Construct, December 2014

construct December 2014

Royal Opening for Kings Gardens

More than 100 years after being originally opened by King George V and Queen Mary, the restored Kings Gardens, Southport, was officially opened by their granddaughter, HRH Princess Alexandra.

National Railway Heritage Award

We are delighted to announce that Crook O’Lune East Viaduct has won the Restoration category in the National Railway Heritage Awards.

The restoration of Kings Gardens involved a number of features including extensive hard and soft landscaping, reconstruction of a large Children’s Play area, repair to the lake’s balustrades, refurbishment of the Victorian designed shelters and installation of new lighting columns.

The bridge, crossing the River Lune north of Lancaster, is now a cycle path but was originally a railway bridge when it was opened in 1849.

One of the defining characteristic of Kings Gardens is the iconic Venetian Bridge which crosses the Boating Lake in three spans.

Extensive structural repairs were carried out followed by a high specification restoration of the main fabric with a new deck, balustrades and lighting designed in keeping with the original installations.

Works included new timber decking, blast cleaning and painting of the superstructure and some re-pointing of the substructure.

Fishergate Shared Space Refurbished Apartments for Trafford Housing Trust Casey have completed the conversion of an old sheltered scheme to apartments for Trafford Housing Trust.

The scheme involved splitting the block into 23 one- and two-bed apartments plus the new build of 2 semi detached houses, and car parking.

Amid lots of publicity, the shared space scheme at Fishergate, Preston, has opened.

County Councillor John Fillis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “This project represents the most significant investment in Preston’s city centre in a generation and it has completely transformed Fishergate. The result is a much more attractive environment, which is already attracting new business to the city.”

Most of the apartments are for THT residents but eight of them, plus the semi detached houses, were available for sale on a shared ownership scheme.

They have proved very popular with only two single bedroom apartments still available.

working well together

construct

Health, safety and welfare Millions of men and women, from plumbers through teachers to road menders, risk getting lung, skin or bladder cancer because of what they do for a living, and thousands will die as a result.

Carcinogenic substances people are exposed to at work are one of the biggest causes of avoidable cancer in adults. In the UK alone, almost 14,000 new cases of cancer are registered a year - 4,000 because of asbestos, and 10,000 linked to exposures from silica dust to diesel fumes.

The term ‘occupational cancer’ is used to describe all cancers contracted following exposure to a cancer causing agent at work, eg welding fumes, silica dust or asbestos fibres. Recent research shows that even particular circumstances at work can cause cancer - there is a link between breast cancer and women who do certain types of shiftwork for many years.

Cancer caused by what people do at work is nothing new. The first case of an occupational cancer in the UK was identified in 1775 - a skin carcinoma suffered by chimney sweeps.

It took another 150 years to find out that it was down to a carcinogen in coal soot.

Small changes in how work is managed/carried out can make a big difference in exposure levels and the resulting risk of getting cancer.

,,

,,

These days, many occupational cancers are predictable and preventable. Small changes in how work is managed or carried out can make a big difference in exposure levels and the resulting risk of getting cancer.

It is a myth that only asbestos can give you cancer. There is an A to Z of more than 50 substances that are implicated in workcaused cancers.

WHAT CAN KILL? ... Asbestos, coal tars, diesel fumes, metalworking fluids, mineral oils, pesticides, pitches, silica dust, solar radiation, solvents, tetrachloroethylene, varnishes, wood dusts ...

Over the last few decades, some carcinogens have been virtually eradicated in developed countries, but new risks emerge - eg modern paint spraying techniques, or health concerns that have been raised about some types of MDF. Other risks remain - unintended, incidental exposure to asbestos fibres, stone dust, diesel fumes or solar radiation.

The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) began a campaign in November to bring attention to this issue.

IOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign focuses on a range of carcinogenic exposures that are caused by work activities. They are aiming to raise awareness and offer practical support to businesses to help them tackle this significant occupational health issue.

For more information go to:

www.notimetolose.org.uk

Working well together

Introducing our Maintenance Team This month, we’d like to introduce you to our Maintenance Team or, rather, our Maintenance Man–Ryan Mangnall.

Ryan has just celebrated his 6th anniversary with Casey, but it’s not his work (exceptional though it is) that we want to celebrate today.

We want to tell you about some of the great things he does after he leaves for the day.

Ryan is a Scout Leader and works with the Third Hindley Beaver group in Wigan. He’s pictured left with his 6-8 year olds.

After just a few months, this event has proved very popular and attendance has more than doubled. Ryan and Rhianna do all this themselves. They are trying to arrange sponsorship with a local supermarket, but again they are always looking for bingo prizes!

There is no funding for Scouts, and the weekly subscriptions don’t go far, so Ryan also has to get involved with lots of fundraising for the group.

They are always looking for raffle prizes!

As well as this, Ryan and his wife Rhianna also hold a monthly afternoon tea for the pensioners in his area.

If you would like to donate anything to either of these causes, please contact Casey Reception. We’ll be delighted to pass anything on.

It’s the little things that make the difference!

For the past few Christmases, the staff at Casey have dug deep to buy presents for the Mission Christmas Appeal–giving gifts that will make Christmas special for children living in poverty.

