements to InvensysRail, Signalling Solutions and Atkins,which cover the majority ofsignalling renewals andenhancements across England,Scotland and Wales. The agreements,which are expected to commence on2 April, will operate for the remainingtwo years of control period 4 and canbe extended by Network Rail tocover the whole of control period 5(2014-19).

Simon Kirby, Network Railmanaging director, infrastructureprojects, said: “Network Rail iscontinuing to drive down the costsof Britain’s railway and is committedto meeting tough efficiency targets.As the number of passengers andcompanies that rely on Britain’srailway continues to rise, the safety-critical systems we use to run a safeand efficient railway are moreimportant than ever.

“These new frameworks representa seven-year commitment bysuppliers, allowing us to workclosely with them to develop long-term plans for work to be carried outmore quickly and efficiently.

The length of the agreements,

coupled with a visible workload, willprovide much-needed stabilitythroughout the supply chain anddrive further cost savings andinnovation across our signallingrenewals and enhancementsactivities.”

4 | the rail engineer | february 2012 news

Chiltern Railways has experienceda huge surge in the number ofpassengers using its Birmingham toLondon route since the launch oftheir Mainline service 4 months ago,following a £250 million investmentin the route.

The company has seen passengernumbers increase by 25% to200,000 and earnings rise by 65%.Chiltern say that this is not due to

passengers paying more for tickets,but because many more businesstravellers are choosing to useChiltern services, which can reachLondon from Birmingham in just 90minutes.

With plans for a much bigger carpark at Solihull station, a station thathas seen passenger numbers rise by68.6%, having recently been given thego ahead, it is hoped that even more

passengers will be attracted to rail.Thomas Ableman, marketing

director of Chiltern Railways, said:“2012 is forecast to be another toughyear and businesses will need tocontinue to make changes in orderto remain competitive. We believethe combination of our pricing andjourney times makes it hard to justifytravelling with anyone else and oursales reflect this.”

More investment - more passengers

£1.5 billion on signallingINFRASTRUCTURE

IN BRIEF

Government focuses on metal theft

In a move to curb cable theft on therailways, cash payments for scrap metalwill be banned and penalties increased,the Home Secretary Theresa Mayannounced recently.

Home Secretary Theresa May said:“People who deal in stolen metal arecriminals, pure and simple. Theiractivities are bringing misery toindividuals and communities as well asdamaging our economy.

“We’re putting a stop to cashpayments and we’re imposing unlimitedpenalties on anyone who breaks the law.This government will do what it takes toprotect the public, business and ournational heritage from the scourge ofmetal theft.”

New locosDirect Rail Services has recently

ordered a fleet of 15 newly designedmixed traffic diesel locomotives for usein its key intermodal and passenger trainoperations.

The Vossloh Espana Eurolight UKlocomotives are a derivative of theEurolight locomotive (already running inGermany) and have been developed forthe UK. Due to arrive in the UK in late2013 the locos feature a 3750hpCaterpillar c175 engine and ABB ACtraction equipment delivering a topspeed of 100 mph and genuine mixedtraffic haulage capabilities.

The locos will conform to the latestemission requirements and set newstandards for driver environment.

Alliance and integrationNetwork Rail has plans to form

alliances with train operators as it looksto work more closely with operators anddeliver passenger benefits more quicklyand at lower cost.

Alliance framework agreements haveso far been made, or about to be madewith Abellio Greater Anglia, c2c,ScotRail, Northern and Southeastern. Inaddition, a ‘deep’ alliance, is beingdeveloped involving the Wessex routeand South West Trains. This may see theestablishment of a single, senior jointmanagement team formed to look afterboth train and track on the Wessex routeoperating out of Waterloo - a muchmore integrated way of working.

STATIONS

A BombardierClass 379 on test atthe Derby factory.

Britain’s experience in developingEurope’s first liberalised passengerrail market can help inform rail policyfor other EU countries, a conferenceat the European Parliament will hear.

A conference being jointly held atthe European Parliament by theAssociation of Train OperatingCompanies (ATOC) and theCommunity of European Railwayand Infrastructure Companies (CER)will explore how Sir Roy McNulty’sMay 2011 report into value formoney in Britain’s railway canprovide lessons for other Europeancountries on infrastructure reform.

EU stakeholders will hear howBritain’s experience of operating in aliberalised environment on rail formore than 15 years can play animportant role in the EuropeanCommission’s consideration of newlegislation on rail market openingand on the sensitive question ofstructural models, which is due bythe end of 2012.

CER Executive Director LiborLochman said: “The McNulty reportraises questions that are importantfor all European countries. The caseof Great Britain demonstrates the

need for sufficient flexibility to allowMember States to develop nationalrail sector models that truly deliver.”

‘Britain’s Rail Value for Money report- An inspiration for future EU RailPolicy?’ will be held on Wednesday1st February from 18:00-19:45 at theEuropean Parliament.

february 2012 | the rail engineer | 5news

CONFERENCE

McNulty in EuropeROLLING STOCK

New train order

Workers at Bombardier’s factory inDerby have received a belatedChristmas gift with theannouncement that they have wonthe contract to construct 130Electrostar vehicles for Southern in adeal worth £188.8 million.

Construction of the 26 five car class377/6 trains will commence in late2012 and all will be delivered in timefor the expanded December 2013timetable. The original plan was to usethe 23 class 377s currently on leasefrom Southern to First Capital Connectto support the Thameslink programmebut a competition was launched inSeptember 2011 when it becameobvious that these would not be

returned to Southern in time for theDecember 2013 timetable changes.The new units, which will be similar inappearance to the National ExpressEast Anglia class 379s, will augmentSouthern’s existing fleet on some of theTOC’s busiest Metro routes intoLondon Victoria.

The Department for Transport iscontributing £80 million towards thetotal cost with a financialcompetition being held early in 2012to secure the remaining funds.

RMT general secretary Bob Crowsaid: “The Southern order is bothwelcome and deserved and showsthat Bombardier is geared up todeliver top quality engineering.”

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Keynote speakers lined upfor Infrarail seminars

lans for an impressive line-up of keynote speakers

during the seminar programmeat this year’s Infrarail exhibitionhave now been confirmed.

On the opening day of theevent, 1 May, Minister of State forTransport Theresa Villiers, MP willmake a presentation, after earlierformally opening the show. Thekeynote speaker the followingday will be Howard Smith, ChiefOperating Officer, London Rail atTransport for London. And on 3May Network Rail’s Director,Investment Projects Simon Kirbywill be speaking.

The seminar programme isbeing organised by thismagazine. Open to all showvisitors free of charge,presentations will be madewithin the main hall and willalso include papers onsignificant developments in railinfrastructure technology.

By mid-January more than120 exhibitors had confirmedtheir participation in the event,with just a few standsremaining. This year’s show, theninth in a successful series, willbring together latest railwayinfrastructure products andsystems from many of theindustry’s leading suppliers,covering track, civilengineering, signalling andcommunications,electrification, stations, depotsand all other fixed assets.

Taking place at the NEC inBirmingham from 1 to 3 May,Infrarail 2012 is supportedstrongly by Network Rail andis also endorsed by theRailway Industry Association,the Rail Alliance, the Rail PlantAssociation, the Institution ofRailway Signal Engineers andthe Permanent WayInstitution.

Pre-registration now openPre-registration to attend the

exhibition is now available viathe show website. By pre-registering, visitors to the eventsave paying a £15 entry fee onthe door and get faster access

to the exhibition hall. Thewebsite also provides an up-to-date list of exhibitors and thelatest news on all that will behappening at this year’s event.

P Infrarail 2010 Seminar Theatre was a hive of activity.

w www.infrarail.com

6 | the rail engineer | february 2012 bridges & tunnels

BOGOFWhen it pays to

he hazards of the January Sales areofficially over. This is, after all, the

February edition of the rail engineermagazine. But did you emerge unscathed?Or are you right now sitting on a can’t-leave-that-there sofa? Or trying not to open thecredit card statement?

At sales time the high-street environmentcan be decidedly less friendly than goingtrackside. Everywhere you look are discountsof 50%, 60%, 70%. Two-for-one on newsafety boots; offer-ends-today on Bluetoothhands-free sets; clearance of assorted left-hand-thread Whitworth nuts - how can youresist the genetic triggers of scarcity andurgency? The shop-windows are excellentdisplays of the marketers’ techniques.

Like all good ideas, it was only a matter oftime before cross-industry fertilisationoccurred. Rail engineers working overChristmas to replace the bridge at SandhillsLane in Liverpool decided to apply thesepromotional methods. They chose toimplement the Buy-One-Get-One-Freescenario, a common and effective salestechnique which, however, is rarelypresented using its acronym.

During a 103-hour possession, one oldbridge was removed and successfullyreplaced with two new ones. This £3.4million project was delivered by Birse Rail onbehalf of Network Rail. The line was handedback to traffic three hours early.

Re: signallingThe Birse Rail team has a long history with

Network Rail’s London North Western route.Their current Civils Framework Agreement isapproaching its seventh anniversary.Graham Gallagher, Birse Rail’s projectengineer, has been involved with theFramework throughout this time. “Sandhillsis one of the most difficult ones we’ve done”,said Graham.

Mark Walker, Birse Rail’s regionalframework manager, commented, “The bigchallenges were the interfaces andplanning”. Signalling was foremost amongthese. The Sandhills IECC signalling centre isjust beyond the bridge and controls theMerseyrail Northern and Wirral Lines. Overone hundred cables cross the structure.

“It took six months’ work just to get thecables moved”, said Walker. “On a normal re-deck project we’d start detailed planning afew months before hitting site but on thisone we were heavily involved from a yearahead”.

Temporary suspension arrangements orscaffolding bridges are commonly seen onunderbridge replacements. However, for thisproject a pair of prefabricated trussfootbridges were provided by Mabey Hireand installed in April 2011. Since thesetemporary structures were to be in place formore than six months, a full Form A/Bpermanent works design approval wasneeded.

The footbridges, by their very nature,came with an integral safe walking route.This was a crucial consideration formaintenance since the diversions wouldlast in some cases for nine to ten months.The walking routes allowed for easyinstallation of the diversions and alsoprovided a high-level crossing betweenabutments during the removal of thebridge.

Diversions were carried out by themaintainer, Network Rail, from May toNovember. Away from the bridge, the cablesoccupied both cesses and were also routedwithin the wide six-foot. Few were asstraightforward as a simple slew. Manyunder-track crossings existed and manycables required additional loops to be cutand spliced in.

Unidentified or redundant cables were akey concern. At the outset around 20% werethought to be unused. However, everysingle one needed to be proved dead andsevered or diverted off the bridge deck. Themaintainer treated this as an opportunity torationalise the cabling. It is a credit to theentire team that all connections anddisconnections were made withoutproblems; the consequence of a mistakehere could have been a shut-down ofsignificant sections of the Merseyrail system.

“It was all about teamwork and regularmeetings”, remarked the Network Railscheme project manager, Dan Wilcock. “Withso many different interests involved, weoften had 20 to 30 people attending theweekly progress meetings”.

Upstairs downstairsAs well as services on the bridge, services

below the bridge presented a problem asthe road and footpath were full of utilities.Chris Spragg, Birse Rail’s assistant contractsmanager, remembered, “There were highvoltage cables and a cast iron gas main. Wehad a restriction of absolutely no additionalload being imposed onto the gas pipe”.

The old deck was built in the days beforebearings and the designers thought it couldnow be acting as a prop between theabutments. Removing the deck could allowthe abutments to rotate inwards. To preventthis, 56 ground anchors each 30m long wereinstalled into the abutments.

TCutting out theold bridge.

w r i t e rMungo Stacy

Mabey Hireinstalled a pair ofprefabricated trussbridges.

february 2012 | the rail engineer | 7bridges & tunnels

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An earth platform against the wall wouldbe the usual way of getting the drilling rig tothe right level for the anchors. Unfortunatelythis would be directly over the gas main. Inthis case, trench boxes were used to preventload being applied to the pipe.

Early on, it was decided to use self-propelled modular transporters for the deckreplacement. This avoided the risk that highwinds could delay a crane lift. No doubt thisassessment was informed by the viewwestwards from the bridge, where the skylineis dominated by the four spinning turbines ofthe 10MW Port of Liverpool wind farm.

The transporters supplied and operated byALE were originally developed for movingheavy rigs for the offshore industry. They aremodular and work on the principle that youkeep adding wheels until you have sufficientload distribution. Even so, the old deckweighed 450t and mathematics tells us thatonly an impractical infinite number of wheelswould satisfy the restriction on the gas main.

Instead, ALE used 15m-long bridging matsto span the footpath and pipe. Two 14-axletransporters with a total of 112 wheels wereused to drive out the old deck. The grossbearing pressure below the wheels wasaround 75kN/m2.

Highway codeEach axle is individually steerable and

adjustable to ensure uniform loaddistribution. A computer sorts out all thisclever stuff under the control of oneoperator. However, the road crossfalls,gradients and additional bridging matsmade this a challenging geometry. At somelocations during the drive, axles at eitherend of the transporter unit were at oppositeextremes of the maximum 600mm stroke.

ALE carried out a trial run a week beforethe main possession. Although a swept-pathanalysis had been carried out, this checkedthat there were no unforeseen issues withclearances or street furniture - a traffic islandand four street lights had already beenremoved. It also checked that criticalclearances were as expected below one ofthe cable bridges, which had been set justhigh enough to allow the replacement decksto be driven in below it.

Any load in excess of 40t being moved ona public highway is classed as an abnormalload, and this one was no exception. ALEsubmitted a Special Order to the highwaysauthority for each of the moves in order togain consent from the council andMerseyside Police.

Two new UsThe old deck was built for four tracks but

now only carries two, and suffered from a life-expired timber deck. The tracks are pushed tothe edges of the bridge by the adjacent islandplatform at Sandhills station. This gives a wideunused central section: in railway terms, thesix-foot; but actually more like 40-foot. The20m width of the old bridge gave a darktunnel-like appearance for road users.

Since the station precludes any futureadditional lines or slews, only the track-carrying sections of the bridge werereplaced. Two nearly-identical U-type deckswere installed with a wide light-wellbetween them, making a dramaticdifference to the feel of the road below.Fabrication was by the Lanarkshire WeldingCompany.

The decks span 22m between bearings,which is longer than the maximum 20mlength for Network Rail’s standard detail. Thedecks are square, with bearings on wide cillbeams which accommodate the 15 degreeskew of the decks to the road. Thepreliminary Form A design was carried outby Tony Gee & Partners. Detailed design wascarried out in-house by Network Rail’s civilsdesign team led by Bob Standring.

Standring commented, “This was the firstreplacement underbridge we’ve designedsince the team in Manchester was formed inApril 2010”. The standard low-maintenanceand low-construction depth features of theU-deck were kept, which allowed the oldheight restriction of 16’ to be removed.

Deeper webs and thicker flanges wereneeded to suit the increased length. BobStandring stated, “Being co-located with theBirse Rail framework team really paid off forthis design, given the number of interfacesthat had to be considered”.

The decks are 3.3m wide between webs,the maximum for this type. Despite this,horizontal tolerances are extremely tightbecause of the curvature of the track, thestation on one side and pointwork on theother. Standring recalled, “The decks had tobe positioned to suit the track alignment. Wedesigned for a 25mm installation tolerance”.

(Bottom) Ballaststarts to go downon the new twindecks.(Inset) The secondnew deck is movedinto position.

Incorporated in 1993 as WA Developments by

Andrew Tinkler, now Chief Executive Officer of

Stobart Group, Stobart Rail represents the

civil engineering and rail-based freight

elements of the UK’s leading multimodal

transport business.

Stobart Rail is one of the UK's leading names

in rail network maintenance, repair and

improvement.

The company is active throughout the

earthworks, structures, permanent way,

drainage and lineside infrastructure sectors of

the rail industry and offers a presence

throughout the UK.

Stobart Rail holds a Network Rail Principal

Contractor's Licence and Rail Plant Operating

Company Licence, as well as a comprehensive

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The Company's wide-ranging expertise,

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Stobart Rail operates an award winning

training school, ensuring all operatives and

staff are qualified to the very highest

standards.

“I am immensely proud of all Stobart Rail employees who gave up their Christmas, to safely andsuccessfully deliver the civils and P-way aspects of the Sandhills Bridge Replacement. A great

collaborative achievement, equally shared by all parties.” – Kirk Taylor, Managing Director

SANDHILLS LANE Bridge Replacement

David Richardson

t. 01228 518 150e. [email protected]

Kirk Taylor


Liam Martin


Plant Hire

Managing Director

Rail Freight Director

stobartrail.com

Achieving these tolerances in practice wascomplicated, again, by the gas main. Thedecks were driven in with cill beams alreadyattached. Ideally, the twin 8-axletransporters used for the new decks wouldhave been positioned close to theabutments to ease the fine positioning ofthe 270t load. However, the gas restrictionmeant the units had to be positionedtowards the centre of the road. Obviouslythis magnifies a small adjustment of thetransporter into a larger movement at thedeck ends.

“The skill of the operator on the night wasabsolutely key to achieving the tolerances”,Chris Spragg commented. “In the end, wewere within 3 and 6mm on one deck, and 11and 16mm on the other”. In addition toaligning the cill beams, the clearance at tracklevel was checked using targets on the deck.In particular, checks were made at the criticalpinch points generated by the end - andcentre-throws of the train vehicles.

Station approachAnother tight area was the interface with

the station building. The artistically-curvedshape of the ticket hall reflects the £6.7Mrefurbishment completed on 7 July 2008,and which gained the Station of the Yearaward at the National Transport Awards inOctober 2011.

The undersides of the old beams werearound 2.5m below rail level due to thedepth of the beams. Thus a 3m-deep holewas needed to release them and this meantexcavating below the new station building.Owing to the poor ground conditions, thenew ticket office had been built on piles andthus could not be undermined. A temporaryworks check was carried out assuming ashallow soil angle and partial exposure ofthe piles, but in the event the soil stood at 85degrees.

