The Rail Engineer - Issue 94 - August 2012

August 2012

i s s u e

94 Turn right at Hitchin NETWORK RAIL AND PARTNER HOCHTIEF APPLY BS11000 PRINCIPLES

Theory into practice

Four bridges One valley

Russian railways shoots for gold

Improved performance through new proďŹ les, bearings and trackside monitoring.

A tale of four bridges on the Esk Valley line, where life got a little fraught.

Russian Railway prepare for the next Olympics on the shores of the Black Sea.

written by rail engineers for rail engineers

available online at www.therailengineer.com

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 3

welcome Grahame Taylor’s

Operating notice Leading off our focus on level crossings this month is a piece by Network Rail’s Martin Gallagher who summarises the present position with closures and innovations.

Unpredictable. That’s an overused word when it comes to our weather. Collin Carr’s tale this month is more about how the location of the storm damage is unpredictable. From formerly stable embankments, and mudslides that come from outside the railway boundary, the infrastructure engineer has to be ready to react.

Doncaster to Water Orton is the latest part of the rail network to be tackled as part of the large containers gauge enhancement programme. Nigel Wordsworth looks at the list of platform walls, copings, bridges there’s plenty in the way.

On to a tale of four bridges on the idyllic Esk Valley line. Well, it’s idyllic when the sun’s out and everything’s going well. But when the heavens open, when there are plant and equipment problems and when there’s a rounded, short-tailed bird involved then life can get a little fraught.

The HLOS - 6000 words and twenty pages. Nigel paraphrases this extraordinary shopping list into just 1200 words and looks especially at the parts that didn’t hit the headlines.

In his second article on wheelsets, Stuart Marsh looks at the complex issue of wheel profile with its delicate balance between ride and rail wear. Then there’s the detective story about tracing the culprit in burnt out bearings. Grease, tolerances, float - which was it to be?

Forever a pipe dream. “What they really need is a flyover!” If you ever wanted a track arrangement that would thoroughly stuff up the ECML then Cambridge junction at Hitchin was a classic case crying out for grade separation. But now, in this age of bold investment, the flyover is being built. A pipe dream no more.

Set a group of students on to designing a new 10¼” Editor Grahame Taylor grahame.taylor@therailengineer.com Production Editor Nigel Wordsworth nigel@rail-media.com Production and design Adam O'Connor adam@rail-media.com Engineering writers chris.parker@therailengineer.com clive.kessell@therailengineer.com collin.carr@therailengineer.com david.shirres@therailengineer.com graeme.bickerdike@therailengineer.com mungo.stacy@therailengineer.com peter.stanton@therailengineer.com steve.bissell@therailengineer.com stuart.marsh@therailengineer.com terry.whitley@therailengineer.com Advertising Asif Ahmed asif@rail-media.com Paul Curtis pc@rail-media.com

gauge miniature locomotive and you’ll get some that will work and some that are “less successful”. David Shirres has been to the IMechE’s Stapleford trials to see how they got on.

There’s no construction yet on the new Borders Railway as legalities have to be sorted out. In the meantime, David’s been to see the advance works fencing, site investigations, demolitions and devegetation. In fact, it looks like a scheme driving ahead in all but name.

The 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Sochi, a conurbation clinging to a strip of coastline between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea. Trouble is, there’s no high capacity transport corridor. David’s been to see what £4.5 billion will buy.

If you wanted a tunnel on your model railway there were just the usual plastic or tin ‘lids’ available, especially if the whole lot had to be dismantled by bedtime. Ridiculous really, as they looked nothing like a tunnel at all. But, as Graeme Bickerdike tells us, Haddon Tunnel is pretty close to being a real fantasy and it’s still there long after the Duke of Rutland’s bedtime.

Time and obscurity have not been kind to Whalley Viaduct. It had a very “quiet” period in its life, but now the trains are back which is why, apart from any heritage reasons, it’s pretty important to sort out some rather wayward foundations. Graeme explains.

