The members’ newsletter of ICE Yorkshire and Humber March 2014
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ICE Local
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In this issue Annual Awards Special 4-page insert focusing on our recent award winners. Featuring project descriptions and comments from the judges.
Dale Dyke Dam failure Ings Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme Centenary Award Winner 2014
Bringing you news and views on civil engineering in your region We welcome your comments, letters and articles. Please contact us at: iceyandh@ice.org.uk Twitter:
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The Annual Gala Dinner Dance held on Friday 7 March was a great success, celebrating civil engineering in the Yorkshire and Humber region with over 250 guests. For me the highlight of the evening was the inaugural Regional Education Team (RET) awards: The New Ambassador Award was awarded to Luke Chamberlain, a Graduate with Tata Steel Projects, for his committment as a joining Ambassador. Luke has seen over 600 students in the last year. The Special Recognition Award was presented to Lianne Darbinson, an Assistant Engineer working for East Riding of Yorkshire Council, who has gone beyond the call of duty demonstrating commitment to promoting civil engineering to young people for the past four years. Balfour Beatty were the winners of the Company Award and Cable Cup, having attended most RET events, and using their own projects to provide local schools and students with a better understanding of civil engineering.
ICE Yorkshire and Humber Region group Being an ICE Ambassador is open to all ICE members, at all levels. We ask that you complete two days of activities in your first year, but you can go to more than this if you like! Ambassadors say that they enjoy teaching students about engineering using the activities and that the days out are rewarding. I hope that these awards encourage other members to support the RET. Please contact us for further information. I would like to congratulate Tata Steel Projects in winning the Smeaton Trophy for Reading Station Area Redevelopment; the Environment Agency, Jacobs and Galliford Try for the Ings Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme Centenary award success. I would also like to thank all the entrants for contributing to a high quality awards event, demonstrating what we can do in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Damian Kilburn CEng MICE
ICE Y&H Chair 2013-14
Marking the 150th anniversary of one of the biggest peacetime losses of life.
G&S Papers Competition Michael Jacobs wins the regional final in Sheffield.
Lecture Series Catherine Minor on the G&S lecture series and site visit.
ICE Member Benefits Claire Francis on the benefits of attending an ICE Benevolent Fund pension workshop.
Regional Education Team Awards The newly launched Ambassador and Company Awards.
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Left: The new memorial stone at Dale Dyke Dam ©British Dam Society. Right: ICE’s stand at the exhibition at Bradfield Village Hall
Dale Dyke Dam The Dale Dyke Dam was constructed between 1859 and 1864 in the Loxley valley, NW of Sheffield. On 11 March 1864, by which date the first-fill water had almost reached its designed level, there was a storm with heavy rain and high winds. A crack was noticed that day and the Engineer was called out at night to inspect the crack which, by this time, had widened. Shortly before midnight, the dam failed and almost 700m gallons of water rushed down the valley at a speed of 18mph. 243 people died and there were a further 67 indirect deaths, from disease or injuries, in the months following. Almost half of the drownings were in the Malin Bridge area of Sheffield but the flood swept its way down the Don valley and affected the river as far as Doncaster. The disaster remains one of the biggest peacetime losses of life in this country. To mark the 150th anniversary, Bradfield Historical Society coordinated events and ICE played its part. On Thursday 6 March, Dr Andy Hughes, of Atkins, spoke at an evening meeting held jointly with the British Dam Society (BDS), one of ICE’s associated societies. This attracted over 160 people, including about 70 members of the public, who heard about the design, construction, possible causes of the breach and what we now think was the likely cause. On Friday 7 March, ICE President, Geoff French, placed a wreath next to the memorial plaque in St Nicholas’ Church at High
The model of water flow through the dam, produced by the University of Sheffield
Bradfield. This short ceremony was covered by BBC1’s Look North, following The One Show’s national coverage the week before. During the weekend, we joined with BDS to man a stand at the exhibition in Bradfield Village Hall. 1,500 people visited over the two days and most took great interest in our exhibits, including the model of water flow through the dam, produced by the University of Sheffield. On Sunday 9 March, our Regional Director David Tattersall represented ICE at the memorial service held in St Nicholas’ Church. A new dam was built further up the valley and this has served Sheffield well ever since. Close to the end of the embankment is a new memorial, unveiled on 11 March by BDS and Yorkshire Water.
Papers Competition This year’s Papers Competition regional final was held at the University of Sheffield on 6 February. Michael Jacobs, Shaun Jacques, and Sally Jones presented their papers to the judges, and Michael Jacobs was declared the winner for his paper “Characterisation of the Strength Properties of Soft Alluvial Soils on the A63 Castle Street Improvement Site Investigation, Hull”. A big thank you to the judges for their time, and congratulations again to Michael who is now shortlisted, along with the winners from the other ICE regions, to be selected to take part in the national final. We wish him luck, and hope Yorkshire and Humber will be represented in the final.