In addition to working round the building,signals ML53 and ML55 close to theplatforms had to be removed, and laterreinstated, to allow for the excavation. Theend of the platform ramp also needed to betemporarily removed. Precast L-shapedunits, cast by Shay Murtagh, were installedto reinstate the gap between the two newdecks, and will ultimately be faced with brickcladding. The civils and permanent wayworks were carried out by Stobart Rail.

The station was open for the last 48 hoursof the possession, somewhat ironicallyallowing passengers to buy tickets for thebus replacement service. “Barriers separatedthe worksite from the platform”, recalledGallagher, “but we’re not usually used tohaving the public so close to our works”.

Shopping aroundShoppers like to ”buy one get one free”

because they appear to get a good deal. Inreality the success of the promotion relies onthe price of the ”one” item taking intoaccount that two items are being sold.

However, on this project the two-for-onedeal has paid off for all concerned. Certainlythe price reflects what has actually beenprovided. But it also represents an economicsolution, providing the minimum squaremetreage of new bridge while removingunwanted redundant areas, using standardlow-maintenance details and moderninstallation techniques.

The new bridges also have combinedwalkway and cable routes cantilevering fromtheir sides. The maintainer could be forgivenfor wishing for 70% off or two-for-one on thenumber of diversions - as they start the longtask of diverting those one hundredsignalling cables back into their permanenthomes.


Precast L-shapedconcrete sectionsfill the gapbetween the twonew decks.

Back in service.


he Hertfordshire townof Royston has become increasingly

divided by the Hitchin-Cambridge railwayline that runs through its centre as the townexpanded each side of the line.

With only two official crossings, on the by-pass at the northern end of town and nextto the railway station at Kneesworth Street,there was evidence that a number of people,including school children, had been crossingthe railway line to avoid a long detour.

Something had to be done.It was decided that a subway at a location

adjacent to the allotment gardens was thebest option. Since then, design workprogressed and the project was grantedplanning approval, with conditions, in May2009.

The land required for the project, both ona temporary and a permanent basis, wasacquired by Hertfordshire County Councilthrough Compulsory Purchase Orders.

Birse Rail was awarded a contract inFebruary 2011 to complete the detaileddesign and construct the underpass,

ramps, pedestrian and cycle links. Fundingfor the £3.8 million project was largelyprovided by Hertfordshire County Council,with contributions from the charitySustrans and from North HertfordshireDistrict Council.

Small bridge - big techniquesBuilding a pedestrian subway is similar to

building a road bridge, just on a smaller scale.Birse Rail opted to construct the 400 tonnebridge offline, and then move it into placeusing a self propelled transporter, as hadsuccessfully been done with considerablylarger bridges at Selly Oak and Alderley Edge.

An intensive worksprogramme wasundertaken duringthe Christmaspossession whichincluded isolation ofthe OLE, removing36m of the twin trackplain line railway,excavating andremovingapproximately 1000m³of spoil and, followinginstallation of thebridge, thereinstatement of thetrack and signalling andtelecoms cables. Thestructure was thenbackfilled and the railwayline reinstalled.

The successful installation of the subwaywas a key milestone on the project and willbe operational to the public in the Spring of2012, enabling Royston residents to crossthe railway line safely.

Hertfordshire County Council CabinetMember for Highways and Transport, StuartPile said: “We are delighted that the newRoyston Rail Crossing is nearingcompletion. The work between thepartners in the project has resulted in atimely and coordinated approach that wehope creates a new route for Roystonresidents to use.”

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ReconnectingRoyston


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n the south bank of the Thames,opposite Victoria station, on the

disused site is Battersea Power Station.Alongside the power station there isanother smaller but just as well knownlocation, the Battersea Dogs & Catshome.

Between these two locations are theUp and Down Fast and Reversible linesto Chatham that pass over theBattersea reversible line, the upStewarts Lane line and two sidings. Thestructure that carries the Chatham linesover the others is known as theBrighton Goods Bridge No. 6. Thebridge is a complex five spanintersection bridge with skews thatvary from span to span.

During the late summer of last year,the rail engineer wrote about BridgeNo.6 at Battersea and the complexpreliminary work that was underway inpreparation for the final stages plannedfor Christmas 2011 (Issue 83,September 2011). This work has nowbeen completed and the following is arecap of those preparatory stages andthe completion work that took placeduring a nine day blockade over theChristmas period.

Headache for track maintenanceThe rail-over-rail bridge was

constructed just before the First WorldWar, in 1913. The construction of thedeck for each span consists of wroughtiron longitudinal girders, cross girdersand rail bearers. The Up and DownChatham lines are both supported on across-sleepered track on longitudinaltimbers, whereas the reversible lineruns on wheel timbers. As you couldimagine, it has been a headache fortrack maintainers for many years.

The longitudinal girders spanbetween padstones supported by brickpiers and masonry abutments. Themain girders are discontinuous overthe intermediate piers allowing each

span to behave independently. Thestructure is hemmed in by the Dogs’Home and the Power Station which isripe for development. The underlyingconcern for Network Rail is that if andwhen a development scheme isapproved, access to their BrightonGoods Bridge No. 6 is likely to becomeeven more difficult, hence the urgencyto carry out any remedial work nowthat may be necessary.

The need for full RU loadingPrevious assessments, undertaken by

Atkins Rail in 2004, concluded that thestructure was generally sound but thatthe cross girders limited the routeavailability of the structure. NetworkRail had decided that at such animportant location, any new structurewould have to comply with full RUloading. Therefore, knowing that traindisruption had to be kept to anabsolute minimum, Tony Gee andPartners, design consultants, preparedvarious preliminary schemes forNetwork Rail to achieve this objective.Subsequently, these schemes weredeveloped into more detailed optionsby the current designer, MottMacDonald working for BAM Nuttall,which was appointed as PrincipalContractor by Network Rail. The valueof the completed work isapproximately £12m.

The chosen design requirement wasto construct an in-situ reinforcedconcrete box in each of the fiveindividual spans. The top of the boxwas designed to be at the level of thesoffit of the existing superstructure,thereby allowing the new structure tobe constructed whilst the existingbridge was still in operation.

Network Rail’s Project Manager PhilAvery explained to me that theinnovative design was chosen to allowminimum rail disruption and tomaintain rail pathways into London

O

Collin Carrw r i t e r

Five new bridges andone new superstructure


Victoria from Kent. It utilised a series ofweekend possessions and blockades ofindividual lines leading up to Christmas2011 and then, from Christmas Eve, a 9 dayblockade, closing all lines for 3 days and thetop three Chatham lines for a further 6 days.Work started last February with 24 hourworking from August when the individuallines were blocked. The main blockadestarted on Christmas Eve. This allowedvaluable time to prepare the site for thiscritical and final phase of the work.

Local Liaison Two weekly liaison meetings were

organised with the Dogs’ Home to ensurethat the walking routes for the dogs wererealigned well in advance. A cattery had tobe relocated as well and buildingsdemolished, plus a number of health andsafety issues had to be addressed, relating tothe proximity of the animals.

A “super highway” was constructed for acluster of important and potentiallydangerous cables and an ordinance surveyundertaken to ensure that there were nonasty surprises still lurking around fromWW2.

Ground ConditionsThe design demanded a significant level of

site ingenuity. Contaminated groundconditions were created by man as well asthe local animals. In the past, the areaaround the power station was used as awater treatment plant so the groundconditions were rather suspect, especiallyaround spans 1 and 2. To stabilise this area,four piling rigs were brought to site,operated by Keller Piling. They installedmore than 100 reinforced concrete piles over12 weeks during weekend possessions tounderpin the existing piers and abutment.The piles varied from 300 to 450mm dia. andwere founded into London clay rangingfrom 13 to 18m below ground level.

Minimising disruption to trains Concrete was poured to form the base slab,

followed by the construction of the side walls.A polythene membrane was inserted betweenthe existing abutments, piers and the newconcrete forming the walls, to enable them toact independently. Reinforcement couplerswere cast into the walls approximately a metrebelow the soffit of the existing superstructureto receive the connecting reinforcement barsthat would extend down vertically from thetop slab of the box girder. So far it was allrelatively straight forward, the real challengewas how to construct the top section of theconcrete box to enable it to fit directly belowthe soffit of the existing superstructure whilstminimising disruption to trains.

Complex reinforcement installationThree tables were constructed on which

the substantial 32mm diameterreinforcement framework was fixed to formthe top section of the concrete box. The

tables were supported on trestles to ensurethey were at the required height forinstallation. Wheels were fixed to the base ofthe supporting trestles and angle railsbolted to the soffit of the new concrete box.

Then each table in turn was moved into itsfinal position using turfers and thereinforcement coupled together to form theroof of the concrete box. Intermediatestaging enabled the vertical reinforcementto be coupled to the side walls.

The process worked very well. There was a24 hr possession for each span to removethe timber decking and expose the

reinforcement. Two concrete pumps werethen installed alongside the structure andapproximately 400 cubic metres of concretewas poured in an eight hour period. Itproved to be an effective method requiringsubstantial on-site skills and this phase ofwork was completed two weeks before theChristmas blockade. In total 1,100 tonnes ofreinforcement and 4500 cubic meters ofconcrete was used. The new reinforcedconcrete boxes are designed to carry therequired rail loading and they were ready toact as the base for the bottom ballast for thenew bridge deck when it was planned to beexposed over the Christmas period.

Removing the old superstructureThe Network Rail Scheme Project Manager,

Alfie Chimedza, and Site ConstructionManager Paul Adams, worked alongside BAMNuttal’s Site Project Managers, Rick Kopek,Emily Short and Tony Russell to ensure thateverything went according to plan.

Two road mobile cranes, of 350 and 500tonnes capacity, were used to remove theexisting steel deck. They lifted road-rail plantonto the bridge superstructure to removethe three existing tracks. Then two 35ttracked excavators armed with largehydraulic cutters were used to cut the steelsuperstructure into sections which could beremoved from site by the cranes, exposingthe top face of the concrete box andparapets. After making good the pier tops,sections of waterproofing were weldedtogether to form a continuous waterproofmembrane for the new wider bridge deck.

The drainage system was then installedand 3,000 tonnes of new bottom ballastwere transported to site by an end-discharging ballast train provided by

Waterproofing inplace. 3000t ofbottom ballastbeing spread.(Right) Demolitionof the existingsteel structure.

Network Rail, using 80 self dischargingwagons. Discharge wagons can onlyoperate on track with up to 50mm of cant,hence the restricted length of each train.These trains had to arrive in maximum unitsof ten wagons in length to accommodatefor the canted track off the bridge deckwhich increased to 75mm away from the

bridge. This work was completed afterthree days. New sleepers were thenbrought to site and positioned with road-rail machines, the rail was dragged ontosite, clipped, welded and distressed, andthe track tamped to line and level.

Success!This challenging undertaking was to

replace a five span rail over rail bridge. Thetechnique used to construct a bridge within abridge, to five different skews and spans,proved very effective. The published 9 day

Christmas blockade was to be handed back at4am on the 3 January 2012. As a result ofinnovative engineering methodologies andcollaborative working, the possession wasactually handed back at 16.00hrs on Saturday31 December 2011, 3 days early with all threelines operating at full line speed.

The new structure will require minimalmaintenance and the ballasted track willimprove ride quality. The new superstructurewill have adequate clearances and walkwaysto provide a safer working environment. Thenew Route Availability will offer improvedflexibility for operators. Brighton GoodsBridge 6 was a successful project and acredit to all concerned.


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JB65086 01/12

NewBrochurenow

available

65086 Rail Engineer 130x190mm_Layout 1 24/01/2012 15:05 Page 1

Success! Bridge 6works completeand open at fullline speed.(Left) Placement ofbottom ballastusing a LafargeStandardDischarge Train.


Bridgenderbridge 313 was a two span steelbridge located on the main Dublin-Cork

railway line. The bridge is situated in aSpecial Area of Conservation and spans theRiver Awbeg, which is a major tributary ofthe River Blackwater. It is a picturesque partof the country, and the Awbeg contains apopulation of otters, as well as salmon andwhite-clawed crayfish.

In December 2010, the condition of UB 313was assessed by specialist engineers withinIrish Rail as part of their Asset ManagementSystem. Due to extensive deterioration to thecentral pier and the bridge abutmentbearing plates, a design solution of steelstrapping was applied to the central pier onthe Down side. It was also deemed necessaryto impose a temporary speed restriction of10mph on the Down side and 25mph on theUp side across the span of the bridge in orderto limit vibration and reduce furthermovement of the pier.

Irish Rail determined that the bestpermanent solution was to replace the lifeexpired two span underbridge with aconcrete box culvert structure and fundingfor the project was agreed and approvedunder the 2011 Railway Safety Programme.

Planning to improveA 59-hour period on 28-31 October 2011

(the Irish October Bank Holiday weekend)had been determined at tender stage as thefirst window of opportunity. The existingbridge was to be replaced with two newculverts, and the work included diversion ofthe River Awbeg, removal of the existingtrack, dismantling of the existing bridge,excavation for culvert installation, placing ofprecast culvert units, construction ofretaining walls and ballast retainers andtrack replacement.

The river diversion works used an old archculvert under the railway line approximately100 metres from the site, and wereundertaken prior to the weekend possessionby Irish Rail personnel. The precast culvertunits were to be provided free issue by IrishRail and two precast suppliers were used inorder that they could be manufactured intime.

Following a tender process, on 3 October2011 Coffey Construction was appointed asmain contractor for the project. CoffeyConstruction is a civil engineering,

environmental engineering and buildingcontractor with operations in the UK andIreland. Although better known for heavy civilsworks, it also specialises in slope stabilisation,trenchless techniques and excavator mountedpiling. The company has been a principalcontractor for Irish Rail for over 25 years.

Softer groundNine days before the possession started, it

became apparent that the existing groundconditions required excavation of softmaterial two metres deeper than wasoriginally thought necessary. This required asheet piled cofferdam to be constructedaround the area to be excavated and theexcavation of 6,000m3 of material, a ten-foldincrease. Coffey used three of its pilinghammers to install the sheet piles in order tomeet the deadline date of line closure,working on piling and excavation works 24hours a day, as most of this excavation had tobe undertaken prior to the possessionstarting. A supported section of originalground was left in place around the bridgepiers and abutments. This work and otherpreparatory works were undertaken withlook-out protection in place, which allowedwork to be undertaken close to the railwayduring the day. As a result of these measures,the extra excavations were completed in timeand the possession could proceed as planned.

Each of the precast units weighed 30 tons,and these were unloaded in advance of thepossession into specific locations on siteready for lifting into place in accordance withthe pre-approved crane plan. The existingbridge deck was estimated to weigh 100 tons.To safely lift, remove and replace the bridgecomponents, two heavy task cranes, withlifting capacities of 500 and 750 tonnes wereset up, one on either side of the railway line.

Bridge Replacement worksAt 22.30 on Friday the 28 October, Coffey

Construction was granted a TIII Possession ofthe railway line. The track was cut by IrishRail, all cables were disconnected, andCoffey removed six sections of railway trackeach 18 metres in length. The ballast wasremoved down to bridge deck level usingexcavators, the holding down bolts of theold bridge were cut and the bridge deck wasdivided into two halves for lifting purposesby cutting the steel plate which connectedthe bridge beams.

U

over the River Awbeg

Installation of thelast ballastretaining units.

(Below) Culvertscraned into placein sequence.(inset) Piles putinto place by 3Machine operatedPiling Hammers.

Once the bridge was removed, the areaaround the bridge was dug out - up to 3.0metres below river bed level - and backfilledto form a solid base for the new culverts.Three 45-ton excavators were used withinthe constrained space to dig out theremaining 2,000m3, with five A25 dumptrucks drawing away the unsuitable materialto a site stockpile. Over 2,000m3 of class 6Nstone was built up in layers to the finishedlevel for the base of the culvert. Coffey usedold rails to act as screeds for the newlyinstalled culverts to ensure that all culvertswere placed on a level bed. Anenvironmental consultant monitored all siteworks to ensure that Coffey Constructionadhered to its agreed EnvironmentalManagement Plan.

As the working period was limited to 59hours, Coffey planned the works with gangsworking 12 hour shifts with 12 hour rest

periods between shifts for all site staff. Coffeyhad carried out many similar projects to fixedpossession deadlines. Each of the multi-discipline gangs was familiar with all aspectsof the works, which meant that work couldproceed at full efficiency whether the workswere behind or ahead of programme atchanges of shift. Coffey’s use of directly-employed labour for its civil engineeringworks allows it to respond quickly to arisingsituations and also facilitates robustmanagement of safety and quality.

Concrete componentsA total of 84 U-shaped culvert units were

installed to form two box sections. Each unitwas 7.5m wide by 2.85m high and 2.0mlong. A gang of eight personnel wereallocated to work with each crane, with eachcrane working away from the centre. A timeof 17 minutes per unit was the maximumprogramme time available to sling and place

each unit for the deadline to be met. A50mm blinding layer was placed over theculverts to level up any irregularitiesbetween the units, and eleven precastballast retainer units weighing 29 tons eachwere placed over the culverts. At the fourcorners of the bridge, six precast retainingunits per corner were placed to form wingwalls to hold back the railway embankmentand the river banks.

Coffey placed the railway ballast in 2 layersof 200mm which were compacted using4-ton double drum rollers. The site washanded back to Irish Rail for them to lay thenew sections of track nearly a full day aheadof programme at 11:00am on Sunday 30October 2011, completing the works in a 40hour possession period.

Trains are now once again running overthe picturesque River Awbeg at line speedsof 90mph, so passengers don’t have as muchtime to enjoy the view!


www.coffeygroup.com

[email protected]

Athenry,

County Galway,

Ireland

+353 91 844 356

St James Business

Centre, Linwood Road,

Paisley,PA3 3AT.