Paul Curtis has been talking to the Network Rail supplier assurance team to see what it takes to become a principal supplier to the infrastructure projects business. Be prepared for audits... and more audits, challenging suppliers to collaborate through effective assurance, performance management and continuous improvement programmes.

Watch out for ASPECT 2012 - an IRSE conference in September - that will not just be for signal and telecommunications engineers. Clive Kessell reckons it will interest civil, rolling stock and electrification engineers as well as railway operators. the rail engineer Ashby House, Bath Street, Ashby-de-la-Zouch Leicestershire, LE65 2FH Telephone: Fax: Email: Website:

in this issue

Turn right at Hitchin 6 No longer a pipe-dream, the new flyover starts to take shape.

Theory into Practice 15 In part 2 of his article on wheels and wheelsets, Stuart Marsh looks at bearings and wheel profiles.

Four bridges One valley 23 Overcoming trials and tribulations while replacing bridges on the picturesque North Yorkshire Moors.

That sinking feeling 30 The Whalley Viaduct was in big trouble, and needed major work to stop it collapsing altogether.

Russian Railways shoot for Olympic gold Preparing for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and spending £4.5 billion doing so.

34

The English Summer 46 Bad weather has affected everything - including the WCML and ECML with Scotland being cut off.

Crossing in Safety 54 Network Rail’s head of level crossing looks back at recent work and looks forward to even more safety improvements.

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4 | the rail engineer | august 2012

news

HLOS explained writer

Nigel

Wordsworth

16 July saw much media M onday coverage of the latest HLOS (High Level Output Specification) for the railways going forward. Prepared by the Department for Transport in the name of Secretary of State Justine Greening, it was launched at a high profile event in the West Midlands by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.

The media naturally cherry-picked the statement to headline the major items of expenditure. But there is a lot of detail in its 20 pages and 6000 words, so the rail engineer will attempt to pull out all the key points.

For a start, the whole statement is very positive about future investment in the rail industry. It adds £4.2 billion of spending in Control Period 5 (CP5) from 2014 – 2019 which, added to the £5.2 billion previously committed, gives a total of £9.4 billion over the five year period. It also forecasts a 16% growth in passenger demand and 23% in freight, and the HLOS programme is intended to address that.

New electrification schemes • • • • • • • •

The Electric Spine: Southampton Port – Basingstoke (conversion from 750V DC) Basingstoke – Reading Oxford – Leamington – Coventry Coventry – Nuneaton Oxford – Bletchley – Bedford (East West Rail core route) Bedford – Nottingham and Derby Derby – Sheffield (Midland Main Line) Kettering – Corby.

Great Western (additional): • Cardiff – Swansea • Welsh Valleys • Aberdare • Barry Island • Cardiff Bay • Cardiff City Line • Coryton • Ebbw Vale • Maesteg • Merthyr Tydfil • Penarth • Rhymney • Treherbert, and • Vale of Glamorgan • Thames Valley • Acton - Willesden • Slough – Windsor • Maidenhead – Marlow • Twyford – Henley-on-Thames.

Other regions: • Walsall – Rugeley Trent Valley (West Midlands) • Micklefield – Selby (Yorkshire).

Electrification The heart of the statement is a major extension to the electrification programme.

An “Electric Spine” will be created - a high capacity passenger and freight electric corridor running from the South Coast through Oxford, Bedford and via the Midland Main Line to the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, with a link from Oxford to the West Midlands and the North-West.

Not only is this a major new investment, the statement also includes the comment: “It also leads to choices for further efficient route electrification in Control Period 6 (CP6 – 2019-2024).”

The southern end of the Electric Spine entails the conversion of a section of the existing Southern third rail 750V DC network to 25kV AC overhead. In an interesting addition, “The Secretary of State also wishes the industry to develop a longer-term proposition and business case for the systematic upgrade from DC to AC of the whole Southern network, for consideration for future control periods. As part of this work the industry will wish to treat the conversion work required for Southampton to Basingstoke as a pilot scheme for such a potential modernisation programme.”

