ANALYSIS
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Analysis
VALUE CHAIN
“I asked FM Conway if they had considered making deliveries by bikes and they didn’t think it was possible, but the C3 cycle lane runs right along the Thames”
AT FIRST GLANCE, THE HUMBLE BICYCLE MAY NOT LOOK LIKE THE BEST BET FOR REDUCING EMISSIONS GENERATED BY DELIVERIES TO CONSTRUCTION SITES. BUT MORE CONTRACTORS ARE STARTING TO TRIAL SPECIALLY ADAPTED, ELECTRONICALLY ASSISTED E-CARGO BIKES FOR DELIVERY OF SMALL ITEMS. CAN THEY SERIOUSLY REPLACE VANS AND TRUCKS FOR CITY-CENTRE CONSTRUCTION DELIVERIES?, ASKS NEIL GERRARD
“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race,” author HG Wells is reputed to have said. But even one of Britain’s foremost science fiction writers could scarcely have predicted that one day the humble machine could be adapted to ferry hundreds of kilograms worth of equipment backwards and forwards to construction sites. And yet that’s exactly what has started to happen on some projects in the capital, as the mayor of London and Transport for London look for ways to fulfil an ambition to make the city ‘zero carbon’ by 2030. Already, Transport for London has helped to arrange over 100 deliveries to sites including Crossrail, Tideway and HS2, with the involvement of contractors like FM Conway, Mace, and Morgan Sindall, explains Michael Barratt, TfL’s development impact assessment manager. Barratt’s job is to find innovation and efficiencies on construction projects within the M25, collaborating with councils, communities and industries. A keen advocate of e-cargo bikes, he liaises with contractors and introduces them to companies such as passenger
and cargo service PedalMe and zeroemissions logistics operator Zedify to see how suitable materials – lighting, hand tools, signage, bolts, nuts and screws to name just a few – could be transported to their sites around the capital. The bikes themselves vary, some offering a loading bed in front of the rider, and some carrying a trailer behind. Assisted by electric motors that typically offer around 250W of extra power to the
Michael Barratt, TFL
rider, power delivery is governed by how hard the rider pushes the pedals. The bikes can generally carry up to 150kg, although certain models like Urban Arrow’s three-wheeled Tender can carry up to 250-300kg. They are usually speedlimited to 14-15mph, at which point the power assistance cuts out. Barratt approached FM Conway after he heard that the firm was working on phase two of the Illuminated River project, which involves fitting LED lights to five London bridges.
TfL’s Michael Barratt rides an Urban Arrow e-cargo bike
Reducing van deliveries Originally, FM Conway had planned for materials and equipment to be delivered by van. However, TfL raised the benefits of e-cargo bikes because it is attempting to implement London mayor Sadiq Khan’s ambition to reduce the number of lorries and vans entering central London in the morning peak by 10% by 2026. “I asked FM Conway if they had considered making deliveries by bikes and they didn’t think it was possible, but the C3 cycle lane runs right along the Thames and so we got the conversation going,” explains Barratt. Another e-bike firm, Fully Charged, loaned three bikes to the project and Barratt began examining what sort of materials could be loaded onto them. FM Conway workers underwent trials and training to ride a loaded bike and Adam Barnes, senior contract manager at FM Conway, says the process was easier than he expected: “As a cyclist with average experience, I was initially
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