+44 141 258 7476

Telco House, 284Southbury Road,Enfield, EN1 1TR.+44 208 447 9199

(Above) Culverts inplace, surroundedby piles creatingcofferdam. (inset)River Awbegreopened aftercompletion of theproject.

Time-lapse video:coffeygroup.com


Grahame Taylorw r i t e r

he railways have aknack with names.

Generally they areeminently descriptive,evoking in a word orshort phrase the verynature of the location.Think perhaps of thatdesolate curve on themain line north ofDarlington called Linger-and-Die. Or maybethe various Factory Junctions throughout thecountry. But sometimes names are deceiving. This month we visit Dove Holes. And whatdoes that conjure up? Idyllic ruralism? Well,think again. Dove Holes village is an ‘ordinary’strip of development on the A6 just south ofBuxton on the edge of the Peak NationalPark. It has a station. It’s a couple of platformswith bus shelters, but that’s on the passengerline that winds its way up from Stockport.Deep beneath Dove Holes is Dove Holestunnel on the old main line to London.

Subterranean riversIt is 2984 yards long and it is not a

particularly pleasant place. Driven throughgritstone and limestone, it saw off severalcontractors in its construction. Thediscovery of three subterranean rivers justabout put the tin lid on everything. DoveHoles tunnel is synonymous with water. It’snot just the rivers but also the run-off fromthe hills and the quarries in the area. Addedto this is a pernicious limestone slurry thatfinds its way down the track drains into thetunnel where it gradually reverts back to a

modern sedimentary rock. The originalbuilders did at least recognise that they hada problem and so incorporated a very largedrain down the middle of the tunnel. Butregularly, over the years, this becamechoked and so water made its way downthe 1 in 90 gradient taking whatever route itcould find. At first through the ballast andthen, when that’s clogged, it’s over the topof the ballast. In other words, Dove Holestunnel floods and at times the flooding isspectacular.

Too difficult boxSo that’s the background. A track

formation beset with too much water andvery little drainage. In short, it’s a trackmaintainer’s nightmare. By the time GaryHastie, Network Rail’s Scheme ProjectManager, and his team arrived on site thetrack had just about had it. A 5mph speedrestriction was causing serious disruption tothe Freightliner limestone traffic not tomention the ever-present worry for the trackengineering staff. There had been a numberof previous attempts to solve the problemsof Dove Holes but these had been variouslypostponed. The tunnel was firmly in the ‘toodifficult box’.

TThe six foot drainBefore (above) andAfter (right).

DrainingDove Holes


Nine-day blockadeAlthough the remediation project was

primarily driven by track renewals, there weresignificant civil engineering elements in theform of 1000yds of drain renewal. In additionthere was a need to correct the structuralclearances that had been disrupted over theyears. The renewals, the drainage and thegauge works were all interlinked.

There were two major relaying items -1700 yds on the Down line and 1008 yds onthe Up line. It was alongside the Down linerenewal that the 1000yds of drain renewalwas situated.

The original scheme involved a proposednine-week blockade, but Gary entered intonew negotiations with customers Freightlinerand DBS and work was broken up intomanageable chunks in extended rules of the

route possessions and main possessions onthe weekends prior to and after Christmas.But over the holiday break the project teamwere allowed a nine-day blockade. NetworkRail Operations, and in particular OperationsManager Dave Ramsbottom, wereinstrumental in helping the team maximisethe access opportunities negotiated.

Limestone slurryThe Christmas blockade became available

because that’s the time that the Cemexquarries shut down. Gary admits that thedate was accepted reluctantly - primarilybecause of the risks of bad weather. High upin the Peak District the weather can beatrocious. But given the inevitable, the teammanaged the potential risks accordingly bybreaking the job down into smaller parts.

The original drain structure was a stoneculvert with thick roof slabs buried underthe ballast. Seemingly of generousproportions it succumbed to a mixture ofthe limestone slurry, occasional nudges fromtrack laying plant and plain old age.Attempts had been made to relieve matterswith the insertion of plastic pipes laid in theremains of the culvert but these too werenow overwhelmed. The solution demandedby the track maintainers, and designed byBabcock Rail Consultancy, was for an openchannel drain 1 metre deep and 700mmwide laid so that the galvanised lids can beremoved for drain cleaning. In addition, cessdrains in the form of gutters have beeninstalled to pick up the acute areas wherethe tunnel lining leaks, taking the water tothe six foot channel.

Excavating for thenew drain.


Bespoke concrete units This of course created a challenge to

reinstating correct structural clearancesthrough the tunnel as the channel drain inthe six foot was a physical obstruction thatdidn’t occur with a buried pipe - except atcatchpits. As a result the final track renewalrequired the use of EG47SD (shallow depth,short ended) concrete sleepers.

Babcock Rail are partners in the IMT(Integrated Management Team). They sub-contracted the civils works to BAM Nuttallwho engaged QTS to carry out the drainagework with their extensive range of plant andequipment. The bespoke reinforcedconcrete units were made by Macrete andwere shipped over from Ireland.

To have some chance of success, the watercoming into the tunnel was stopped byintercepting it at catchpits at the upstreammouth of the tunnel and pumping it into alocal stream called Dale Brook. But there wasstill plenty of water from within the tunnelthat had to be managed and 40 metrestretches were pumped around the movingworksite. The Down line was first removedand excavated to within 70mm of finaldepth. Gary Hastie commented: “There wereconstraints with wagon availability overChristmas but we were able to excavate thedrain, placing spoil onto the exposed trackbed. After Christmas, more wagons becameavailable which allowed the final depth tobe reached. It was always likely that therecould be surplus excavated material and socontingency measures such as creatingtemporary stockpiles were planned.”

Cruel surpriseIn the weeks before

the main blockadethere were exploratoryforays into the tunnelto test out workingtechniques andlogistics. But DoveHoles came up with acruel surprise. The sixfoot drain did not rundown the centre of the

tunnel! It was offset and, for part of itscourse, ran under the Down line. This meantthat there was more excavated material thananticipated.

The pre-Christmas possessions gave theopportunity to install necessary services. Theradio communications system, by HighMotive, gave coverage throughout thetunnel and the surrounding areas.Ventilation in the shape of powerful Mantrafans kept the tunnel clear of fumes. For theblockade most of the tunnel was lit. Early inthe project, brackets were fixed to the wallsso that the lighting and the cables could befixed quickly.

Difficult accessAt both ends the line is in deep rock

cuttings before the portals are reached. Atthe Southern (Peak Forest) end the access isclose to the possession limit and thisdisturbs the normal working of the quarrytrains. The main access was established froma field that had been rented off a farmer atthe Chinley end of the job near Chapel-en-le-Frith station approach. From there, havingsigned on, all personnel were ferried to thesite of work on the ‘taxi’ - a road/railpersonnel carrier supplied by TRAC.

Gary was impressed the way everyonecoped with the very difficult conditions. Thetunnel isn’t a pleasant place to work andthere are areas where water pours into thetunnel from the roof and from the side walls.They noticed that, just three hours afterheavy rain on the Peaks, it starts to rain inthe tunnel.

OverpumpingAnd the weather? “Right on cue there was

heavy rain, initially before the start, but thenthe weather faired up until the Thursdaywhen it poured down again.”

Like their Victorian ancestors, the projectteam had a problem with the subterraneanwater courses. At one point we had fourteenhours of extremely heavy rain and we hadno option but to keep well clear and go backto a 40 yard portion which was completedafter Christmas.”

The largest river is visible at a point wherethere appears to be a refuge, but this refugehas iron bars across precisely to stop yougetting in. Water pours from way above thetunnel and disappears into the six foot draindramatically increasing the flow.

In the early days of the work, the waterthat had to be diverted around the site wasalmost overpowering. At its peak, QTS hadthree 6” diesel pumps running full bore justto keep pace with the torrent that emergedfrom the tunnel walls. As Bruno Martin,QTS’s Construction Manager observed, “Itwas a challenge to keep on programmebecause of the sheer amount of water. Butwe perfected a conveyor belt type ofapproach and were able to increase ourproductivity steadily as the days went by.The tunnel gradient falls steeply towardsChinley so, as we worked upstream towardsPeak Forest, we had less and less watercoming down on us.”

PostscriptSo perhaps Dove Holes can now take on a

slightly less malevolent guise. Six thousandyards of track has been either renewed,lowered, realigned or tamped. The drain hasbeen replaced. Water flows where it shouldand all is undeniably tidy. Gary admits that“To see it all completed was a bit of a proudmoment.”

But don’t kid yourself. At around 1000ftabove sea level in a bleak corner of the PeakDistrict, Dove Holes tunnel is still a terribleplace to be in the winter. Always treatrailway names with caution!

Installing sectionsof the six footdrain.

QTS Delivering a complete rail drainage service.

QTS’ unique specialist drainage plant, equipment and highly skilled drainage personnel deliver a complete rail drainage renewal, repair and maintenance service.

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oal miners are back in the Southeast ofEngland. Twenty three years after the

closure of the Betteshanger, the last pit inthe Kent coal field, miners from Wales andthe North-East are once more beneath therolling countryside. But this time they’re notlooking for coal.

Amalgamated Construction has its rootsin mining. It was born from theengineering division of the former NationalCoal Board and many of its personnel havedirect experience of pit work. They areNetwork Rail’s main contractor for theextensive works being carried out tostabilise and secure the future of OreTunnel.

Thomas Cowie is Network Rail’s ProjectManager looking after, amongst otherthings, the Ore tunnel project which is beingundertaken during a nine week blockadebetween Hastings and Rye. This blockadeenables a long list of other infrastructureworks. But more on this later....

Distorted profileThomas explains that the tunnel, a

Victorian structure, was constructed almostcertainly by drill and blast methods as itpassed through a mix of clay beds andinclined stratified layers of limestone andsandstone. The parabolic, brick lined tunnelwas smashed out through the rock. Theprofile is distorted, particularly around thecrown and it is believed that packing is poorbetween the rock and the lining in thedrilled and blasted sections.

Over generations there have been manyrepair exercises in various parts of thetunnel. All the repairs have been short termdue to the previously limited possessiontimes available. They are at the end of theirlife so it is time to replace them withsomething more permanent.

Shotcrete liningThe tunnel is extremely wet. As Thomas

observes, “It’s really unbelievable how muchwater comes through it! And that’s primarilyone of the reasons for the deformation. Thewater is taking the mortar out from the bricks.”

To put matters right some sections willhave sprayed shotcrete linings applied tothe roof of the tunnel. These will be held inplace and strengthened using rock meshingover the top of the new lining, with carbonfibre ground anchors or dowels installedbetween the new lining, through thebrickwork, into the rock above. They arethere to hold the weight of the lining so thatit causes no additional load to the existingtunnel structure.

Hidden shaftsThere are many other minor works within

the tunnel such as renewing previous watercatchment systems, especially in the hugeventilation shaft in the middle which is like aflume. There are four hidden shafts andstrengthening work will be carried aroundtheir bases as they’re adding pressure to thewalls.

Sections of brickwork throughout thetunnel that have been damaged throughgrout loss are being repaired or stitched.There are some fractures of the walls whichneed to be repaired and there is a significantsection of the roof which is bulging which isgoing to be cut out and strengthened with ashotcrete lining.

There are several areas of the tunnel whereinjection grouting behind the lining willeliminate voids. With these and othermeasures, it is hoped to manage some of thewater which is doing the damage to thetunnel and to the track.

Preparatory workWork started on Monday 9 January, but

before that there was an element of“softening up”.

Thomas recalls that, to minimise the timeneeded for the blockade, they did aconsiderable amount of preparatory work inadvance. “Anything practical that could bedone before the blockade was done. So, forexample, we set up our accesses, ourcompounds, installed lighting systems,water mains and emergency telephonesystems.

“We spent most of November andDecember working night shifts installingventilation systems. We have at least twovery large Factair fan systems which willprovide flowing air through the tunnel, andall the machinery in use has beenthoroughly serviced to ensure thatemissions are at a minimum. Expensivecatalytic converters have been fitted toevery machine. These new filters, which arechanged weekly, are meant to remove some95% of particle solids from the air. The fansare really a precaution because we are tryingto remove most of the problems at source.”

C


tunnel worksGrahame Taylorw r i t e r

Erecting servicebridge beforeremoving twounderbridges.

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Logistical problems“Ore tunnel is a double line bore

but with a single line which leads tomany logistical problems. Althoughcomplex, by working with ourdelivery partner, everything has beenmanaged very successfully. We didseveral shifts of trial work to see whatto expect and to practice some of themovements because the single linemeant that once setup for the daythen that’s it! We have to make sureeverything’s in the right order in thetunnel as we can’t drive through eachother!”

At the end of the tunnel workthere will be a full track renewalincluding the ballast subgrade andthe track drainage. As part of theproject, geotechnical drainage thatruns through the tunnel fromcuttings and embankments will berenewed.

Access issuesAccess to the tunnel could have

been a serious problem but theproject was extremely fortunate. Thelocal area was quite industrial in thepast and it’s now a massiveredevelopment area. Very near to therailway there is the site of a formercoal fired power station and this hasbeen secured for access. Even the oldsidings have been found. In fact theaccess at the west end is fantastic - itcouldn’t be better. At the other endthere were some difficulties becausethe best places were reached eitherthrough bogs or marshy land, butaccess has been secured.

Journey time improvementsBut the tunnel is not the whole

story. With a nine week blockadeavailable, just about everyone wantsto take advantage of thisextraordinary opportunity.

Murray Motley is a Senior projectsponsor with Network Rail. Assponsor for a longer term scheme toimprove journey times betweenAshford and Brighton he has a greatinterest in the blockade.

Murray explains that, “The journeytime improvement scheme had beendeveloped to a point where we knewwhat we needed to do and what itwould cost - but the costs were fairlyhigh and, given that this is a ruralrailway, we were struggling to justifyit. But what has actually happened isthat much of what we were going tohave to do is being picked up as partof routine maintenance.

“So, for example, if track has beenrelayed then that’s part of a normalrenewal maintenance cost ratherthan a discrete scheme cost and sothe actual money we have had toprovide is just the incremental cost ofputting the track back at a higherspeed. The line is currently 60mphthroughout with permanent speedrestrictions in various places, but theaspiration is to get it up to 75mph.

“Although we won’t be able toopen at the higher speed becausewe still have work to do on somestructures and level crossings, thetrack will be ready for it because wewill have done a substantial part ofthe overall scheme.”

The line’s not completely shutbecause there’s still the traffic to andfrom the Dungeness nuclear powerstation. Trains run two or three timesa week with nuclear flasks. ButNetwork Rail have worked with DRSto concentrate their period ofoperations so that they could getlonger periods of blockage of up tofive days at a time.

BridgeworksElsewhere in the blockade Network

Rail are renewing two overbridgedecks, repairing about 18 footbridgesand several culverts. Anembankment is being repaired andthere are about six areas with majortrack renewals. In amongst all this thetrack maintenance organisation isdoing the maximum it can within theconstraints of everyone else workingincluding a mile’s worth of relaying.

The two overbridges are at ThreeOaks and Doleham and were notplanned to be renewed until fairlylate on in 2013. They had to be fast-tracked. There’s a bit of risk becauseboth bridges are covered in services.But, even in a worst case, they won’taffect the blockade if they’re notfinished. As a result road closureshave been reduced from six monthsto just three weeks, drasticallyhacking the costs by up to 50%. Theexisting superstructures will bereconstructed by contractor Dyer andButler with repairs carried out to thewing walls and abutments to give adesign life of 120 years, maintenancefree for the first 25 years. Precastconcrete bridge beams are beinginstalled at both sites in series as eachbridge acts as a traffic diversion routefor the other. All this work, includingre-instatement of the highway, will becomplete by 1 April 2012.

StockpilesOf course, everyone wants to get

their trains in. To get the most fromthe blockade there’s an Ore blockadecoordination meeting every twoweeks to thrash out details. In parallel,Orpington Maintenance teams led byHelen Warnock, the InfrastructureMaintenance Engineer, have spentmonths dropping equipment andmaterials around the line in securelocations so that it’s there ready forthe blockade. Also trains and road-railers have been parked up in variouslocations along the line so thatthey’re in position and don’t get ineach other’s way.

A new coalfield?The blockade ends on 11th March.

But there will be a subsequentweekend possession to mop upworks that can’t be done before thetrack renewal work in the tunnel,such as work on manholes. The fabricof Ore tunnel will be secured for atleast 20 years.

The Kent coalfield was discoveredduring an early attempt to drive achannel tunnel - at least that’s what itsays on the internet so it must betrue. This time miners will emergefrom Ore tunnel probably with notone piece of coal - but who knows?

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Feasibility studies with adaptable ventilation schemes to including both self contained engine driven and modular electrically powered fans to allow tailored solutions

Deployment and maintenance staffContinuous air quality monitoring and pollution warning serviceEnvironmental condition report on completion

Drilling rig entering tunnel.

Grout train.


Strengtheningmasonry arches

Cintec International has provided

Network Rail and formerly British Rail

and many County Councils and other

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strengthening and stabilising bridges

and similar structures.

Operating either as a main contractor itself, or through

Cintec’s approved contractor network, the company is

able to provide either project specific solutions through the

client engineer, or a turnkey service including complete

diagnostics on all masonry structures from initial

assessment, finite element analysis, full design and through

to anchor installation and completion.

Cintec International Ltd

[email protected] www.cintec.co.uk

Cintec House, 11 Gold Tops, Newport, South Wales, NP20 4PH

Telephone: +44 (0) 1633 246614 Fax: +44 (0) 1633 246110

Email:

Complete diagnostic, design and installation service

Cintec RailMasonry Repair

& Strengthening

Enterkin & Crawick railway viaducts

Installing anchors

Temporary strapping as emergency measure

Completed anchoring before replacing cores

or nearly fifteen years, the archstrengthening design and build service

known as Archtec has been successfullyused by many bridge owners to helpmanage their bridge stock. Now, thistechnology is being used for railway bridgesand is set to introduce similar benefits tothose that have been well recognised byhighway authorities.