As well as the Electric Spine, the statement committed the Government to electrify the Great Western from Cardiff to Swansea – electrification from London to Cardiff had already been announced. Twelve local lines in the South Wales area will also be electrified, as will four routes in the Thames Valley, again as part of the Great Western main line electrification. Moreover, Walsall to Rugeley in the West Midlands is included, as is Micklefield to Selby in Yorkshire.

Capacity enhancements To specifically address the planned increase in demand, the HLOS statement includes the completion of the Northern Hub to provide additional capacity between Liverpool and Manchester, at Manchester Airport, at Rochdale, and across central Manchester with additional platforms at Manchester Piccadilly station.

In the West, there will be work to expand the capacity of the railway serving passengers to and from Bristol including increasing route capacity into Bristol from Filton Abbey Wood and increasing station capacity at Bristol Temple Meads.

Thameslink and Crossrail will already be increasing capacity in London, although major works are likely to be needed at Waterloo. Further north, there will be capacity enhancements at Huddersfield station to maximise the value of the North trans-Pennine electrification scheme.

Access to airports and ports is a priority,

and plans will be drawn up to build a new rail link between the Great Western main line and London Heathrow. Subject to a satisfactory business case and agreement from the aviation industry, construction should start in CP5 and be completed during CP6.

Capacity enhancements at Redhill will augment rail access to London Gatwick, and the statement includes the longer-term aim to provide high-capacity electrified routes from all major ports to the long-distance electric rail network.

Freight The creation of the Electric Spine linking the core centres of population and economic activity in the Midlands and North with the major container port of Southampton forms a large part of the freight strategy. It is described as a crucial step in creating the right conditions for significant private sector investment in electric freight locomotives.

The rolling programme of electrification is expected to help make rail freight commercially more attractive across England, supporting both the growing international trade and the transfer of container traffic from road.

To further improve the freight network, there will be gauge clearance for large containers and appropriate electrified links to adjacent electrified routes, depots and freight facilities. Capacity-enhancing improvements will be made between Bedford and Corby, and at Derby. At Leicester, alterations will need to be made to provide sufficient capacity for forecast freight flows crossing the Electric Spine.

Planning for the future, the industry has been asked to identify the most efficient strategic electrification schemes that may be considered for CP6. This should include freight linkages in South Yorkshire and Derby – Birmingham – Bristol. £200 million has been set aside for the further development of the Strategic Freight Network. In addition, the Government wishes to see sufficient capacity north of Ely station to provide for forecast freight flows across East Anglia while, at the same time, providing the potential to enhance passenger services between Cambridge and each of King’s Lynn and Norwich.

The passenger experience On top of all these capacity and station improvements, £300 million has been identified to fund various journey time and performance improvements which have not been individually listed. An additional sum of up to £100 million has been ring-fenced to fund station

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 5

news infrastructure improvements, and a further £100 million to continue the “Access for All” scheme.

Recognising the importance of the East Coast Main Line in linking Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and Eastern England with London, an extra £240 million is earmarked for further improvement in capacity and reduction including suitable efficient capacity for the crossing flows of passenger and freight traffic at Peterborough.

The Secretary of State has specified that, by the end of CP5, 92.5% of all trains should arrive on time as defined under the current PPM (Public Performance Measure), and no more than 2.2% shall be cancelled or significantly late. In her statement, she required the industry to focus on improving the worst-performing routes and those on which lower levels of reliability have the greatest economic effect.

Existing projects already committed

Safety and sustainability Level crossing safety is in the news, and in this issue of the rail engineer. £65 million has been allocated over CP5 to reduce the risk of accidents at level crossings.

The Secretary of State also required the industry to set itself carbon and energy efficiency objectives, develop indicators to measure its performance against these, and publish this information regularly. It also needs to set out details of how it will take account of climate change, and to protect the natural environment “using resources in a sustainable way and promoting good health and a good quality of life through the effective management of noise and air quality”.

So that’s the plan for CP5. £9.4 billion buys quite a lot, but it will still be a challenge for the industry to achieve all the goals it has been set, on time and to budget.