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The tunnel boring machine in situ at Bridlington
Lecture Series As previously reported in ICE Local, the Graduates and Students’ Committee (G&S) organised a lecture series in February, on Yorkshire Water’s investment in bathing water on the East Coast of Yorkshire. Three lectures and a site visit focused on the investment need, the scope of work and milestones, at schemes in Scarborough and Bridlington. The site visit, by Morgan Sindall Grontmij, took people around the scheme at Bridlington, with the lectures given by Yorkshire Water and Arup. Yorkshire’s East Coast is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the UK, including Scarborough, Bridlington, Whitby and Filey. Yorkshire Water are investing to keep them that way and with the new standards of the revised Bathing Water Directive (rBWD) being adopted by 2015, they are investing to help secure more blue flags along the East Coast. The rBWD means that beaches
will now be classified as ‘poor’, ‘sufficient’, ‘good’ and ‘excellent’. These standards are far more stringent than previous regulations, and Yorkshire Water are investing £110m between 2010-15 to help our local seaside resorts achieve an ‘excellent’ bathing water quality standard. Ben Shearer, Senior Project Manager at Yorkshire Water, said “Yorkshire Water take any opportunity to discuss and share our work with the ICE and help support the education of engineers at all levels. It was great to see so many people interested in the investment into improving our impact on public health and delivering ‘excellent’ bathing waters on the East Coast”. For more information on the G&S Committee, the lecture series or the rBWD please contact: Catherine Minor e: Catherine.Minor@urs.com
ICE member benefits The first in a series of workshops run by ICE’s Benevolent Fund was fully subscribed when it was held at One Great George Street on 3 February. The ‘Young Professionals’ Pension Workshop’ targeted ICE members aged 25-35, and was designed to help our younger ICE members plan for their future, giving a comprehensive overview of pensions. Matt Hawkins, Chartered Financial Planner for Rathbone Bros. plc gave a presentation with evidence to highlight the importance and urgency of starting early with contributions into a pension scheme. In addition, young professionals were given tips on how to calculate the savings required to fund their retirement and the pros and cons of alternative options such as savings, inheritance and other investments. This was a “fantastic workshop” says Dave Reilly from the BFK Team: a joint venture made up of BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman and Kier Construction. “It was a really practical
way of helping engineers with an issue we all face.” Peter McMahon from AECOM said: “a significant improvement in my understanding of my pension and basis on which to take further advice or action.” Kris Barnett, Chief Executive of the Benevolent Fund said: “The feedback from the workshop has been extremely positive and we are already planning dates for more like it across the country. There is clearly a demand for support of this kind and it’s our vision to ‘be there’ from graduation to retirement, not only helping at times of difficulty. The majority of us will enjoy a longer life, but this means we face a further set of challenges such as working for longer and a greater reliance on savings or pensions, which is why we want our young civil engineers to get started now!” To learn about future Pension Workshops for Young Professionals or other life-planning support services, contact Claire Francis e: Benevolent.Fund@ice.org.uk. For more information on the Benevolent Fund visit www.bfice.org.uk.
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ICE Yorkshire & Humber Gala Dinner Dance 7 March 2014 Harrogate
Regional Education Team Awards This year’s ceremony saw the launch of the Regional Education Team Awards. Three awards were presented:
New Ambassador Award 2012-13
Luke Chamberlain, Tata Steel Projects Presented to a new member of the scheme who has made an impact within their first year.
Special Recognition Award 2012-13
Lianne Darbinson, East Riding of Yorkshire Council Presented to a member who has contributed significantly to the team.
ICE President Geoff French (centre) with Lianne Darbinson and, Luke Chamberlain
Company Award 2012-13
Balfour Beatty The Cable Cup is presented to the company who has engaged with students, supported graduates during their training and represented civil engineering on a professional scale. Highly commended certificates were also received by Jackson Civil Engineering and JN Bentley Ltd. Congratulations!
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ICE President Geoff French (right) with Cable Cup winners Balfour Beatty
Annual Awards Awards are made for civil engineering projects with a regional dimension in recognition of achievement, excellence or innovation in civil engineering. Nominated projects will normally be expected to have been completed or substantially completed not more than two years before the closing date for nominations.
Centenary Award The best project of excellence in concept, design and execution, and constructed within the region, was presented to the team from the Environment Agency, Jacobs, Galliford Try for “Ings Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme”. The Ings Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme is a combined strategic programme to provide the city of Wakefield with 1-in-100 year flood defences. This complex £14.8m scheme involved building defences at nine sites, spread over 11.8km of watercourse. The aim was to provide complementary, cost-effective solutions at a number of problematic sites in order to reduce direct flood risk to more than 770 homes and businesses, protect a major trunk road and provide significant environmental improvements. Given the scale of the scheme and diversity of the landscape, successful completion required highly innovative thinking and a meticulous approach to health and safety.