Originally the motivation for developingthe Archtec system was the introduction of40/44 tonne vehicle load rating and toprovide a cost effective alternative totraditional assessment and strengtheningroutes. This driver continues, particularly

overseas, but increasingly in response to railtraffic rather than road. It is now alsorecognised as offering an alternative,affordable and sustainable solutioncompared with traditional saddling, or insome cases bridge replacement, byimproved use of mostly existing materials.

Archtec has involved a significant researchprogramme over the years includingadvanced analysis, full scale tests and themonitoring of bridges. A special team wasformed, which includes academics,engineers/analysts, project managers andspecialist contractors, to deliver this service.Internationally, around 250 bridges have

now been strengthened with many moreassessed and found to be adequate. Thisteam is a partnership which brings togetherseveral specialists; Cintec InternationalLimited, Rockfield Software Limited andRamboll UK Limited (formerly Gifford).

Calculating the strength of arch bridges

Despite masonry arches being ancient inform, it remains notoriously difficult toaccurately assess their strength. Theirbehaviour is complex and involves theinteraction of individual parts, blocks, bricks,mortar and fill. Several methods for

F The illuminatedRoyal BorderBridge.

PHO

TO: K

ARE

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assessingthe strength

of arch bridgeshave become well

established, forexample limit

analysis, which is a vitalactivity where traffic

loads increase. However,their generalised use is

limited and their applicationfor designing strengthening

difficult. Finite element analysishas also been successfully used

although modelling materials toobtain realistic behaviour is

challenging.Instead, the Finite/Discrete Element

Method (FDEM), which involves theautomatic computation of interactingbodies, is applied in the Archtec strengthassessment and strengthening designprocesses. This is a generalised approach, asis finite element analysis, which means thatany geometric form of masonry can besimulated. As a result, there are norestrictions to the arch bridge arrangementsthat can be considered, for instance thenumber of spans, rings and piers that can beassessed. Similarly any type of loading, fromhighways, railways and even groundmovements, can be applied.

The application of FDEM has marked astep change in the level of sophisticationwhich can now be applied to the structuralanalysis of masonry arch bridges. Not onlycan it be used to accurately assess strength,

but also to determine bridge deformation,including important non-linear effects,making it possible to assess behaviour atboth strength and serviceability limitstates. Being a generalised approach, thebehaviour of complex bridges can beassessed where, for example, a concretesaddle may exist, a bridge has beenpropped and, in the case of strengthening,retrofitted reinforcement is introduced.

Strengthening weak bridgesArches conventionally fail by thedevelopment of four hinges leading to amechanism. The design basis for Archtecstrengthening is to locate reinforcementwhere hinges are predicted to developso as to improve bending strength. Byproviding additional strength in thisway, the arch barrel is better able toresist live load and peak compressivestresses in the masonry are reducedcompared with similarunstrengthened cases. The sameprocedure is applied to more complexbridge arrangements, includingmulti-span arches, although failuremechanisms and reinforcementpositioning requires differentlocations to be considered in design.

The method of strengtheninginvolves the installation of Cintecanchors. These have been

developed to allow the retrofitting ofstainless steel reinforcement around the

circumference of the arch barrel. Thereinforcement is then grouted into holes,which have been precisely drilled into thebridge using a diamond coring rig,providing a shear connection with themasonry. It is this shear connection, and themethod of grouting within a fabric sock, thatis vital to give the required bond strength.Installation can either be made from theroad surface or, in the case of multi-spanstructures, from below. Once the work iscompleted there is no evidence of any majorintervention to the bridge, a characteristicthat is particularly important for historicstructures.

Accurate 3D geometric modelling isrequired both to develop the FDEM modelusing the true shape of the arch barrel andalso for setting out calculations and theaccurate positioning of reinforcement. 3Dlaser surveys are increasingly being used toprovide high-density survey measurements(point clouds) and, by using hybrid 3D CADsoftware, the built environment andproposed works are combined saving timeand improving efficiency. Any buriedservices are also included.

AdvantagesThe use of reinforcing systems in arch

barrels, and particularly the Archtec system,has attracted considerable interest in recentyears as it is becoming recognised that, inmany cases, it is a viable alternative to moreextreme works such as traditional saddling,lining and replacement. Archtecstrengthening provides an effective andeconomic method of restoring andstrengthening masonry arch bridges wherethe following advantages are oftenimportant:• Through the use of FDEM the first stage in

any Archtec project is to accurately assessthe existing bridge strength. This allowsaccurate matching of strengthening to theloading requirements if the bridge is weak,thus minimising the scope of the work.Alternatively, it may be found thatstrengthening can be avoided;

• Modest scope of works - strengtheningrequires small scale construction activitiessuch as drilling and no heavy equipmentand movement of materials;

• Archtec is un-intrusive compared withmore traditional solutions such assaddling, lining or reconstruction, andbeing embedded into the masonry has noimpact on head room;

• A more sustainable solution with littleenvironmental impact, embodied energyand carbon emissions compared withtraditional strengthening andreplacement;

• Ease of installation - can generally beinstalled from above or below a bridgewith relatively simple accessarrangements;

• Speed of installation - can generally beinstalled in short and often partial bridgepossessions;

• Ability to accommodate existing buriedservices - it is usually possible to workaround them thereby avoiding expensivediversions;

• Minimal disruption to users, low cost andreduced programme risk compared with


Installation process – drilling from above.


traditional strengthening andreplacement;

• Improved Safety as a result of smaller scaleof work compared with traditionalstrengthening and replacement;

• Good whole life performance through theuse of long proven materials andcomponents;

• No or minimal effect on the appearancewhich can be of particular importance inrelation to historic and listed bridges;

• A method of installation that is used toverify the way the bridge was originallybuilt - each drilled hole provides a core ofinformation which can be used to confirmconstruction, for example barrelthickness.

Strengthening road over rail bridgesOne of the first road-over-rail bridges to

be strengthened using the Archtec systemis Keith Haughes Bridge in Scotland. This isa single span brick masonry arch bridgewhich carries a trunk road across anetwork railway line. Earlier assessmentshad indicated that there was insufficientstrength to provide the required trunkroad live load rating. Following a furtherassessment process, including SV196abnormal loading, Archtec strengtheningwas selected and together with otherremedial work the project was successfullycompleted in 2010. Key to the successfulinstallation was minimal disruption to bothroad and rail traffic. Being a small scale

construction activity, with no movement ofbulk materials, enabled the work to takeplace in short possession periods, and byusing techniques such as laser scanning and3D modelling all activities could beaccurately planned in advance.

Main image:Geotechnical engineering for the DLR 3 car enhancement project, London

Laser scan prior to Archtec strengthening process, Haughs Bridge, Morayshire

Replacement bridge deck; Arnside Viaduct, Morecambe Bay

Complete bridge replacements at Caversham and Vastern Roads, Reading

RAIL EXPERTISEHaving acquired Gi,ord, we are now able to o,er experience and capability in all aspects of engineering for the rail sector. From development archaeology to bridge engineering; level crossing surveys to platform design, railway buildings to station infrastructure.

And we can call on the wider resources of the Ramboll group currently working on major European projects such as the Danish Signalling Programme (ERTMS), the Copenhagen City Circle Line, the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link and helping to accommodate increased rail capacity in Norway.

In the UK Gi,ord’s contribution to the Archtec partnership won the Queens Award for Enterprise: Innovation in 2002. The process has gone on to win many awards both here and overseas.

Contact Tim Holmes 023 8081 7500

www.ramboll.co.uk

(Left and below) Typical 3D laser surveyshowing coloured point cloud

Typical FDEMmodel, shows howgeometry isdeveloped from 3Dlaser point cloud.


Cummersdale

eorge Stephenson, Engineer for theMaryport and Carlisle Railway, reported

that the cost of construction would be lowas the level nature of the countryside did notrequire expensive engineering works. Oneexception was the 57 metre long, three spanCummersdale viaduct which spans the RiverCaldew at a 52° skew two miles south ofCarlisle. This viaduct was the most significantstructure on the railway which was initiallyopened as a single line in 1845 to carry coalfrom the Cumbrian coalfields to Carlisle andMaryport docks. The current twin trackviaduct structure was a 1910 upgrade.

Although the coal mines are long gone,the line still carries fuel with oil trains to BP’sDalston oil depot and nuclear flasks fromSellafield. So the Christmas disruptivepossession for the refurbishment ofCummersdale Viaduct was timed to end at02:50 on 28 December, to maintain freightpaths to and from Dalston.

£1 million life extensionNetwork Rail’s Cummersdale viaduct

project is a £1million design and buildpackage of work to renew the deck, installwaterproofing and drainage, grit blast andpaint the steel riveted-plate main girdersand provide scour protection. The principalcontractor is May Gurney and thecontractor’s designer is Pell Frischmann.

Environmental support was provided byJBA Consulting which undertook thebaseline ecology and bat emergencesurveys as well as giving advice on the river’sSpecial Area of Conservation (SAC)designation for crayfish and salmonid fish.This work identified that white-clawedcrayfish were not present in the Caldewbranch of the SAC and, with the agreementof the Environmental Agency and NaturalEngland, JBA proposed that this species didnot require a specific survey. However, thepresence of salmonid fish in the Caldewmeant that any in-stream work could not becarried out during the spawning season -between the end ofSeptember2011 and

June 2012. Early identification of theenvironmental constraints at the site and thecareful timing of works meant that no delayswere experienced to the project in spite ofits location within a SAC.

Work started on site in September.Vegetation within 3 metres of the bridge wascleared. Scaffolding to support a crash deckunder the bridge and encapsulation aroundthe main girders had to be completed beforethe spawning season started.

Grit blasting and painting of the girderswas undertaken by Jack Tighe. After this wascompleted, rectangular holes were cut intothe encapsulation to provide ventilation andalso a sneak preview of the new Holly Greenpaint finish which replaced the previouslight green.

The Christmas PossessionThe largest item of work was the planned

redecking, waterproofing and provision of adrainage system during a 77 hour disruptivepossession from 21:00 on Christmas Eve to02:50 on 28 December. This work wasentrusted to Stobart Rail under MayGurney’s supervision. The life-expired timberdecking was to be replaced with 46 steelunits fabricated by Britcon (Scunthorpe) Ltd.

These units, typically 2.7m long x 3.4mwide x 0.75m high, have an L-shapedcross section to give improved ballastretention.

G

David Shirresw r i t e r

makeover

Christmas in Carlisle was mild andmainly dry, but with 30 mph winds.Although this would have preventedthe use of cranes, it did not disrupt theCummersdale work which only requiredlow lifts by on-track plant. To enablethese to work from the adjacent line,the redecking was planned to becarried out one track at a time with theUp line removed first.

The 120 foot long, jointed track panelson the bridge were cut into 60 footpanels and removed from the bridge bya tandem lift. Once ballast had beencleared, the timber decking wasremoved by 360° excavators, enablingthe tops of the steel girders to betreated prior to installation of the steeldeck units. The crash deck andencapsulation prevented anycontamination of the river during thiswork.

Applying NR/L3/INI/CP0064By the early hours of Boxing Day

morning the Up side of the bridge wasready for its new steel deck units.However, during marking out with thebridge dismantled, it was found thatsome units did not fit into thestonework at the end of the bridge. Thisunforeseen problem was resolved onsite, but the resultant delay was greaterthan the possession contingency time.

As required by Network Rail standards,possession plans must include holdpoints beyond which work should notproceed unless the expected progresshas been achieved. The Cummersdaleviaduct possession had two hold points,the lifting of the Up line and the liftingof the Down line. As the criteria for thesecond hold point had not been met,Network Rail’s standardNR/L3/INI/CP0064 “Delivering Workwithin Possessions” required that thework could not proceed beyond thesecond hold point. As a result, at 10:00on Boxing Day morning, the decisionwas taken not to commence thereplacement of the second half of thedeck and Network Rail agreed that thetimber deck under the Down line couldbe replaced in a future disruptivepossession. Whilst this wasunderstandably frustrating to those onsite, this instruction ensured there wasno risk to the handback time for thepossession of 02:50 on 28 December.

Remaining WorkThe Site Construction Manager

considers that the experience gainedfrom the Up line deck replacement willbe useful when the time comes toreplace the Down line deck. Timeconsuming marking out will not berequired as deck unit positioning will bedetermined by the units already in placeunder the Up line.

Environment Agency restrictions onaccessing the water during the salmonspawning season will determine whenthe scour protection works atCummersdale viaduct can be finished,as the installation of riprap stone around

the piers for scourprotection cannot beundertaken until June2012 - after thespawning season.Completion of thebridge re-deckingwork will bedependent on MayGurney securingsuitable levels ofpossession access tothe route during 2012,which is normallyrestricted to Sunday mornings andChristmas Day/Boxing day.

During the period of the possession,the level of the River Caldew rose after aparticularly heavy rainfall and the waterwas fast flowing, showing the challengethat the salmon face to swim upstreamto lay their eggs. This also demonstratedthe need for scour protection, and thedifficulties associated with itsinstallation.

Functional and UnobtrusiveNetwork Rail’s Scheme Project

Manager, Chris Chatfield, commented,“The maintenance and re-use of theexisting main girders, combined withthe installation of new waterproofedsteel deck units, optimises the mostefficient blend of old and new materialsto secure the working life of thestructure over the long term.”

The steel-plate Cummersdale Viaductis only a few metres above the river, hasno graceful curves or tall piers, and so isunlikely to attract much attention fromthose who walk beneath it on theCumbria Way long-distance footpath.As one of the project team said, “It is nota thing of beauty, but it is functionaland looks right to me”.

However, with the completion of itsrefurbishment the viaduct will continueto be functional for many years and,resplendent in its new Holly Greencoating, it might even attract moreglances from those who walk or cycleunder it.

This article was written following a sitevisit to the viaduct for which May Gurney’sassistance is greatly appreciated.


The bulk of the work took place during a 77 hour possession over Christmas.

30 | the rail engineer | february 2012 feature

w r i t e rNigelWordsworth

he New Year. A time of plans for thefuture, broken resolutions, and the rail

engineer’s annual visit to see the latestdevelopments at Birmingham New StreetStation as the Network Rail and Macepartnership continue to develop one of thecountry’s most significant stations

First, a quick recap - or you can readissue 75 (January 2011) page 27. Thecurrent Birmingham New Street Stationwas opened in 1967 after a completerebuild. The 12 platforms are belowground level in a slightly curved box.Above the platforms, on a large concreteslab, sits the passenger concourse at oneside and a multi-story car park on theother. Above the concourse is thePallasades shopping centre.

New Street is the country’s busiest stationoutside of London, and it is getting busier.Being largely underground, the platformscannot be extended, nor can more beadded. They are already operated as A and Bplatforms, in fact there is even a C, so theonly way to enhance capacity further is toget more trains in and out more quickly. Andthat means moving more passengers on andoff the platforms more quickly.

Currently, there is one access to eachplatform from the concourse, and thatconcourse is quite small, low ceilinged, andhas no natural daylight. In short, it is a bitcrowded and depressing. What is needed isa larger concourse, a higher ceiling, andsome daylight.

Someone came up with the simplesolution - knock through the wall into thecar park next door, and expand theconcourse into that. However, car park floorsdon’t have much headroom, as you’d expectin a multi-story car park. So the next simplesolution was to take out the first floorcompletely, leaving a double-height area.That should do it.

But what about letting some daylight in?Simple once again - drive upwards throughthe middle of the Pallasades shoppingcentre right through to the roof and put atransparent dome on top to let the light in.

All this would leave the exterior of thestation untouched and still sixties concrete.So the suggestion was to clad it all in shinystainless steel to reflect the sky.

Don’t you just love these simple plans?

But in essence that is what was agreed.First stage, take out the first floor of the carpark (all 7,000 tonnes of it) and build a newconcourse in there with escalator and liftaccess to the platforms. Second, move theconcourse into the new area and close theold one, gut it and rebuild it, while at thesame time removing two floors of thePallasades shopping centre (20,000 tonnes)and constructing a dome on the roof fromETFE (Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene) - thematerial used for the Eden Project in the UKand the Beijing Olympic Aquatics Centre,nicknamed the “Watercube”.

Last yearSo the Birmingham New Street

Redevelopment project was born. At thetime of the rail engineer’s second visit, lastyear, the removal of the first floor of the carpark had just been finished. The concretehad been cut up into handy-sized pieces, stillweighing 10 tonnes or more each, andmoved on a bespoke rail arrangementsideways out of the building. A forest ofbright-orange props and stays from RMDKwikform kept everything supported and inbalance while the work was going on.

One snag was that the main service spinefor the whole station runs just behind thewall of the existing concourse, so one of themain tasks was to relocate that into the roofof the new concourse area.

Outside, the 20-story residentialStephenson Tower would have to bedemolished to make room for the newscheme. However, the design for the newBirmingham Gateway, as the revised NewStreet is being called, included two newtowers. These were to be free-standing,multi-use blocks with retail in the groundfloor, offices above, and residential abovethat. With the current low demand for officeand retail space, these towers were not to bebuilt as part of the station development.

Also in Christmas 2010, it had been plannedto take out and replace the Navigation Streetfootbridge. However, the weather had beenso bad with temperatures down to -15°C, thatit had to be delayed until Christmas 2011.

T

New StreetNew Year at

Artist’s impressionof the new atriumwith its domed‘ETFE’ roof.

Swinging in thenew NavigationStreet footbridge.

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Work had started in de-cluttering andresurfacing the platforms, with BAM Nuttallworking on Platform 1.

So that was the situation a year ago.By 6 January 2012, much had changed.