• • • • • • • • •

Thameslink Crossrail Intercity Express Programme Birmingham New Street station upgrade Reading station upgrade West Coast Main Line Stafford capacity upgrade West Coast Main Line power supply upgrade East West Rail (Oxford – Bedford, Aylesbury – Calvert and links) Electrification of the Great Western Main Line to Cardiff, Oxford and Newbury • Electrification of the ‘North West Triangle’ (Manchester to Liverpool via Chat Moss, Huyton - Wigan, Manchester - Euxton Junction and Blackpool North – Preston) • Electrification of the ‘North trans-Pennine line’ (Manchester Victoria and Guide Bridge – Huddersfield – Leeds – Colton Junction) • Elements of the Northern Hub (New Ordsall Chord, capacity improvements between Manchester and Sheffield and line speed improvements on Manchester to Sheffield, Preston and Bradford routes).

6 | the rail engineer | august 2012

PHOTO: ALISDAIR ANDERSON

bridges & tunnels

Turn right

at Hitchin…

before the 23 June this year, the BBC J ust issued the following dire warnings: “Motorists are being warned about road closures and possible delays ahead of a rock concert in Hertfordshire. Up to 80,000 people are expected to attend the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ concert at Knebworth Park.

Police said there will be a number of road closures………….”

So what?

Well, Hertfordshire’s ill fortune was a blessing for Network Rail’s Hitchin flyover project. The 23 of June had been the critical ECML possession. It had been booked for months. Complete four-line blockages don’t grow on trees. But then it was put back a week because of “that pop concert”.

The irony is that if the project had kept to the 23 June possession, the weather would have prevented a major crane lift and the project would have been set back by months!

History

w ri ter

Grahame Taylor

But enough of this spoiler. It’s time for a recap on what is going on at Hitchin - and on some of the history. Hitchin station is where the line to Cambridge branches off from the East Coast Main Line (ECML). At this point the ECML has four tracks, with the slow lines at each side. Being a flat junction has meant that any train departing for Cambridge from the Down platform has to cross all of the tracks to get to the branch. So

this stops traffic on the Down fast, the Up fast and the Up slow (from the North).

It has been a major operating constraint for years - for many decades in fact. The situation had been a classic case of “something needing to be done”. But there was never the money. In the 1980s, a flyunder was proposed and land was set aside - but nothing happened. It was forever a pipe dream.

Then, in 1998, a pre-feasibility study was commissioned which identified a whole raft of options with flyovers proposed to the north or south of the station. Inevitably, some of these options were gun fodder, allowing attention to be focused on the most sensible and acceptable solution which was a flyover just to the north of the station.

Forging alliances Originally a design-and-build contract was to have been let under normal competitive tendering, but part-way through the process Network Rail decided to embark on an alliancing process in line with their change in supplier/client relationships.

Consequently, during the latter stages of the tender the focus went from price and programme to compatibility and collaborative working. There were a number of post-tender workshops where contractors - still in competitive tender - were invited up to York to meet with their counterparts in the client team. Nick Hilton, Network Rail’s

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 7

bridges & tunnels senior project manager, explains, “From the ECML point of view this project is trail blazing the alliancing concept. It was the first one to be put together. We have done all the analysis of the alliance concept looking at how the cost model works and how the relationship and behavioural models work.”

At the end of the tendering process, the contract was awarded to HOCHTIEF. The day after a letter of intent had been issued, on 27 September 2011, the Hitchin Alliance arrived on site mobilising to a temporary office.

They had been encouraged to put together an integrated collaborative team as soon as possible and so had gone out and done some research around the area and identified an office which was available.

They remained there for 6 months, although Nick admits that “it felt longer than that!”

Making preparations By the time Nick and Hochtief’s Julian Spiller were involved, the scheme had already been through the Transport and Works Act (TWA) process to an initial design

by Arup. The line had been fixed, the levels had been fixed and, whilst the scope of the embankments, viaducts and land-take were tightly specified, there remained opportunities for the alliance to explore value engineering opportunities and economy in delivery.