Above: Vacuum excavation Originator of project: Environment Agency Designer: Jacobs UK Contractors: Galliford Try, CPC Civils Ltd
Judges’ comments The judges were impressed by the enthusiasm of the project team in delivering a complex multisite project to alleviate flooding in Wakefield and thereby achieving considerable public benefit. Working closely with the community, in residential and congested city-centre locations, the team demonstrated their commitment to safety and ingenuity across multiple elements of the project. The use of vacuum excavation to safely work around multiple services and sliding pre-cast wall units into place in areas with limited access, were just two examples of this. The scheme increases capacity in Ings Beck at the crossing under the busy city centre A638 through the construction of two additional culverts. This was facilitated with a series of traffic management switches to maintain two lanes of traffic at peak time.
Left: Installing pre-casts. Above: Westgate Traffic Management aerial view.
The construction of the culverts also involved the successful demolition of poor condition buildings without affecting the beck; the released land providing a small community garden.
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Annual Awards Smeaton Award The best project of excellence not constructed in the region, but for which there has been a substantial input from civil engineers in the region, was presented to Tata Steel Projects for “Reading Station Area Redevelopment”. To meet current passenger and freight needs as well as to prepare for future growth, Network Rail began an £850m redevelopment of the Reading Station area. This project includes five new platforms and canopies, one platform extension, a ‘transfer deck’ connecting all of the old and new platforms, and two new structures allowing access to the station from the north and south. Tata Steel Projects have worked on this project since the early inception of the project at pre-feasibility stage and have continued to be involved in the station’s development through detailed design and construction.
Originator of project: Network Rail Designers: Tata Steel Projects, Grimshaw Architects Contractor: Costain Photos anti-clockwise from top: aerial view of Reading Station, transfer deck during construction, the completed platform
Tata Steel Projects receive the Smeaton Trophy and their winning certificate from ICE President Geoff French (right).
Judges’ comments A well planned and executed scheme which scored highly across the range of criteria. Working in a busy station, the judges were impressed with the high quality of design. Challenges faced by the multi-disciplinary project team included the successful jacking of the 30m wide transfer deck to tight tolerances across the live railway to link the existing and new platforms. The collaboration with a wide range of internal and external partners has delivered substantial benefits for the travelling public and wider community. The access to the station and from one side to the other has been improved through the construction of two new entrances and the extension of the walkway under the station.
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Awards Certificates of Excellence A6182 Doncaster Southern Gateway – White Rose Way – Improvement Scheme Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council • Mouchel • Balfour Beatty The £33m Doncaster Southern Gateway project involved upgrading White Rose Way to a dual carriageway, converting two major roundabouts to signalised junctions, including pedestrian and cycling facilities, and construction of a new 184m span bridge over 17 railway tracks, including the East Coast Main Line. The prime aims of the scheme were alleviation of rush hour congestion for the travelling public and increased capacity to unlock regeneration sites, releasing private-sector investment which, along with complementary projects, could create over 20,000 jobs. Judges’ comments This project demonstrates the value that civil engineering projects can bring to regeneration. By decreasing congestion and increasing capacity, this major improvement has started to unlock the regeneration potential around Doncaster and surrounding areas. The team’s approach to changing the funding strategy that enabled the project to proceed and the collaborative working demonstrated with Network Rail to overcome potential installation problems with the bridge across 17 railway tracks were noteworthy, as was the overall approach to sustainability.
Blackburn Meadows Bio-Energy Scheme Yorkshire Water Services Ltd • Earth Tech Morrison (ETM) The largest bio-energy digestion plant in Yorkshire has just been built at the Blackburn Meadows Wastewater Treatment Works in Sheffield. The £18.5m project produces bio-gas from the treatment of the waste sludges which will be used as renewable energy to supply around 11 GWh/year of electricity (65% of the site’s operational power demand), saving Yorkshire Water and its customers around £1m of energy costs per year and significantly reducing carbon emissions. The project is all part of Yorkshire Water’s vision to generate more than 25% of their electricity by renewable energy by 2020. Judges’ comments The judges were impressed by the commitment to sustainability that is demonstrated by this project through the generation of energy from bio-gas. The associated reduction in carbon footprint and energy costs will be visible measures of this project’s success. The judges also praised the commitment to safety demonstrated by this large project, as well as the design complexity and consideration of buildability.