After months of careful planning, theNavigation Street footbridge had beenreplaced, much to the relief of the engineers.If they had missed doing it this time,perhaps due to more bad weather, theywould really have been in trouble withtimings. However, the steel framework waslifted into place on Boxing Day with noproblems. A temporary fire-proof lining hadbeen added so that passengers were alreadyusing the new bridge and were protectedfrom the ongoing work to add the claddingto the outside of the frame. When that iscomplete the lining will be stripped out andthe finished bridge exposed.

Stephenson Tower had gone - well, almost.All that was left was about one story high ofscaffolding. Due to its proximity to thestation, the tower couldn’t be knocked downso it had to be taken down, in effect foldedinwards on itself with the rubble goingdown the lift shafts and being taken away atthe bottom. A time consuming process butjust about complete.

However, there had been two majorchanges to the design over the year. InDecember 2011, designers Atkins had beenwinding down. The major work had beendone, and a team of just 10-20 people wasenvisaged to keep an eye on the project andsort out the inevitable wrinkles. Now,however, the team was still 130 strong - andbusy. What had changed?

New for 2012 In February 2011, John Lewis Partnerships

announced that they will open a new storein Birmingham - at Birmingham New Street.This was a major change in the plan for thestation, and needed a lot more detaileddesign work.

Of course, these announcements don’thappen overnight. The design team firstbecame aware of the possibility back in2009, when Project Chicago looked at thefeasibility of adding a major store to thedevelopment. This was to have been on thenorth east corner of the station, but after atime everything went quiet. Then the planwas back on again, but now moved to thesouth west. The two proposed separatetower blocks were deleted, and an extensiondesigned. The façade will be continuedaround the store and, because it is taller,extended upwards. However, the upperlayers will be transparent rather thanstainless steel to allow light into the store.

Atkins is doing the structural design of thenew store and the way it interfaces with thestation. Atkins Engineering Director StephenAshton explained: “This has been asignificant piece of design for Atkins. Therewas always passive provision for a majorstructure in that area - the two towersdevelopment. But they were separate fromthe station and John Lewis is integrated. Sowe have had to take out some of the southwest corner of the building and add on threelevels above the Pallasades.

“We have also had to alter some of theother plans to accommodate the new store.For example, British Transport Police were tohave had accommodation in the Hinterland(New Street-speak for the basement / servicearea) but we have now had to move them tothe upper retail level.”

John Lewis is a major change, but isn’t theonly one. The original design called for thenew service spine in the car park area to beconstructed on site. However, delivery partnerMace brought a plan to Atkins for it to be ofmodular construction, built off-site by NGBailey and then simply assembled after arrival.Each module could be tested in the factory,and while the cost was similar the assembly

times would be much quicker. Atkins wentalong with the plan, but the design had to beintegrated into the original scheme.

Another change was at platform level.Currently, there is ducting in place to extractdiesel fumes, carry them up the height of thebuilding, and expel them above the roof.These were to be replaced with newextractors but using the original ducts.However, Mace suggested using impulsefans, hanging from the ceiling over theplatforms, to blow fumes out either end ofthe station. Atkins and NG Bailey are workingtogether to implement this design changewhich includes the re-design of the powerdistribution of the power supplies from theroof down to platform level.

Stephen Ashton anticipates that all thesedesign changes will be complete by the endof March. However, that may not be the endof it as the project team will be instigating“Project Bluebird”, a cost containmentexercise to prevent over-runs and ensurethat the most cost-effective designs andprocesses are used.

Ongoing workEverything has to be planned and

calculated to the nth degree. As ChrisMontgomery, Network Rail’s Project Director,told the rail engineer: “If we get thingswrong, we have the opportunity tocompletely mess up the network. This is thebiggest interchange in the UK and everyCross Country service goes through here -around 400 of their train crew are basedhere. A train leaves on average every 37seconds so if we get it wrong, it goes wrongin a big way.”

On top of that are the passengers’impressions of Birmingham. Around 75% ofbusiness visitors to Birmingham arrive bytrain, as well as 65% of all first time visitors tothe city.

The old footbridgecomes out whilethe new one awaits,pre-assembled.

The first bracketson StephensonStreet for the newfaçade.

Atkins is the lead consultant on the £600m re-development of Birmingham’s New Street Station. Our group wide, multidisciplinary team have been involved in the project from inception to construction.

The Birmingham Gateway Project which includes the new John Lewis store is due for completion in 2015. This will see the area around the station opened up, knitting the city together as well greatly improving the passenger experience, turning New Street into a bright, modern focal point for Birmingham.

The multidisciplinary services Atkins is providing include:• Lead consultant / design management• Production architecture• Civil and structural engineering• Highway design• Building services engineering• Interior design• Environmental services• Sustainability• Landscape architecture• Geotechnical engineering• Rail Systems

Plan Design Enable


Funding for the project, currently ataround £600 million, comes fromseveral sources, and each partner hastheir own aims for the projects, whichChris Montgomery called “KeyRequirements”. For example, theregional development agency,Advantage West Midlands, contributed£100 million and their key requirementis jobs for local people. So the projecthas opened the Birmingham GatewayConstruction Academy, connectingwith local colleges and offering bothapprenticeships and mid-term training.One hundred training modules a yearare being offered, from apprenticesessions to executive briefings.

Richard Thorpe, Mace’s ProjectDirector responsible for New Street, ispleased with the results this training is

having. “This project is long enough forus to put young people through acomplete apprenticeship during thelifetime of the project,” he commented.“So instead of them having to changefrom one worksite to another in thecourse of their training, they can join ushere at New Street and leave fully-qualified.”

Extra employment won’t just beavailable during the building of thestation. Chris Montgomery estimatedthat the long-term effect would be1,000 new jobs, 650 of them with JohnLewis. Many of these will have beenlong-term unemployed.

Approximately 1,000 people areworking on site at present, ramping upto a peak of 1,200 by the end of March.Project management is about 140, 60%Mace and 40% Network Rail, butworking as one integrated team withno duplicated roles.

With so many stakeholders in theproject, including investors, retailers,TOCs, even local taxi drivers, 30-40 staffeach keep in touch with an allocatedgroup of stakeholders. There is amonthly stakeholders’ briefing.

Work in progressLooking around the station, what is

happening right now? MartynWoodhouse and Paul Dalton, bothSenior Project Managers, were pleasedto show off the latest developments.

The Navigation Street bridge is in,and being clad. The brackets for thestainless steel façade are going upalong Stephenson Street - themountings are all in place and thebrackets themselves, each onedifferent, are now being attached. Thefirst elements of the façade itselfshould be in place by April.

Birse Rail has won the contract to refitplatforms 2-11, and are busy withplatform 10. Only one platform face at atime can be taken out of service tokeep sufficient capacity on the other 11platforms. General decluttering istaking place, waiting rooms and otherold buildings are being removed andlift shafts and escalator accesses

installed, along with new paving. DavidHiggs, foreman on the project, wasmost enthusiastic about the worktaking place.

The service spine modules are arrivingin the old car park and are being hungfrom the ceiling - all 260 tonnes ofthem. They have to be installed in aparticular order to avoid eccentricloading of the building. Construction isalmost complete and, when all serviceshave been transferred, the old spine canbe demolished.

The first stages of demolition of thevoid up to the roof have just started.Behind some blue plastic safetynetting, men with jackhammers areattacking the concrete slab abovethem. Soon a new forest of orangeRMD Kwikform supports will appear tohold everything together. In theshopping centre, hoardings are in placeand retail units are being relocated. Itlooked like Poundstretcher was the lastone still operating!

At one end of platform 1, the oldLamp Block has been demolished and asmart set of new prefabricated officesinstalled. These now need to be cladexternally and fitted out internallybefore they can be handed over tothose 400 Cross Country employeeswho are currently in temporaryaccommodation next to the site ofStephenson Tower.

Over the road, the boundary wall onHill Street had been decorated withlarge murals by local artists. These werepainted on the roof of the car park andthen fixed permanently to the wall,brightening up the area.

There are 80 individual contractors onsite, not counting sub-contractors, andall have plenty to do as this is one ofthe largest refurbishment projects inEurope. To put things in perspective,Chris Montgomery described it as“costing half the price of WembleyStadium and being delivered in a yearless - but we have to stay open formatches every day!”

The new concourse is due to open inDecember 2012, just in time for ournext visit. We’ll be back…

RMD Kwikform struts hold everything in place.

A service spine module is slid intoposition beneath one alreadyhung in place.

Coleman and Company was removing 7,500 tonnes of concrete from what used to be a car park, usingmodular Megashor trusses designed and supplied by RMD Kwikform.

The challenge was to remove a mezzanine car parking slab to create the new double height concourseand ticket hall areas. The only barrier between the demolition and twelve busy station platforms wasthe relatively thin floor below - so there was no room for error or disruption.

This meant taking down large sections of concrete and removing them from the building without causing too much noise, dust and vibration. Most importantly this had to be done without over loadingthe lower floor, which is only designed to take the weight of vehicles.

● Modular Megashor Truss system● Low truss height fitted into confined headroom● High truss strength and stiffness minimized saw cuts● Trusses readily adapted in-situ to suit different spans

Call us now on

0800 389 8231 or visit us at

www.rmdkwikform.comwww.rmdkwikform.tv

(Available for sale and hire)

Birmingham New Street Station Redevelopment//

One of the key contributors to that success has been the workcarried out by RMD Kwikform“

“

Chris Holland//New Street Station, Birmingham/ Technical manager/Coleman & Company

project_New_street:Layout 1 16/09/2011 13:57 Page 1


he Kent Coast electrification of the late1950s was all about eliminating steam

traction and only partial modernisation ofsignalling on the North Kent line route wasundertaken. New signal boxes werecommissioned at Rochester, Rainham,Sittingbourne and Faversham, 30 boxeswere abolished and the remaining boxeswere adapted for the new electrified railway.Colour light signals were installed all the wayto Ramsgate, but the boxes on the Doverline retained mechanical lever frames andsemaphore signals. Four-tracking wasprovided between Rainham and Newingtonbut, elsewhere, the layouts were largelyunchanged. Whilst other elements weremodernised piecemeal in subsequent years,new cabling and much of the telecoms, thesignalling has remained essentially the sameuntil now. Being well over 50 years old,something had to be done.

The East Kent Resignalling ProjectDesigned to be commissioned in three

phases with many intermediate stages, theproject centres on the new East KentSignalling Centre (EKSC) located atGillingham. Constructed in the style ofUpminster, Derby and Didcot, this is theshape of Signalling Control Centres for thefuture. Equipped initially with only 2 controlworkstations, the centre is big enough toaccommodate 12 desks as its area ofoperation expands.

Phase 1, which was commissioned overthe Christmas 2011 period, covers the areafrom east of Sittingbourne to MinsterJunction and Buckland Junction just short ofDover Priory. Fringe boxes are atSittingbourne, Minster and Folkestone East.Extensive track remodelling has taken placeat Ramsgate (both the Minster andDumpton Park ends of the station) andFaversham with plain lining being done atWhitstable, Herne Bay, Birchington andCanterbury East. Old signal boxes have beenabolished at Faversham, Margate, Ramsgate,Canterbury East and Shepherdswell.Canterbury East box, built high on acantilevered girder, is in a conservation area,so how to use this to best advantage in thefuture is open to debate. Similarly, Ramsgatebox is listed.

Later phases of the project will extend thenew signalling westwards fromSittingbourne to fringe with the VictoriaPower Box west of the Medway towns andon from Minster to link up to the Ashfordbox boundary. Contracts for these sectionshave still to be let.

The Signalling System and EquipmentPhase 1 of the project comprises 332 SEUs

(Signalling Equivalent Units), the modernday methodology for sizing a signalling area.The heart of the scheme is the SmartLockcomputer-based interlocking installed atEKSC and divided into seven VIXLs (VirtualInterlockings) to cover the extent of theresignalled area. SmartLock is one of thenew generation of Solid State Interlockings

(SSI) with more processing capacity andmuch reduced size compared to earlierdesigns of SSI.

The EKSC workstations are entirely screenbased with no conventional signalling mimicdiagram. This is a modern version of theIntegrated Electronic Control Centre (IECC)designed originally in the 1990s. Setting ofroutes is mostly automatic from timetableand train describer source data but thesignallers can use a tracker ball if changes tothe planned schedule are required. Inaddition to the signalling control screens,additional VDUs give access to the SPTnetwork, the Cab Secure Radio system andtelephone / mobile contact to stations,control offices, electrification controls, TOCoffices and both the internal and externaltelephone networks.

Trackside, new signals of the LED typehave been provided throughout, thesebeing a mixture of 3 and 4 aspect accordingto traffic needs. Headways have beenimproved to give a maximum of 6 minuteson the lighter used routes. A flashing yellowis provided on the down line at Favershamto give advance warning when trains arediverging towards Ramsgate. Points areoperated using HW2000 point motorssupplied by Invensys, known to be robustand reliable machines. Except for the stationareas at Faversham and Ramsgate whereTI21 track circuits are used, the whole areahas been converted to axle counters usingthe standard Thales product. In all, there are254 axle counter sections. Track circuitsremain in the two areas named because this

T

Clive Kessellw r i t e r

Gillingham SignallingControl Centre.

Southin theSuccess

is where trains can split and join. Experiencehas shown that the toing and froingmovement whilst this happens can causeaxle counter mis-reads, which must beavoided if reliable working is to be achieved.

Six level crossings exist on the resignalledroutes of which five are AHBs that remainessentially unchanged except for theindications being transferred to EKSC. Thesixth crossing, at Teynham, was a mannedgate crossing but this has been converted toa CCTV controlled full barrier crossingcontrolled from EKSC.

On telecoms, new SPTs have beenprovided at every main line signal but pointzone telephones have been eliminatedreflecting the increased use of mobiletelephones by maintenance staff. Dial uptelephones are hosted off Chathamexchange, this being able to accommodatethe short code dialling (17x) to access theelectrification control rooms.

Key to all of these has been the availabilityof the Network Rail FTN (Fixed TelecomNetwork). This nationwide fibre and digitaltransmission network, with its almostlimitless bandwidth and dual routingcapability, was always intended to be usedas a control and command distributionsystem for all branches of rail engineering.Thus the SmartLock, level crossing, SPT,radio and general purpose telecomcommunication requirements are all borneupon the FTN. Constructed in ring topology,any break in the fibre cable is immediatelydetected and the digital signals areautomatically diverted via another route.

The Project and Contractual StructureNetwork Rail chose to use its now well

tried hub and spoke model for projectcontrol. The Network Rail project team formthe hub and directly control all the supplyand installation contractors as the spokes.Contracts have been let on a fixed pricebasis but allowing variations for any re-measureable work. The principal contractbase consists of:• Signalling Solutions Ltd (SSL) - the Alstom

Balfour Beatty joint venture company todeliver signalling projects, including thesignalling system design and datapreparation, the provision of theSmartLock interlocking equipment atEKSC, the provision and onsite installationof 372 lineside equipment cases, 10 REBs,254 axle counter sections, 118 trackcircuits, 195 new signals, all AWS /TPWSunits, plus the level crossing equipment

provision at Teynham and the re-control ofthe AHBs. SSL carried out the test andcommissioning of the signallingequipment and also all the signalling workneeded to accommodate the stageworksand fringe box alterations;

• Buckingham Construction Group -nominated as principal contractor, theyundertook all external construction works

february 2012 | the rail engineer | 37feature

Rail construc on services include: !Major re!signalling schemes !Pla"orm construc#on and extensions !Rail engineering; civil & structural engineering

!Troughing Route !Sta#on and Passenger Area construc#on and refurbishment !Sta#on car parks; at grade, decked and mul#!storey !Bridge Structures and Retaining Walls, including Piling !Embankment stabilisa#on and protec#on !Depots and Trainwash facili#es !Earthworks, Embankments and Cu$ngs !Railway track beds & ballast opera#ons !Lineside Structures, Founda#ons, Culverts and Ancillary Struc!tures

All Opera#ons are undertaken under a full, Network Rail approved, Prin!cipal Contractors Licence (PCL) and all appropriate Link!Up product code registra#ons.

Buckingham Group Contrac ng Ltd. Silverstone Road, Stowe, Buckingham MK18 5LJ

Tel: 01280 823355; E!mail: [email protected]

(Above) Layingcable troughs inthe gloom ofwinter.


including cable routes, cabling, signal posterection and recoveries, buildingfoundations, signal box demolition andlevel crossing conversion;

• GE Transportation Systems (GETS) - theEKSC control centre system andequipment including the control consolescreens;

• Siemens - telecommunications work butwith a sub contract to Northgate for theprovision of the SPT switch (based upon anEricsson MD110) and to Demovo for theSPT touch screens;

• Balfour Beatty - track remodellingincluding switch and crossing work;

• Network Rail Internal Maintainer - Pointconversions.

The Cab Secure Radio (CSR) terminals forEKSC have been provided from spare unitsheld by the Network Rail telecom team whodesigned and adapted the terminals for theirnew environment. After commissioning, theredundant CSR terminals in the 5 closedboxes have been returned to store for futuremaintenance spares. The CSR control areashave been reduced from 5 to 2 and,following a desk top exercise by Thales, 3 ofthe 19 base stations giving radio coverage tothe lines have been recovered.

Provision of trackside power has required anew power cable throughout. This has beendesigned as a mixture of 3 phase and singlephase. SSL undertook the power systemdesign and supply for the whole area, withthe support of IUS as a subcontractor, for theprovision of 10 new supply points, theupgrade of two substations and highvoltage work at EKSC. Since the majority ofthe route is now equipped with axlecounters, impedance bonds have beenremoved except in the remaining trackcircuited areas. Signal testing wasundertaken by SSL. Reviewing the Test Plansproduced by the SSL Tester in Charge wasoverseen by the Network Rail Testing andCommissioning Manager.