Nick remembers: “We started by going through the final stages of the planning consents which had to be satisfied prior to getting access to the site. So there was close

liaison with the local authority to establish the items that needed to be addressed. The first of those was the construction of a temporary road junction with the new site compound, but the local authority allowed site clearance, ground investigations, ecology and topographical surveys, all in advance of the junction works.”

The good relationships fostered with the local authority allowed the other major early item of work to be constructed - the construction of the haul route through the

entire length of the site. The 2.5km haul road is necessary because no formal access is afforded elsewhere on the scheme. It sits to the side of the new railway and has to be removed at completion of the works.

8 | the rail engineer | august 2012

PHOTO: ALISDAIR ANDERSON

bridges & tunnels

Hitchin pier

PHOTO: ALISDAIR ANDERSON

PHOTO: ALISDAIR ANDERSON

With the preliminaries out of the way it was possible to focus on piers 17 and 18 (of 30) either side of the ECML. In fact, the sequence of beam lifting meant that pier 16, two spans away from the railway, was needed as well.

This was completed early in the programme because the first steelwork lift was to erect the back-span ready to accept the main span in the critical possession. But more explanation of the erection sequence later…

All the piers are on piled foundations. The substrate is mainly chalk but the quality diminishes quite markedly and there’s quite a lot of soft material. As a result, piles are over 20 metres deep, and that applies to both sides of the railway.

All the viaduct steelwork is fabricated and erected by Mabey Bridge in Chepstow. The critical main span was trial erected in their works, with all the splices checked. It was originally envisaged that this span was going to be a single drop-in structure with two ‘air’ splices. As Sarah Cooper, senior engineer of designers Tony Gee and Partners (TGP) explains, “Through conversations with Mabey and HOCHTIEF, it was concluded that trying to achieve two splices in mid-air in such a short possession was just too risky. The design was changed to a single splice with a

free end that lands on temporary bearings without having critical location issues.”

The span is curved, skewed, hogged and pre-cambered. It’s a real challenge for structural analysis made possible by the use of a LUSAS software analysis package.

“We bought the hill” Asked where the fill for the embankments is coming from Julian looked out of the site office window and gestured, “Over there!” He was looking at a particularly bald Hertfordshire field.

“We’ve bought the contents of the hill off the landowner so that we can extract the chalk and then reinstate the hill back to farmland afterwards - with ‘sympathetic softening’ of the profile.” The benefit is that this removes the need to bring all the embankment fill in by road. 120,000 cubic metres equate to about 25,000 lorry movements.

Bottom ballast still has to come in by road, unfortunately. As part of the feasibility study, getting rail borne ballast in was found to be untenable logistically. But the top ballast will be delivered by rail.

Overall there is about 2.5km of new railway with 1.5km embankment and 1km of viaduct. Subcontractor Volker Rail will install the track and overhead line equipment, with Atkins doing the rail systems design.

Either side of the railway, although the design of the viaduct is generally similar, the sites are distinctly different. The northern half (13-spans) is predominantly

in an open green/brown field site; whereas the southern viaduct construction (15 spans) is in a very constrained area between the existing ECML and adjacent landowners and natural features.

At the very southern end, where the new chord diverges from the ECML, there is a section of reinforced earth structure incorporating part of the old redundant Bedford Line.

And so back to that weekend and the events leading up to it….

Beams and splices The main beams were delivered in the preceding two weeks to be gradually assembled at the track side. The 1200 tonne Sarens crane mobilised on the Tuesday evening prior to the weekend and was built up over the next three days.

In parallel, the team had spent considerable time and effort in jacking and adjusting the free cantilevered end of the receiving beams, to ensure best possible fit when the “possession” beams were offered up to form the splice.

By Friday evening the beams were there, the falsework was fixed and signed off, the cranes were in, certificates were all in order and everything was ready to go. By the time the EMJ permanent formwork panel and the cantilever falsework had been secured the total weight of the span was about 300 tonnes.