Staff are doing the same this year, but Casey are also donating to the same appeal with Helena Homes.

Steve Redford, with Helena’s Sharon Gibson

Our St Helens new build site held a coffee morning in September to support the Macmillan ‘World’s Largest Coffee Morning’.

Site Manager, Steve Redford, would like to thank client, Helena Partnerships, Morrisons who donated cakes, and local residents for their support. The event raised £241.68 for MacMillan.

Tom Brown and Debbie Hubbard of Casey with Pauline Vass, Helena Homes

If you would like to donate toys or cash to this appeal, just google Mission Christmas to find the collection point nearest to you.

Thanks to Steve, the same site has also achieved the Considerate Constructors accreditation.

This is Andy O’Rourke with Leon. Leon passes our site in Oswaldtwistle every day, and he and his mum always stop for a chat.

Leon is a big ‘Bob the Builder’ fan and he was thrilled to bits when we gave him his very own hi-viz vest. He might put it to good use working with us in a few years!

Casey are working with Accent Foundation around the North West, North East, Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Can we do it? You bet we can!

Passivhaus - what does it take?

If you are considering undertaking any work to Passivhaus Standard you should use a contractor who knows what they are doing!

It goes without saying that it is harder to achieve the required standards in a retrofit property than a newbuild, but whichever the project involves, there are certain things that a contractor should have in place to ensure a successful outcome.

John Hyland from Casey spoke at the UK Passivhaus Conference 2014 in October about the challenges faced from a contractor’s point of view in achieving Passivhaus Standard on a retrofit project.

These projects can be difficult. Structures may be old, containing voids that cannot be seen and are difficult to find. Much of the work may have to be carried out ‘blind’ drilling holes, pumping specialist foam into spaces you could not see. It involves lots of experimentation and multiple pressurised and de-pressurised air tests.

Despite the units being of the same house type and layout, you may find that each one is different from the last in terms of airtightness. Measures that work in the first nine properties may be completely ineffective in the tenth. We have found that we have had to take some very innovative approaches, and develop some ground breaking techniques.

It is much more difficult to carry out ‘normal’ works in airtight properties. The usual drying time of wet trades can be multiplied almost exponentially when carried out in properties that are effectively airtight, and within which the mechanical ventilation and heating have not yet been commissioned.

So what do you need to have in place?

Training Passivhaus is a fairly new concept in this country and it is important that anyone working on the project ‘gets’ it. Regardless

of Passivhaus, it will lead to a better build!

•

There are several organisations that offer Passivhaus courses: BRE, Passivhaus Trust, AECB, Green Building Store.

•

Airtightness testing training can be carried out by the testing engineer.

•

The site induction undertaken by all operatives should include the main principles of Passivhaus, and the care that needs to be taken to avoid creating voids or cavities and breaching membranes and tapes.

•

Installation of Tapes and Membranes etc Building sites are dusty places and that can affect the adhesion of tapes. Also if OSB 3 gets wet the wood chip can flake slightly. This will make the tape harder to apply. Very cold surfaces can be an issue too.

Airtightness Testing •

Choose your airtightness engineer carefully. A good one will work closely with your team to find and resolve any leak issues.

•

Once satisfactory results have been achieved, make sure revisits by various trades do not disturb or damage the airtightness measures.

•

Choose your external specialist engineer early. This person will play a key role.

(We used Paul Jennings, Aldas.)

•

There should be at least three tests per unit: first when all membranes and seals are in place, but all areas are still accessible; second when all finishings are complete; final test is the acceptance test.

Nominate an Airtightness Champion and base that person on site.

Supervision It is very easy at tender stage to underestimate the supervision and monitoring required during the installation of the Passivhaus elements.

•

Review quality on a regular basis with all interested parties and problems will be nipped in the bud.

Ensure sufficient resources are made available to monitor the main aspects of the works – insulation, cold bridging details, airtightness and windtightness.

•

The completion of the test and inspection sheets and the photography of all the various phases is important.

•

Ensure that supervisors are covered during holidays and periods of illness by staff who have been suitably trained.

General •

The partnering approach is important.

•

Question everything. Never make assumptions.

•

Quality Control

The programme needs to include sufficient time for testing and re-testing.

•

Eliminate shortcuts.

There should be a detailed NBS specification covering all the Passivhaus elements. The requirements for samples, testing, possibly some Contractor Design Elements will all be detailed. Include all these items in the Detailed Quality Plan for each element.

•

Aim for a better target than the standard.

•

At Design Stage, consider how air leakage routes through party walls can be sealed.

•

These are not normal levels of supervision, THESE ARE ENHANCED LEVELS OF SUPERVISION.

We would like to thank the following people for their contribution to this issue: Paul Turner, Steve Redford, Craig Hallsworth, Andy O’Rourke, Chris Williams, Pete Atkinson, Paul Dandy, John Hyland, Sandra Gough, Desley Sandiford.

The Casey Companies

Follow us on

Rydings Road, Rochdale, OL12 9PS T: 01706 341121 E: info@casey.co.uk W: www.casey.co.uk

caseycompanies