A significant problem during installationhas been cable theft. This menace, that isrampant in all parts of the world, has had tobe combated by improved security at depotsites and increased vigilance at the trackside.

Phase 1 has consisted of 24 track stages,the last one being the Christmascommissioning, with earlier stageworkshaving to be done utilising weekendabnormal possessions. A good record ofsafety has been achieved with no majoraccidents or injuries.

The Christmas 2011 WorkA total possession for the entire project

area was taken at 00.05 on Christmas Daymorning. There were 13 parts to thepossession, including extensions to thelimits so as to permit fringe changeovers.This allowed optimisation of testing andconsequent shortening of possession timeso as to give back access to the TOC andenabling services to be resumed over thecommissioned sections. The gods were withthe team since the weather was veryfavourable for the time of year. Thechangeover went according to plan andhandback occurred in three elements:• 04.00 on 28 December from Sittingbourne

to clear of Ramsgate station but includingRamsgate depot, allowing the TOC accessto the depot for train maintenancepurposes;

• 04.00 on 29 December from Faversham toBuckland Junction, thus permitting aservice to operate to Dover and beyond;

• 01.00 on 3 January from Ramsgate stationto Minster.

Whilst there were some inevitable minorglitches during the commissioning period,the co-operation between the variousparties was commendable and emergingproblems were quickly resolved. Specialmention must be made of the relationshipbetween Network Rail and Southeastern.This has been first class with establishedmutual trust in place. Regular monthlymeetings had been held for several yearspreceding the commissioning and ad hocones at other times. Southeastern producedan illustrative booklet for briefing driversthat detailed what was to be done, which initself has received much commendation. Nosignificant delay minutes have beenincurred as a result of the project.

A big bonus for the TOC is that Ramsgatedepot movements can now be carried outwithout impacting on the main line andequally any main line isolation of the tractionpower supply does not impact on the depot.

Future PlansEarly planning works for Phase 2 are

underway and currently within GRIP Stage 3.Future Phases are in the early stages ofdevelopment. These will convert theremaining lines in East Kent not yetcontrolled by an existing power box. Such isthe flexibility of modern signalling systemsthat the contractor supply base will betendered competitively. The basicspecification will remain unchanged but it islikely that obstacle detectors will beintroduced at level crossings if trialselsewhere are successful.

Thanks are expressed to Bruce Kirkpatrick,Keith White and Steve Gausden from theNetwork Rail project team for willinglysharing their experiences and for theirenthusiasm and commitment to making theproject a success. Also to Maria Griffin fromSSL for detailing the scope of the signallingcontract and Simon Walkley of BuckinghamGroup for his comments on the civils side.

Fortunately itwasn’t a whiteChristmas as workstarted at 00:05 onChristmas day.

!!"#$%"&$"'()*"((&&""""+,-./0+1,233+,10.345+.,06+,-.""""77760+1,233+,10.345+.,068.9Signalling Solutions Limited, Borehamwood Industrial Park, Rowley Lane, Borehamwood, Herts WD6 5PZ

a Balfour Beatty and Alstom UK company

!"#$%&'(!)*+,"#$,&*#-%#*,..!$(*#-!*+,/0&!#!*0'+#1$!*'"*$!%&2#'/!

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gemhiddenhidden

40 | the rail engineer | february 2012 electrical/electronics

aa

gem

hen the rail engineer reports on asignificant project, it is usual for the

precise location to be given. Then readerswho know the area can visualise the workbeing undertaken, and imagine thechallenges that the project engineers face.

However, it is an indication of thesignificance of a recent electrical substationrenewal, which UK Power Networks Services

undertook as part ofSSR2 (Sub-SurfaceRailway 2), thatLondonUndergroundLimited (LUL) hasrequested theprecise location notbe disclosed. Whatcan be revealed isthat it is central, thatit is surrounded by

listed buildings, and that access is limited. Itis also a major thoroughfare in its own right,so the entire operation affected not onlyLUL’s passengers, but the London public atlarge.

More trains - more powerThis renewal forms part of a programme of

14 substation replacements on London’ssub-surface lines. Its purpose is to increasepassenger capacity by allowing moremodern trains to be run. Eventually it’sexpected that the planned 191 newBombardier S Stock trains will allow a 65 percent capacity increase on the Circle andHammersmith & City lines, 24 per cent onthe District line and 27 per cent on theMetropolitan line.

In electrical engineering terms this meansthat the new substations and associatedtransformers not only need greater capacity,2.5MVA rather than the existing 1.5MVA, butthat they are significantly larger and heavier.In the constricted environment of asubsurface railway that is a challenge, andone compounded by the structuralconfusion left by over a century of buildingworks and improvements.

Yet, at this location, those years of previousbuilding work would prove to be anunexpected boon rather than the expectedhindrance.

Re-using the unusedBeneath a public park adjacent to the

station, a previous generation of engineershad constructed a subterranean powerstation. Unused and empty, it had longbeen derelict, was partly flooded and,though unsuitable without a great deal ofwork, was the ideal location for a newsubstation.

W

UKPowerNetworksServices A tight squeeze as

the first transformeris lowered into place.

Rail Summit 2012Safety19th April 2012 Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough

The Rail Safety Summit is a conference for rail safety managers, infrastructure owners, rail

stakeholders and training professionals. Leading figures from the rail safety, security, risk

assessment and training professions will be in attendance.

08.30 – 09.30 Registration and Exhibition Viewing

09.30 – 09.40 Conference Opening Colin Wheeler

09.40 – 10.05 Preparing for and dealing with emergency incidents Willie Baker

Emergency Incident Consultant

10.05 – 10.30 FirstGroup’s Approach to Influencing Behavioural Safety Seamus Scallon

Safety Director, UK Rail

FirstGroup

10.30 – 10.45 Q&A

10.45 – 11.15 Coffee / Exhibition

11.15 – 11.40 Railways: Where are we on the ‘Safety Awards Rostrum’? Steve Diksa

Assurance Services Director

Bridgeway Consulting

11.40 – 12.05 The road to ‘World Class’ Catherine Behan

Head of HS&E Capital Programmes

Transport for London

12.05 – 12.30 Q&A

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch / Exhibition

13.30 – 13.55 Leadership and Zero-Accident Cultures in the Workplace Jeff “Odie” Espenship

President

Target Leadership

13.55 – 14.20 Better Together Steve Enright

Head of Safety and Operational Standards

Southern

14.20 – 14.35 Q&A

14.35 – 15.00 Coffee / Exhibition

15.00 – 15.25 Safe use of road-rail vehicles Liesel Von Metz

HM Inspector of Railways

15.25 – 15.50 Improving Safety in Train Maintenance depots Christian Fletcher

Director

Zonegreen

15.50 – 16.00 Q&A

16.00 Conference Close

BONUS: Network Rail Safety 365 Truck on site

railsafetysummit.com


This technique of reclaiming existinginfrastructure, of bringing old facilities backinto use, has been common throughout UKPower Networks Services’ involvement withSSR2. This is one of the largest ever upgradesplanned on London Underground, and oneof the most challenging ever undertaken ina major capital city where space is at apremium.

Bringing redundant assets back into use,therefore, makes practical as well ascommercial sense, and goes a long waytowards ensuring that the public areinconvenienced as little as possible.

PreparationsConstruction work began with the

demolition of various structures; a longabandoned overhead crane, brick walls ofvarying vintages, and walkways that hadbecome dangerously unstable. Aboveground, tree surgeons were called in to clearbranches and allow access, whilst hazardousmaterial was carefully identified and safelyremoved.

Over the following months, two newconcrete floors, new access stairs and a two-hour fire separation wall were built. This newwall, which now divides the undergroundarea, left around 30% of the original floorspace for future station use with theremainder being the new substation site.

To make matters even more complex, allpersonnel, materials and equipment couldonly reach the site via one, small access shaftthat originally formed part of the ventilationsystem. And, of course, all building debrishad to come out the same way.

Throughout these early constructionstages, one of the overriding concerns wasto keep inconvenience to the general publicto a minimum. In fact, few passengers, orpedestrians, or even people simply enjoyingsunny days in the park, would have beenaware of the major construction work takingplace beneath their feet.

The big day comesFinally, on the last weekend of October,

and after months of work and planning,everything was ready for thesub-station equipmentdelivery.

This was substantial andweighty equipment. The three,2,500kW KNAN transformerrectifier units had already beensubstantially modified but theystill weighed 12,500kg eachand they only just fittedbetween the roof beams of theold power station. And therewas also nothing lightweightabout the eight-panel 11kVswitchboard, the seven-panelDC positive and negativeswitchboard, the battery

chargers (complete with batteries and RTU)and the marshalling cabinet that came withthem.

Even though the new equipment wasdelivered in its component parts for finalassembly on-site, it was clear that theventilation shaft was no longer sufficient, soa larger main ventilation shaft was openedfor the first time. A section of the park wasfenced off and footpaths and grassed areaswere covered by protective roadways.

At 6am on Saturday morning a 150-toncrane began to be assembled. Permissionhad already been granted for it to be locatedwithin the park, and for it to be driven overthe Underground Lines below. This was soonfollowed by three low-loaders carrying thetransformer-rectifiers, and the complexlifting operation began.

Work continued throughout the day, andby nightfall the first stage of the operationwas complete with each one of thetransformer-rectifiers having been safelylowered out of sight ready for assembly.Next day the process began again, the low-loaders returned carrying the switchboardsand remaining equipment, the mainventilation shaft was reopened, andinstallation resumed. By 8pm on Sundayevening the lifting operation was complete,and on Monday morning, when theprotective roadways were removed, it’sunlikely that any passing commuter couldhave guessed at the scale of the operationthat had taken place. The whole process hadtaken less than one weekend.

Out of sight - out of mindIt’s in the nature of sub-surface railways,

and indeed of electrical engineering ingeneral, that the work, though complex, ishidden. For instance, completing SSR2 willrequire 12km of 11kV cabling and over 20kmof fibre optics for the advanced signallingsystems, yet the travelling public will seenothing of this. That’s why it’s doublyimportant that disruption is kept to aminimum. Quite understandably, there canbe little expectation of sympathy when thereasons are concealed deep below ground.

Steve Howes, UK Power Networks Services’SSR2 Project Manager explained: “That SSR2is challenging goes without saying, but weknow we’ll be judged on more than ourtechnical abilities alone. The travelling publicdoesn’t want to be impressed by how we’vedesigned a piece of electrical infrastructureor how we’ve incorporated the latesttechnology, they just want their journey tobe as reliable and predictable as possible.

“So working unusual hours in unexpectedconditions is the norm rather than theexception for us. I think we only consider ourwork to be truly successful if it delivers theresults that LUL desire without the publicrealising how that happened. In fact, if we’vedone our job correctly, they shouldn’t beable to tell we’ve been at work at all.”

UK Power Networks Services work on SSR2continues, and with the scheme not due forcompletion until 2013, many more projects ofcomparable scale and complexity areplanned. But given equal innovation andteamwork there’s every chance that they’ll becompleted, just like the new substation,where most Londoners will not see a thing.

(Below)The 12,500kgtransformer beingmanoeuvred intoposition.(inset) The derelictunderground sitebefore beingreclaimed.

able Theft. Like the proverbial badpenny, it’s a subject that keeps cropping

up, although the monetary value concernedis somewhat higher. The continuing menaceof cable theft from the national rail network,the London Underground and other metrosystems shows no sign of abating - quite thereverse in fact.

Issue 64 (February 2010) of the railengineer reported on new initiativesintended to curb the theft of linesidecabling. Two years on and the problem hasincreased, despite Network Rail and theBritish Transport Police (BTP) allocating hugeresources to tackle the problem. NetworkRail’s latest half-yearly results include atelling comment: “Comparing the sixmonths under review to the same period in2010, 92.8% of trains ran on time comparedto 93.5% last year. Performance has beenadversely impacted by increasing levels ofcable theft.”

The direct cost to Network Rail over thepast three years has been £43 million, ofwhich about two thirds is compensationpayments to train operating companies. It’sestimated that four million passengerjourneys a year are affected.

UpsurgeBTP figures show a seven-fold increase in

cable thefts and related incidents on LondonUnderground and a 350% rise across the railnetwork as a whole during the last five years.The increased price of refined copper (to apeak of £6000 per tonne in February 2011) isa significant factor in the general rise of cabletheft incidents. Scrap insulated cable hasabout a quarter of that value, but there isnevertheless a startling correlation betweenthe level of cable theft and the price ofcopper. A drop in the price of scrap metalduring 2009 saw a reduction in railway cablethefts, but the price has risen over the pasttwo years, and so has the incidence of theft.

C

february 2012 | the rail engineer | 43electrical/electronics

Stuart Marshw r i t e r

FinancialYear

Number of incidents

DelayMinutes

CompensationCost

(Schedule 8)

Total DirectCost to NetworkRail (Estimate)

2008/092009/102010/11

Total

742656995

2,393

283,167321,570365,265970,002

£7,858,516£10,931,350£12,137,220£30,927,086

£12,264,682£13,961,998£16,510,663£42,737,343

continuingmenace

The

The increasedprice of refinedcopper is asignificant factorin the general riseof cable theftincidents.


In the currentfinancial year, byNovember 2011,there had been675 incidentscausing 284,556delay minutes,with £10,088,206 havingbeen paid out in compensation.

Depressing figures indeed and theproblem is by no means restricted to rail.Cable and metals theft generally isestimated to cost the national economyupwards of £770 million per year.

DisruptionCable theft has become one of the most

serious problems affecting railwayoperations. The crimes range between theaudacious and the reckless; from organisedand well planned operations to acts ofdownright stupidity. All are hugelydisruptive. Andy Trotter, BTP chief constable,has said: “Cable theft is a spectrum of crimes- at one end is the opportunist who steals afew metres to make some quick cash, at theother there are links to organised crime.” For

example, asmall amount of cabling stolen last Octoberfrom the lineside at Crossgates near Leedswas valued at just £140, but its loss affected160 services, caused 2,955 delay minutesand cost Network Rail around £46,450.

The following month, and at the other endof the scale, more than 1,000 metres ofoverhead power cabling was stolen fromSilver Street near Broxbourne. As the cable,energised at 25kV, was brought down itstarted localised fires, extensively damagedthe lineside cabling and severely disruptedthe signalling system. The damage took twodays to correct and the cost was estimatedat £100,000. The thieves not only putthemselves in grave danger, but alsopresented a safety risk to the engineers whohad to deal with the ensuing chaos.

Fighting backThese crimes are committed because

the high price of copper makes it seemworth all the risks, which include stiffsentencing if caught. So what can be done?

Tagging products such as SmartWater canbe very effective. This liquid containsuniquely assigned chemical traces that canbe used to identify stolen property, andindeed the thieves, to specific locations andto identify scrap yards that are acceptingstolen cable. SmartWater, which is virtuallyimpossible to remove and can withstandburning, provides the police with irrefutableproof of ownership. Forensic trap devices arealso in use to mark offenders’ skin, hair andclothes and thereby associate them directlywith the crime scene. Since the deploymentof SmartWater in the Nuneaton area of theWest Coast Main Line during November2010, there has been a 21% reduction incable theft incidents, contributing to a 35%reduction in delay minutes on the route.

RedWeb’s Advanced Molecular TaggentTechnology (AMTT) provides anotherinnovation in forensic tagging which hasrecently been used with success in theSunderland area. Each batch of taggent hasa uniquely encrypted molecular signaturethat is registered to an individual user andlocation. RedWeb’s Molecular Taggentcontains a red dye which remains on theskin and clothing for several days, plus anindelible dye which can only be seen underUV light. Again, once the Molecular Taggenttrace has been swabbed and tested, thesignature can be linked back to the crimescene. RedWeb’s Molecular TaggentTechnology is also available as an invisiblecovert solution, without the coloured dye.

To deter theft, Network Rail is now makingmore use of cabling that contains tracersthroughout its composition - the so-calledSpanish Cable. On new signalling schemesNetwork Rail has also invested in deeplyburied cable routes (see the rail engineerissues 75 and 81 - January and July 2011).

A high grade BCMGlassfibre ReinforcedConcrete cabletrough.

Stolen cable inNottinghamshire.


These measures have been very successful,as has steel banding, which makes itdifficult to remove cables from linesidetroughing.

Network Rail is also experimenting withalternative conductor materials such asaluminium, and looking at increasing theusage of fibre optic cabling, which has noscrap value. CCTV systems (includingballast cams) have proved useful. Otheranti-theft measures, such as tremblerdevices and even the use of helicopterswith “spy in the sky” equipment have beeneffective too. Network Rail spends £2million each year on these mitigationmethods. In addition it has funded extraBTP officers and has used private securityfirms to patrol cable theft hotspots andconstruction sites. In partnership with theBTP, it has also undertaken a scrap dealereducation programme.

Revised legislationAll of this is very well, but as Dyan

Crowther, Director of Operational Servicesat Network Rail, points out: “To an extentour actions can help us manage the crimesbut, despite our efforts, they continue toincrease. We believe that the only way tosignificantly reduce metal crime is to takeaway the illegal market and that morerobust legislation and police powers areneeded to achieve that.” Within the railindustry, legislative change is widelyconsidered to be of key importance. Atpresent, under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act1964, the requirements are merely that a

dealer must be registered by a localauthority, that a dealer must keep accuraterecordings of dealings and that a dealermust not acquire scrap metal from aperson under the age of 16. Significantly,there is at present no requirement for aseller to prove his identity. Cashtransactions are the norm, so there isvirtually no traceability on scrap metalsand this allows corrupt practices to takeplace.

Things at last look set to change. On 8November 2011 the House of CommonsTransport Committee took evidence onrailway cable theft. Evidence was providedby Dyan Crowther of Network Rail; MichaelRoberts, Chief Executive of the Associationof Train Operating Companies; IanHetherington, Director General of theBritish Metals Recycling Association and byPaul Crowther the Deputy Chief Constableof the British Transport Police.