The connection to the lifting eyes lifted the span on a horizontal flat plane, but the pre-installed back-span wasn’t horizontal.

On Saturday there was a trial lift to trim the beam in two directions to get the best fit.

10 | the rail engineer | august 2012

But then there was the weather. The wind was monitored all week. The lift not the crane - would become unsafe at a wind speed of more than 16mph as the span would act as a sail. The forecast was showing gusts of 20mph every day through to the week after the possession.

PHOTO: ALISDAIR ANDERSON

PHOTO: ALISDAIR ANDERSON

bridges & tunnels

Strong winds and heavy rain That continued right up to the Saturday. It was still showing 20 25mph gusts throughout the night and throughout the next day. On his way to site, Nick was only 5 miles away when he hit a violent rain storm with

trees whipping all around. Had he come all this way for nothing?

Down in the briefing room, the atmosphere was tense. The team from Mabey Bridge were asked for their thoughts. They’d just got the latest forecast. Winds 4 to 5 mph steady, gusting to 12mph. Really? Where had that come from?

Within an hour of the possession being taken it was almost dead calm with not a cloud in the sky. Incredibly, the conditions were near perfect for the lift.

Work started by 00:30 and everything was wrapped up around 05:30. The actual bridge lift started at 01:30 and was completed in two hours with the structure landing within 3mm of design. They even had enough time to put a primer coat on the splice.

With the expected adverse weather the team never would have dreamt it was going to happen like that. They had started to discuss contingency arrangements - a new possession, bringing the crane back, talking to the train operators. Everyone had arrived on site fully expecting to stand around for 12 hours before going home with the span sat solidly at the track side.

More to come With the main span in, there is now a pretty intense programme through to the end of November when the Cambridge junction goes in. At Christmas, the turnout from the main line to the viaduct will allow a tracklaying train to enter the site for two weeks of track installation. The layout will be commissioned next June. Driver training takes place thereafter and the

line will be brought into full use for the December timetable although it’s probable that it will be used from August onwards.

What about the alliancing arrangements? Julian admits, “This is our first experience of working as a colaborative partner under BS11000.

It’s a different way of working for both parties and a massive learning curve bearing in mind the different cultures from which we come.

“What we’ve done is throw the combative behaviours away by working collaboratively. Basically we’re a single organisation rather than running under company lines - which explains the Hitchin Alliance logo.

Nobody considers they work for Network Rail or HOCHTIEF - we all work for the Alliance. All the decisions we make are ‘best for project’. And we manage all the risks effectively as a single company.”

Nick adds, “It widens the opportunity for people to learn what each organisation actually does. Experience from this version of alliance will be put in the Network Rail knowledge store to ensure that the model is continuously improved.”

So, in the end the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert was a sell out, a good time was had by all, the traffic was indeed awful - especially for those going home and……. there were heavy rain showers and strong winds.

The Hitchin possession cancellation happened so that all those rail passengers (both of them) could get home, but maybe, just maybe, could it have been because someone in the Alliance wanted to go to the concert?

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 11

bridges & tunnels

Eurocodes Making bridges under writer

Steve Armstrong Mabey Bridge

recent years, engineers have had to I nadapt to the increasing use of Eurocodes in all forms of design. Rail bridges are not exempt from this, and in issue 82 of the rail engineer (August 2011), Mungo Stacey looked at the implications for designers.

Since then, the first steel rail bridges designed using Eurocodes have reached the fabrication and installation stage. The steel fabrication industry has been preparing for this evolution over several years in order to be ready for the changes and new approaches contained within the new standards.

Two of the first rail structures designed and installed to Eurocodes are currently in the process of fabrication. These are the Hitchin Flyover in Hertfordshire, and Loughor Viaduct in South Wales. As is reported elsewhere in this issue, the first steel spans have been completed at Hitchin, with the assembly work at Loughor due to start later this year.