Bradfield School Sheffield City Council • Mott MacDonald Limited • Vinci Construction UK Limited Bradfield School provides state of the art learning facilities for 11-18 year olds in the north-west of Sheffield. The £23m project was procured via a Design and Build Contract under the BSF initiative, and was completed in phases between April 2011 and July 2013. Challenges included construction of four new teaching wings and a community sports centre on a steep rural site, requiring a range of retaining structures and a complex sub-structure solution. Sustainability aspects employed include a biomass energy centre, green roofs and a new dedicated drainage system incorporating 200m3 of onsite attenuated surface water storage. Judges’ comments The project team overcame the challenges of the site’s topography and ground conditions to deliver a high quality, well executed design. The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) for integrating architectural, civil and structural disciplines brought substantial benefits and helped engage the stakeholders. The judges praised the project’s approach to sustainability, community involvement and benefits to society.
First Direct Arena Leeds City Council • Arup • BAM Construction The new First Direct Arena is a world class music venue, with a fan-shaped interior it minimises sight lines and brings the public closer to the show. Positioned in the heart of the city, surrounded by residential accommodation, and Council-funded in strict economic times, it represented a unique technical and commercial challenge. The civil engineering solutions unlocked a complex site and delivered innovative solutions and cost savings which helped to ensure the project was completed on time and within a reduced budget. Judges’ comments A well thought out project for this landmark building in Leeds’ city centre. The judges remarked how well the team had delivered their brief in a busy constrained site and had used simple yet appropriate techniques in complex situations. Building Information Modelling (BIM) on this multi-disciplinary project was used to good effect to add value and ensure effective construction.
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Awards Certificates of Excellence Grimsby River Terminal Associated British Ports • Graham Construction • Mouchel Once geared up for its fishing fleet, Grimsby is now the UK’s busiest car-handling port following the completion of a new Ro-Ro terminal on the River Humber. Associated British Ports appointed Graham Construction to design and construct the new terminal, to accommodate vessels up to 165m in length and 28m beam, or 176m at 21m beam: 195m long finger pier, steel tubular piles supporting a concrete deck, 80mx30m floating radial arm concrete pontoon, supported by three dolphins and 34m long radial booms. 245m long piled approach jetty, with 61m linkspan, 210,000m3 of dredging, and associated M&E works. Judges’ comments The construction of this terminal in the challenging environment of the Humber demonstrated the benefits of collaborative working to deliver a project that will enhance the local economy. Successfully dealing with the fast flowing River Humber and large tidal range, the team’s approach to health and safety was praised by the judges. The judges were also impressed by the design of the spherical bearings connecting the large floating pontoon to its restraints. Several members of the project team used their professional development from working on the project to help become professionally qualified.
M62 Junctions 25-30 Managed Motorway Highways Agency • Atkins • BAM Nuttall and Morgan Sindall joint venture (bmJV) Upgrading 15.5 miles of the M62 between J25 and J30 to Managed Motorway standard, completed one month early and £17m under budget. With 144,000 vehicles using this stretch daily, bmJV had the challenge of guaranteeing road worker safety, maintaining traffic flows and meeting the construction timetable. The scheme pioneered a ‘Zero Crossings’ initiative, saving more than 82,000 crossings of the carriageway by workers. Over 4,000 people have worked on the scheme, including many SME employers, clocking up 1.9 million man-hours. Now fully open, the reduced congestion is already delivering economic benefits and is exceeding Highways Agency and drivers’ expectations. Judges’ comments This was a large scale project on a busy motorway and the judges were very impressed by the behavioural safety culture that was demonstrated. The elimination of live carriageway crossing by the road workers, the use of remote controlled signs and safety multi-text alerts were just some of the noteworthy elements. The team rose to the challenge of the logistics associated with construction while keeping the traffic flowing over the 15½ mile long site. The team’s approach to sustainability, innovation and sharing best practice across the industry sector was also praised. The project has delivered a significant improvement for drivers and the regional economy.
Commended Centenary Award - Commended The Barnsley Pals Centenary Square Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Clifton Rising Main Yorkshire Water Services Ltd, Mott MacDonald Bentley Ltd Lower Todmorden and Walsden Flood Alleviation Scheme - Phase 3 Environment Agency, CH2M Hill, VolkerStevin Market Weighton Canal Bridge Network Rail, URS, Balfour Beatty Reservoir Spillway Improvements Yorkshire Water Services Ltd, Mott MacDonald Bentley Ltd York Engineer’s Triangle - Engine Turntable Network Rail, AECOM, BAM Nuttall
Smeaton Award - Commended Old Whittington Wastewater Treatment Works Black & Veatch / Yorkshire Water Services Ltd
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From top: Lower Todmorden and Walsden Flood Alleviation Scheme - Phase 3, Market Weighton Canal Bridge,York Engineer’s Triangle - Engine Turntable