Dyan Crowther stated:“There isn’t one silver bulletthat will solve cable theft onthe network. What we are nowlooking at is to attack thesupply chain at source and putsome focus in terms of wherethe thieves dispose of the metaland make that a lot moredifficult for them.” Both she andMichael Roberts soughtregulatory action to complementthe ongoing operational workand security initiatives undertakenby Network Rail and the BTP. Paul

After extensive consultation with leading Network Rail personnel, focusing on the safety and security of

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Crowther highlighted a need for greaterPolice powers, citing the 1964 Act as“Steptoe and Son legislation which hasn’tkept pace with current methods.”

Ian Hetherington stated that the BritishMetals Recycling Association (BMRA) wouldalso like to see regulatory reform with a“dismantling of the Scrap Metal Dealers Actand those powers vested elsewhere andpowers of identification to be embeddednationally.” He qualified this by saying that atightening of the regulations needed to bepreceded by a change in enforcementpractice. “We do not want voluntaryarrangements. We want enforceable, tight,sensible laws”, he continued. “It is trulybizarre to find that the police cannot, as ofright, enter a yard that is operating illegallyin this trade.”

A multi-point plan was put forward thatincluded:• A tougher licensing regime to replace the

present registration system, with clearrequirements upon the dealer to takesteps to reduce the risk of purchasingstolen materials;

• Increased Police powers to access, searchand investigate all premises owned andoperated by a scrap metal dealer;

• Measures to restrict trade in scrap metalsto cashless payments;

• A requirement for dealers to obtainpositive proof of identity of those sellingscrap metals;

• Increased powers of closure of rogue scrapdealers;

• Use of approved dealers for the receipt oflegitimate scrap cabling from the railindustry;

• A requirement for dealers to keep metal inthe form in which it is received for 96 hours.

Further evidence was presented to theCommons Transport Committee on 29November by Norman Baker MP,Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,Department for Transport. Again, the needfor changes to the 1964 Scrap Metal DealersAct was highlighted. There was recognition,however, that any amendments should beeffective and should not penalise legitimate

metal recyclingbusinesses, as could be the case with theenforcement of cashless transactions withina traditionally cash-based trade.

Norman Baker responded that he did notthink business was well served by thepresent arrangements. “Every single incidenton the railway - there were 995 last year onthe network - is causing major disruption topassengers and business. Doing nothing, inmy view, does not help business.” Answeringfears that the proposed changes couldmerely drive illegal scrap tradingunderground he said: “We have to make surethat we do not simply move the problem.Part of what we are doing, if we did takeaction on the 1964 Act, is to look at what thecriminal would do. Where would the criminaltake his copper?” He then continued: “My

honest belief is that the mostsignificant way of dealing with this issue is toshut down the [illegal] supply chain ratherthan trying to catch people afterwards andpenalise them. There is a disincentive to stealif an outlet cannot be found, and we shouldconcentrate on that.”

Meanwhile, as the law is being reviewed,the BTP continues to proactively targetoffenders and rogue scrap dealers. There areabout 110 officers working full time onmetal theft counter measures. Their aim is tomake cable and metals increasingly difficultto steal and to reduce the attractiveness ofthese items to metal dealers. They are fullysupported in this by Network Rail and bylocal police forces. The harder it becomes forthieves to steal cabling and dispose of it, thegreater is the risk of them being caught andprosecuted.

Forensicallytagging rail cablewith RedWeb.


Authorised dealingAs it stands, the supply chain can be

very convoluted with dealers selling toother dealers in pyramid fashion. Oncestolen materials have entered into thischain there is little chance ofidentification and they can easilybecome mixed with legitimately sourcedmaterials. The Police are powerless to actunless the scrap can be proven to bestolen. As we have seen, chemical taggingcan help and Network Rail has recentlyimplemented a mandatory policy for thedisposal of redundant cabling, similar tothat operated by BT and other utilities.

The Network Rail disposal route isthrough the National Delivery Service (NDS)and its appointed metal recycler. In the caseof disposal of surplus cable that belongs to acontractor working on the rail network, acontractor declaration and a cable disposalMovement and Receipt Log is completed.

Trial schemeWhilst Network Rail and the BTP work hard

to deter thieves and keep the networkrunning, it has become clear that they needback up. Tougher sentencing for cablethieves in the courts and additional powersfor the police to tackle rogue scrap dealerswould help, but the real way to significantlyreduce metal crime is to take away the illegalmarket. To that end, progressive changes tothe 1964 Scrap Metal Dealers Act areexpected in due course. In addition, on 15thDecember, Lord Faulkner proposed anamendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing

and Punishment of Offenders Bill,which would make cash transactions forscrap metal sales illegal.

Pre-empting this, three police forces inNorth East England, a hot spot for metalstheft, are now trialling a scheme under whichscrap sellers must prove their identity.Operation Tornado, spearheaded by theAssociation of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), theHome Office, British Metals RecyclingAssociation (BMRA), BTP and Northumbria,Durham and Cleveland Police, came intoeffect on 3 January. It aims to make it easier forsellers of stolen metal to be traced. The trialwill last for six months, but there is an optionto extend it and to introduce it to otherregions. For the four million rail passengerswho are likely to be affected by cable theft thisyear, this is good news indeed. w www.smartwater.com

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thernet has been proven in manyindustries to be a very effective

technology for providing datacommunications backbones. Ethernetswitches featuring a range of networkingprotocols are now being used to build thesenetworks on trains, allowing a state of theart TCS (train control system) to manageevery aspect of the train operation.

The onboard rail environment is one of thetoughest imaginable for any electronicdevices. An Ethernet switch which is going tobe used in a network on a train has to exceedthe tough EN50155 standard which covers awide range of environmental requirementsand ensures that equipment can survive therigours of onboard operation.

ReliabilityA primary requirement for the Ethernet

switch will be exceptional reliability.Unscheduled maintenance work is massivelyexpensive, not just in the cost of the repair,but also in the reduction of service time ofthe affected train. Reliability of equipmentcan be assessed using MTBF (Mean Time

Between Failures) figures as defined in theMIL-HDBK-217 standard. The challenge forthe designer is to maximise this figure butstill reach the requirement of the EN50155standard. For instance, the equipment mustbe able to operate from a wide DC voltageinput ±40% as well as surviving hightransients and having a long holdup in caseof power loss. These factors introducecircuitry that can dramatically reduce thecalculated MTBF figure. Despite this, by usinghigh quality components it is stillpossible to have designs exceeding350,000 hours.

Easy maintenanceEven when designed to be reliable, it is

important that maintenance, when required,is still straightforward as, when networkcomponents have to be replaced, it will bedone by a maintenance engineer with littleor no network expertise. This engineer,wanting to replace a suspect switch in anetwork, will wish to be able to take an un-configured spare unit off the shelf, simplyunplug the old device and plug in the new.This is possible if a copy of the configurationis stored on a removable memory devicewhich is constantly connected to a port onthe switch. As long as the operating systemof the switch can support fluid configurationtechniques, with the configurationdownloaded from a USB stick at power up,then this is relatively easy to achieve.

Automatic Network ConfigurationCarriages in train sets may be replaced

from time to time, and whole sections canend up being reversed as these carriages arejoined and rearranged. Any network mustbe able to automatically reconfigure to allowfor these changes, as the

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personnel undertaking the change willbe unable to manage the network. Forexample, it is the job of a TCS to ensurethat the correct doors open when at astation and that the informationappears on a specified display in aparticular carriage. The train controlsystem must rely on the network to beable to report if it has changed andthen automatically reconfigure to allowfor that change.

A combination of networkingprotocols such as OSPF (Open ShortestPath First), LLDP (Line Layer DiscoveryProtocol) and LACP (Link AggregationControl Protocol), allow networks to bedynamically changed as the cars andcarriages are changed around withoutthe need to call on a networkingspecialist to reconfigure the network.Each device on each carriage should be“plug and play”

Network SecurityWith Ethernet connections being used

for many train subsystems from theactual TCS to PIS (Passenger InformationSystems) and infotainment systems, it ispossible that devices could beconnected to the wrong port on aswitch or excess data could begenerated, hence jamming the network.Also, with so many sub-systems anddevices operating on the network, thereare risks that data congestion couldoccur if mistakes are made onconnection. Video traffic requires highbandwidth and hence must not be ableto interfere with critical operation datasuch as that controlling braking or drive.

Firewalls can be used to block all butthe required data from certain sectionsof the network. VLANs (Virtual LocalArea Networks) can also be used tosegregate networks, and prioritisationof data can guarantee delivery ofcritical packets on time.

CompactnessSwitches are often required to be

mounted behind wall panels or intight spaces. The design must be

compact, with the depth of theproduct often being the critical factor.The ability of the switch to providefirewall functionality and, for instance,secure remote access support isimportant as this can remove the needfor another box.

ResilienceThere will be instances of power

failure to cars within a train set, andcables may occasionally be damaged.The network must be able to cope withthese points of failure to preventservice delays or even safety issues forthe train operator.

Ring structures can easily be createdon a carriage to provide some form ofnetwork resilience locally. This can beprovided using layer 2 protocols suchas RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol)or proprietary rapid recovery systemslike Westermo’s FRNT (Fast Recovery ofNetwork Topology).

It is impossible to have separate pathsbetween cars, so dual backbones areused to provide some resilience.Protocols such as OSPF and LACP canbe used to control these links but, in theevent that power is lost to a carriage,built in relays on the switches canensure that a network path is providedthrough the powerless carriages.

Manufacture and testing ofequipment

The EN50155 standard even goes sofar as requiring mandatory functionaland isolation tests on all units as part ofthe manufacturing process, meaningthat companies wishing to buildswitches to meet the requirements ofthis market must have excellent qualitycontrol over the production process.

All in all, it is tough for an Ethernetswitch to operate reliably and for manyyears on a train. Only companies with adeep understanding of Ethernet IPtechnology, with high qualityproduction facilities and onboardexpertise, can offer products that aregoing to be fit for purpose.

Westermo is a leading innovatorwithin the onboard rail Ethernetswitch market and the recentlylaunched second generation ofonboard switches.

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andDeliverStand

etal theft is a major problem on today’srailways. Stuart Marsh has looked at

the subject as a whole elsewhere in thisissue, but to an extent nothing deterscriminals more, nor is more likely to catchthem in the act, than boots on the ground.

Bridgeway Consulting Ltd (Bridgeway) arenot new to the security issues affecting therail infrastructure, having first introduced adedicated security team, all with COSSpermits, on the West Coast Mainlineupgrade projects in Rugby and Nuneatonback in 2007. Extensive cable theft, and thelack of security companies with railwayexperience, gave rise to Mike Bass, SecurityOperations Manager for Bridgeway,embarking on an ambitious project of stafftraining and innovating new securitytechniques to combat criminality on therailways.

This preventative approach has seen allBridgeway security personnel involvedattain Security Industry Authority (SIA)badges. Senior staff gained additional skills,including firearms awareness in the USA,and even joined forces with the BritishTransport Police (BTP) to become part of theBTP Special Constables team.

The SIA have recognised the standardsachieved by Bridgeway as a securityprovider by awarding the company SIAApproved Contractor status for two years insuccession, putting Bridgeway in the top25% of UK companies involved in thescheme.

SuccessesRecent completed success stories include

deployments on the West Coast Mainline aspart of the Bletchley signalling upgradeproject and in the East Midlands coveringthe Knighton Junction area of Leicester. Inaddition to this was the successful deliveryof phase one of the Water Orton resignallingproject, which was completed in November2011. This covered Tamworth, Nuneaton,Coleshill and Water Orton to the east ofBirmingham.

Both the Bletchley signalling project andthe works at Knighton Junction recordedzero number of incidents while BridgewaySecurity were patrolling the site. Inaddition to this Water Orton’s level ofcriminal activities reduced significantlyallowing site work to be completed in atimely manner.

It was found that obtaining information onlocal areas near project sites did not provideany tangible benefits when undertakingpreventative actions. To achieve a zeronumber of criminal activities, the Bridgewaysecurity team adopted a number ofmeasures which included military-stylespecial operations techniques such asobservation, guarding and intelligencegathering. The use of technology such asnight vision, electronic devices and smartphone alerting was also beneficial.

Bridgeway ensured that communicationwas effective and precise. This ensured thatsecurity personnel were at the right place atthe right time and understood trends ofabnormal movements on the infrastructure,which were reported to the BTP.

CoordinationPatrolling both on and off track, as well as

using electronic alert devices, has beeneffective. But what has really made adifference is that Bridgeway Security hascoordinated with Network Rail Management,BTP and local police, as well as all stakeholdersinvolved in delivering and maintaininginfrastructure services. This approach alsoassisted in planning with BTP and NetworkRail to prevent intrusion on project sites.

Working together from the planning stagesto project completion, Bridgeway hasdesigned better methods of protection forpermanent long term solutions against attack.It should also be noted the valuablecontribution that local residents have playedin preventing rail crime as relationships werebuilt up. Likewise, the Bridgeway team hashelped raise the awareness of Network Rail’sinvolvement in the community by reducinglocal crime levels and making residents feelmore secure in the area.

Additional benefits of the teams patrollinghas been raised levels of health and safetyreporting back to the route maintenanceteams and deterring acts of violencetowards track workers.

By setting the goal of preventing theft onthe railway, more has been achieved thansimply capturing those who are responsiblefor metal theft and its expensive loss to bothNetwork Rail and, ultimately, the tax payer.

M

(Inset) Mike Bass inGhillie suit onsurveillance.

hen travelling on the train, staringblankly out of the window, whether in

rolling countryside or in towns, there is onething that you always see, yet hardly eversee. It’s there if you look for it, but otherwiseit just goes past in a blur. You might evenfind yourself following the line of it, yet youstill don’t really see it.

The fencing.Network Rail has a statutory duty to

protect fencing the railway, or provideanother suitable barrier. So, along withhedges and ditches, fences occur alongsidemost of the railway lines in Britain. Andthose fences have to be maintained.

When the time comes to replace a fence,and that can vary from a short length to a longrun, a variety of skills can be required. The oldfence has to be removed and disposed of inline with current regulations and the need torecycle as much as possible. Vegetation thathas grown up along and through the oldfence has to be removed or cut back. The newfence may need the ground prepared inadvance - in the worst case that could evenneed piling. And then the fence itself has to beinstalled. For these reasons, it is best to call in aspecialist contractor.

HistoryH W Martin (Fencing Contractors) Ltd was

incorporated in 1976 and forms part of theH W Martin group of companies. Based inthe village of Blackwell in Derbyshire, onlyfive minutes from the M1 motorway, the

company operates nationally and, so far asrail is concerned, holds a principalcontractor’s licence.

The company’s roots are very much in therailway industry, as founder and managingdirector, Harold Martin, carried out linesidefencing works for British Rail in the EastMidlands during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Changes in the industry brought an end tothis work, and so the company moved on towhat proved to be a long and fruitfulassociation with British Coal. Following thedecline of the coal industry, the companylooked around for new markets, andidentified the rail industry as being adeveloping market for its fencing products.

The first rail contracts were won in 1996 inthe North West of England. Throughcontinued investment the company is now anational framework contractor to NetworkRail, delivering a National Fencing RenewalsProgramme throughout England, Scotland &Wales.

Over the years, H W Martin has beeninvolved in a number of key railway projectsincluding the Channel Tunnel High SpeedLink (now HS1), and the routemodernisation of the West Coast Mainline.This included the biggest single fencingcontract the company has undertaken, onthe Trent Valley Four-Tracking Project.

Trent ValleyThe contract was for the design and build

of 6km of noise mitigation barriers up to 5metres in height and 28km of securityfencing on the railway boundary. The scopeof works included driven steel piles andaugered pile foundations and temporaryworks for access to the top of cutting slopesat certain locations. The contract wascompleted on time and within budget. H WMartin designers worked in tandem with theclient to find engineered solutions to anumber of different challenges on theproject.

W

w r i t e rTerry Whitley

edgeOn the


Alongside this work, H W Martin also wonthe contract for the construction of theaccess points which included pedestrian,vehicular and RRV access points on thisproject.

In 1998, Railtrack, the infrastructurecontroller at that time, began a programmefor the removal of specific species of treethat were causing problems to the safe andpunctual running of trains due to leaf fall.The company saw this as a furtheropportunity to serve the railway industry,and quickly put together a highly skilledteam of forestry workers with all thenecessary equipment to deliver the workoffered. Today these services are offered to anumber of clients within the rail industry onan ongoing basis and include the removal ofdangerous trees, flail clearance and scrubclearance either by traditional methods orby use of a self-propelled mulcher.

To date, the company has deliveredfencing and vegetation clearance for therailway industry to a value in excess of £150Million.

Other stylesWhilst majoring in steel palisade, mesh

and stock type fencing, as specified byNetwork Rail, staff are able to erect all of theproprietary fencing systems currentlyavailable on the market in compliance withthe appropriate part of BS1722. Oneexample of this is a contract for the designand build of noise attenuation barriers onthe Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine line.

The company continues to seek newproducts, such as GRP fencing, to add to itsportfolio. In 2010, the H W Martin Grouppurchased William Bain Ltd, a fencemanufacturing business specialising in themanufacture of high specification securityfencing which has traded for 125 years. Thisfencing has gained SEAP Class 3 and 4classification and is currently being used asthe “first line of defence” at many CNI (CriticalNational Infrastructure) designated sitesthroughout the UK.

ResponsibilitySafety is naturally a key priority as the

company strives to achieve a zero toleranceculture. There is a strong commitment totraining which seeks to develop employeesthroughout their working life so that theyare skilled in the tasks that they undertakeand are certificated to the appropriatestandards including CITB, Lantra, NPORS andNPTC. Sentinel track safety training is carriedout in-house for grades such as PTS, LKT,IWA, HTC & COSS. This training is evenoffered to external clients.

Railway property, of course, backs on to theproperty of others. So H W Martin staff havehad to become skilled at liaising withresidents, property owners, farmers, localauthorities and utility companies, as the needarises. In addition, operating in thecountryside alongside railway lines, infarmland, woodland, forest, national parks aswell as in residential areas, the company iscommitted to protecting the environment by:• Preventing pollution • Controlling and reducing emissions to the

environment• Focusing on energy consumption, with a

view to reducing depletion of naturalresources

• Recycling and reclaiming materials• Reducing waste to landfill• Complying with legislation regulations

and relevant codes of practice at all times.

In addition, there is a commitment tosocial, environmental and ethical conductwithin the business. Corporate SocialResponsibilities (CSR) are taken seriously andpolicies and systems are in place across thegroup to ensure that all aspects of CSR thatare relevant to the business are addressedand monitored. There is an establishedinvestor relations programme, regularcustomer satisfaction surveys are carried outand every supplier’s performance isconstantly monitored.

So next time you stare out of the windowof your comfortable railway carriage, justfocus on the passing fence for a moment,and remember how it got there.


(Above) Mulcherfor groundclearance (right)chipper withinpossession.

Noise attenuationbarrier.

Quality. Security. Experience.

H W Martin (Fencing Contractors) Ltd is one of the UK’s leading

names in Rail boundary Fencing, Noise attenuation barriers and

Lineside Vegetation clearance.

We are able to service any requirements throughout England,

Scotland & Wales.

The Company holds a Network Rail Principal Contractor’s Licence as

well as a comprehensive list of of Link-Up accreditations.

The Company’s wide-ranging expertise together with an experienced

workforce and extensive owned plant puts HW Martin at the

forefront of an ever changing market.

We would welcome any new clients to add to our existing portfolio.

www.hwmartin.com

HW Martin (Fencing Contractors) Ltd

Fordbridge Lane

Blackwell

Alfreton

Derbyshire

DE55 5JY

Tel: 01773 813214

Fax: 01773 813339

Email: [email protected]


ExpansionS k i p t o n w r i t e r

NigelWordsworth

ere at The Rail Engineer, we like toreport on the major infrastructure

projects on Britain’s railways - the grandschemes, multi-million poundundertakings that will have significantbenefits to the entire railway network.These often involve several majorcontractors, hundreds of engineers, andusually some great photography!

However, we shouldn’t fool ourselves thatthis is all that happens. For every major projectwhich we report on, there are many smallerones that go unreported which are just asimportant for local operations. So it’s good,from time to time, to cover those as well.

One such project was the recent work atSkipton Sidings. Northern Rail had two-and-a-half storage sidings to park up their class333 trains overnight. Capacity was neededfor three extra 4-car sets, and there was noroom at Skipton. So Network Rail wasapproached, in spring 2011, with a requestto enhance the stabling capacity at Skiptonto accommodate these additional units intime for the December 2011 time tablechange.

Exisiting layoutThe existing sidings ran alongside the

main line at Skipton. Numbering from themain line outwards, a single set of pointsturned off the line into road 1. A set of pointsthen split off road 2 and a second set then

turned off road 3. Roads 1 and 2 were fulllength while road 3 was only half length as itis restricted by a dog-leg in the boundaryfence. Total standage was 797 metres. Therewas a wide gap between roads 1 and 2,taken up by OLE stanchions and arudimentary CET (controlled emission toilet)station.

Network Rail, working with Atkins, cameup with a set of proposals to remodel thesite to give four full-length roads. Road 2would be moved over into the dead spacenext to road 1, and would be split to form anew Road 2A. There would still be room tomove Road 3 over a bit as well, and make itfull length giving an overall standage of1,050 metres.

This seemed to be a viable scheme, and theproposal was submitted to the Network RailInvestment Panel for Grip 4 - 8 authority on26th July 2011. This was under five monthsbefore the new sidings had to be in operation!

The project was swiftly authorised, andtopographical and ground investigationsurveys commenced to support the Grip 4and 5 design stages.

Fortunately, on 11 August Network Railannounced its new Multi Asset FrameworkAgreements (MAFA) which cover small andmedium sized projects combiningsignalling, track and civils.

Carillion arrivesAs a result, Carillion, the MAFA contractor

for the London North Eastern area, wasalready appointed so they could get straighton with the work without the normal delayscaused by the need to invite tenders.Carillion’s welfare facilities arrived on site on2 September.

Network Rail, Northern Rail and Carillionagreed daily site access arrangements.Carillion would take a T4 possession everyday, with OLE isolation, and the site wouldbe handed back to Northern Rail eachevening to enable the stabling of trains. Thisenabling works phase was to be followed byan agreed extended two week continuousaccess to the Siding 2 and 3 area to facilitatethe major track remodelling works.

H


Work continued apace. The surveysshowed that the ground onto whichtrack 3 would be moved had a distinctslope. Trains have to be stabled onnear-level track to prevent any dangerof run-aways if brakes are inadvertentlyturned off during parking andservicing, so arrangements were madeto level off the ground during thepossession.

Taking possessionAll was ready for the two week

possession from 21 November to 4December. The existing tracks 2 and 3were removed, and the site levelled.OLE stanchions were removed andreplaced with a new headspanarrangement with columns installed onpiled foundations.

Tracks 2 and 2A (now renamed 2A and2B) were relayed in their new locations.A new set of handpoints occupied thespace previously taken up by the CETstation which has now been relocatedand extended to provide facilities toRoads 1, 2 and 3.

Road 3, full length this time and onthe newly levelled ground, was laid intoposition. Concrete walkways wereinstalled, and the new signalling andtelecoms systems tested over theweekend of 3-4 December. The wholesite was then handed over to NorthernRail a week before the timetablechange (11 December) so that staffcould familiarise themselves with thenew layout.

There were still things to do. Forexample, lighting was temporary butwould be replaced with permanent

installations in the New Year,and some drivers’ walkwaysand fixed shore supplies stillhad to be completed. However,the project team, underNetwork Rail’s Martin Whyattand Carillion’s Neil Lindley, hadaccomplished what they hadbeen asked to do - completelyremodel Skipton Sidings in 93days from arriving on site.

UnusualIn many ways the project was unusual,

and lucky. As Martin commented, itseemed strange for his men to beworking days and sleeping at night, butdays were the only access they had forthe first eleven weeks of the project. Theweather had also been kind. If there hadbeen heavy snow in November andDecember, as there sometimes is inSkipton, then things would have beenmore difficult. And the launch byNetwork Rail of the MAFA system alsohelped speed things up.

Following the hand-over, MartinWhyatt reflected: “The success of thisproject reflects the tremendousachievement that has only beenpossible due to a determination to riseto a unique challenge for the benefit ofNetwork Rail’s customers and travellingpublic alike. There was majorcommitment and support from allparties involved, particularly, NetworkRail - including Route Asset Managers,NDS (provision of Engineering trainsand bulk materials, track / ballast /sleepers), Network Rail Operations,Northern Rail (estates / station

managers and operations staff), and ofcourse Carillion. The timing of theMAFA rationalisation was perfect forthis project and it enabled us toengage in a more open andcollaborative way with the chosensupplier.

“The last 5-6 months have beenextremely intense and there are manypositive lessons to take from ourexperience.”

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e’ve all seen the headlines aboutBombardier’s factory in Derby. They all

reported on the recent loss of the Thameslinkcontract, job losses, and even threats to theplant’s long-term future. These headlineswere large, and loud, and usually had at leastone exclamation mark after them!

While it was certainly bad news for thecompany, some of the headlines weremisleading, and even inaccurate. They havealso, to some extent, masked Bombardier’srecent successes in other areas. Winning a£354 million contract to supply a newsignalling system to London Underground isa significant order, and the bulk of it will bemade in the UK at Bombardier’s Plymouthfactory. Derby has won an order too, for£189 million of trains for Southern. Bothexcellent pieces of news but, to some extent,lost in the wash of reporting the “bad news”.

However, when the rail engineer was toldthat Bombardier were actually seeking totake on 50 extra designers, then it becameobvious that Derby wasn’t as dead-in-the-water as some were trying to make out. Itwas time to go to Litchurch Lane to find outfor ourselves.

Worldwide experienceJon Shaw, Senior Director - Engineering,

was only too pleased to put time aside toexplain what was behind the move. He hasonly recently joined Bombardier, having hada most interesting international career so far,

and sees his present role as being one of themost exciting yet. His remit is to furtherstrengthen the UK-based engineering team.Bombardier has an industry-leadingreputation for innovation in its internationalmarkets and Jon is determined that the UKteam will be part of this success.

A local lad, having grown up in Eastwood,Jon joined British Rail as an engineeringtrainee. He was also an apprentice atMansfield Town FC before moving down toLondon to join the design office atWestinghouse where he was involved inEMC testing of the Eurostar fleet. From there,he moved to Lloyds Register Rail, first to lookafter the early tilting tests on Pendolinos,and out to their office in Hong Kong.

One of Jon’s clients was Hitachi, and hehelped them to prepare their bid whichresulted in the order for class 395 trains.Once that contract was placed, Jon movedover to Hitachi in Japan and spent sevenyears designing the class 395 and seeing theproject through from the initial concept tostanding on the dock as the first finishedtrain landed at Southampton.

The next move was to Ansaldo STS as Headof Engineering for the Asia Pacific region, and

thence to Global Vice President, Engineeringat the Ansaldo headquarters in Italy.

Now he is happily back in Derby andSenior Director for Bombardier, where hehas been running the 250-strong designoffice for the last eighteen months. In thattime he has moved it from looking solely atdesigns for Derby-built products to beingone of the major rolling stock design centresfor Bombardier as a whole - Derby is now aWorldwide Centre of Excellence.

Overseas businessAs a result, the Derby design centre

attracted £4 million of engineering businessfrom other parts of the Bombardier businessin 2011. Derby designers are working onaluminium car bodies for double-deckercoaches for Switzerland, more car bodies forhigh speed trains in Italy, and the interior ofthe new São Paolo monorail which is beingbuilt in Canada.

Some external testing and developmentwork is also undertaken. A VTG flatbedbogie wagon was outside having beenthrough the test shop where bogiemovement and various other checks takeplace.

W

Bombardierrecruiting

Derby engineersdesign both theinteriors andexteriors of newtrains.(Right) Jon Shaw.

w r i t e rNigelWordsworth


There was an interesting visitor inside theshop as well. Blackpool tram number 03,one of the new German built Flexity 2 tramslaunched at the end of last year, was beingtested for tilt stability. Shims of variousthicknesses were being placed under thewheels, some on the left and side andothers on the right to induce twist into thevehicle, to see how the wheels unloaded asthe tram was tilted.

New designsDerby designers are also working on UK

designs. The recent Southern order is for ahybrid train made up of elements of class377 and class 379 Electrostar EMUs, with adifferent interior to either and a new traincontrol management system (TCMS), sodesign work on that is needed.

And they are also working on what isknown as the eVoyager. This is a plan to addone more car into existing Voyager (andSuper Voyager and Meridian) trains with apantograph fitted so that, once the train isunder wires, it can be run off the overheadelectrical supply and not the onboard dieselengines. This is not yet a firm order, butBombardier is developing the design just thesame. It involves integrating the overheadsupply with the existing onboard busbar, andalso modifying the control system toaccommodate the new power supply.

Jon Shaw is enthusiastic about this project.It involves both electrical and mechanicaldesign teams at Derby, and as Voyager is asteel-bodied design they also have to workwith the designers of the original Voyagerswhich were built at Bruges. When itbecomes a firm order, the steel bodies are

again likely to be built abroad, but thedetailed design and the fit-out will beundertaken at Derby.

Worldwide Centre of ExcellenceAll of Jon’s hard work to develop the Derby

design team into an international office haspaid off. As already mentioned, Derby is nowa Worldwide Centre of Excellence foraluminium body design, TCMS,electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing,systems integration and human factors(otherwise known as ergonomics).Bombardier’s engineers in Derby are alsoinvolved in supporting the company’s driveto optimise the energy efficiency andenvironmental performance of its products,an approach which is yielding noticeableresults. Just in January 2012, Laurent Troger,Bombardier’s President, Services, calledDerby “best for production engineering forBombardier worldwide”.

Staff development is important to Jon’swhole approach. All engineering managershave done time on the production line, Jonincluded, to experience first hand howdesigns are turned into a finished train.

During the recent publicised cutbacks, noengineers were made redundant. Now, 50more are needed to work on variousprojects. As well as eVoyager, and theupcoming bid for Crossrail, large projectsare anticipated to come out to tender inSouth Africa. This could provide theopportunity to use some of the technologydeveloped for the abortive Thameslink offerand, with the experience gained on theGautrain project, Bombardier should be inwith a good shout.

“It is a great shame that we didn’t get theThameslink contract”, commented Jon Shaw.“All our people put their heart and soul intothat design, which we thought was anexcellent one. We really wanted to see itthrough into production. However, elementsof the design will still be incorporated intofuture new trains, so the work won’t all bewasted.”

International recognitionThe level of expertise in Derby is already

getting recognition within the group. Justbefore Christmas, a telephone call fromAustria, where production problems werebeing experienced with the roofs of newtrains for the OBB, resulted in two Derbyengineers flying out to help solve theproblem. Also, Colin Scott has become thefirst Engineering Specialist level ES3 inDerby. This is the top engineering gradewithin Bombardier and Colin now can becalled up to assist with and audit designs byother Bombardier design departments.

In addition to the 50 engineers that JonShaw is now looking for, he will take on afurther 15 young engineers this year. Fivewill be apprentice engineering technicians,five engineering graduates earmarked formanagement roles, and five more graduatesto become engineering specialists. This socalled “Dual Career Path” gives the maximumopportunity to the new intake.

Even the fifty new designers won’t all berail people. Jon Shaw estimates that 50% willbe from inside industry, but the others couldbe from other areas such as systemsintegration specialists from the defenceindustry. In addition, production engineersfrom the automotive industry can bewelcome, as are the so-called VehicleArchitects who work on style andergonomics.

So, at the start of 2012, it’s far from doom-and-gloom in Derby. The engineeringdepartment is buoyant, and busy, andplanning ahead.

Jon Shaw and hisdesign team havemade Derby aWorldwide Centreof Excellence.

PassengerInformation Systems

and Train ControlManagement

Systems under test.

RailwayPeople.comFast track your career

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february 2012 | the rail engineer | 59senior appointments

HEAD OF SAFETY SERVICES

PRINCIPAL SAFETY CONSULTANT & TRAINER

ASSOCIATE SAFETY CONSULTANTS

To apply:

A full description of our company and

services can be found at

www.theqssgroup.co.uk

If you would like the opportunity to enhance

your business skills and appreciate the leadership

and growth of an expanding company, please

apply now by submitting your cv, covering letter

and details of your current remuneration

package to [email protected].

Closing date for applications is 31st March 2012.

The QSS Group Limited is a leading supplier of Safety, Quality, Environmental and Engineering consultancy services to the railway industry. An excellent opportunity exists for

highly motivated and enthusiastic individuals to be part of a leading edge company whose portfolio and reputation within the industry continues to grow. As the demand for our

services increases, we are seeking to strengthen our team with the following key appointments:

THE

GROUP

QSS

Our Safety Team provides a wide range of health and

safety support to railway companies. We are seeking to

appoint self-motivated and experienced safety

professionals with a strong health and safety background

within the railway industry.

The Head of Safety Services will be responsible for

developing and leading the delivery of our safety support

services to rail businesses, including health and safety

consultancy, safety auditing and safety training work

streams. You will have a good network of relationships

within the railway industry and ideally have some

experience of identifying and developing business

opportunities within a consultancy environment.

The Principal Safety Consultant & Trainer will have a strong

railway operational safety background. The successful

candidate will be involved in the delivery of support to a

wide range of rail businesses in improving the performance

of their people and their systems and processes. Delivery

of high quality training and coaching and taking the lead

in auditing management systems will be the core of the job

but the ability to build on those to the customer’s

advantage is critical. You will be Lead Auditor trained with

a minimum of 5 years’ experience of train operations

including stations and train despatch. You will have a

training qualification and suitable experience of delivering

a wide range of health and safety training courses.

• The successful candidate will hold as a minimum, a

NEBOSH Certificate in Occupational Safety and

Health and will also be a member of IOSH,

• Practical knowledge of the regulatory framework

for safety in which the railway industry operates,

• A detailed knowledge of the development and

implementation of Safety Management Systems

within the railway,

• A detailed knowledge of the Health and Safety at

Work Regulations,

• Safety Auditing skills with particular reference to

ROGS requirements,

• A minimum of 5-10 years’ experience within the

railway industry,

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills,

• A good network of relationships within the railway

industry and some business development

experience would be an advantage,

• Experience of working within a

consultancy environment is desirable.

Generic Job Skills, Experience & Qualifications:

Right now, you have a unique career opportunity.Having successfully secured new orders, Bombardier Transportation are actively seeking skilled and motivated engineering and science professionals to work within our world leading Derby based UK Engineering team.

Opportunities exist in:

As part of this team, you will be responsible for engineering the entire rolling stock lifecycle – from inception through to decommissioning, including manufacture and testing at our Derby facility. In return for your work, you will be rewarded with competitive contractual benefi ts including the opportunity to participate in our award-nominated fl exible benefi ts scheme.

If you believe you can effectively bring your engineering expertise to our leading edge rolling stock design, manufacture and maintenance business, please visit: http://careers.bombardier.com/home for further information on these roles and to apply, quoting the relevant reference number.

Bombardier Transportation – 2011 Winners of the Power Panels Award for People Effectiveness at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Manufacturing Excellence Awards

Ref: T-RS1-ENG-UKDY-10










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Documents

The Rail Engineer - Issue 88 - February 2012