Euronorms Steel bridges are designed in accordance with EN1993 and EN1994 if a composite structure. In addition to this, fabricators work in accordance with EN1090-2: The Execution of Steel Structures which covers the fabrication of hot rolled, cold formed, plate, section and stainless steels up to S690 and S700 grades. Whilst EN1090-2 applies primarily to Eurocode designs, it can be used for structures designed according to other design rules.

In addition to EN1090-2, a specification document is also required by the fabricator.

As yet, Network Rail has not produced a standard specification for Eurocode designs, so current designs have specifications which are produced on a scheme-by-scheme basis.

Designers produce these by combining guidance from the SCI (Steel Construction Institute) Model Project Specification, PD6705 and any existing Network Rail requirements. It is expected that, as more structures are installed using the new codes, then a standard Network Rail specification will be developed.

One of the key differences between BS5400 and EN1090-2 is the concept of the Execution Class. This relates to a set of requirements specified for the execution of the works as a whole, or of an individual component or of a detail of a component.

For structural steel there are four classes ranging from 1 to 4, with 4 reserved for the most critical of steel fabrications.

There are two elements in the definition of an execution class. The first is the selection of a consequence class; fundamentally what would happen should the element fail. The second is the service category or the usage of a structure. The default class for bridges has been set at EXC 3 with additional elements at EXC 4 if required.

As might be expected, there are differences between EXC 3 and EXC 4 requirements and these will result in higher fabrication costs for EXC 4 work.

These differences include tighter thickness tolerances, edge quality limits on thermal cutting, higher acceptance criteria on fillet and butt welding, and higher levels of inspection post welding and on bolt tightening. Clearly, designers should ensure that they only specify EXC 4 when justified, otherwise cost will be added to projects.

Tolerances and traceability Within EN1090-2 there are three types of geometrical tolerance defined, and these are; essential tolerances, functional tolerances and special tolerances.

Essential tolerances set basic limits in order to satisfy the design assumptions for structures in terms of mechanical resistance and stability. This would include controlling eccentricity on stiffeners. Functional tolerances are those which are required to meet a function other than mechanical resistance and stability, for example, appearance or fit up requirements.

Functional tolerances are further divided into Class 1 and Class 2, with Class 2 being more onerous than Class 1. It is therefore recommended that Class 1 tolerances are specified. Special tolerances are those not

covered by the tabulated types given in EN1090-2 and which need to be specified in a particular case.

Within EN1090-2 there is a requirement for traceability of all elements in a fabricated structure. Not only do these requirements cover plate or rolled sections, but fasteners, consumables and paint. These items can be controlled by either ensuring that constituents are selected which are produced from standards listed in EN1090-2, or by checking that a particular product has conformity against a relevant standard.

Additionally, controls must be in place within the factory to record which components are used and where.

As might be expected, there are a large number of other areas controlled by EN1090-2, but the requirements and controls are broadly similar to requirements in previous standards. Such areas include records and record keeping, inspection and testing, mechanical fasteners, preparation and assembly, welding, surface treatment, corrosion protection and erection.

(Top) Stripping four flanges from one plate.

(Inset) Robot welding of stiffeners.

12 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

Relevant specifications BS EN 1090-1:2009+A1:2011 Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures.

Requirements for conformity assessment of structural components.

BS EN 1090-2:2008+A1:2011 Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures.

Technical requirements for steel structures.

BS EN 1993-2:2006 Eurocode 3. Design of steel structures. Steel bridges.

BS EN 1994-2:2005 Eurocode 4. Design of composite steel and concrete structures. General rules and rules for bridges.

BS 5400-6:1999 Steel, concrete and composite bridges. Specification for materials and workmanship, steel.

PD 6705-2:2010 Structural use of steel and aluminium. Recommendations for the execution of steel bridges to BS EN 1090-2.

CE marking Meeting the requirements of EN1090-2 is essential to achieving CE marking for structural steelwork and this will be mandatory from 2013. However, CE marking does not only depend on compliance with EN1090-2, but also requires the fabricator to be certified for Factory Production Control in accordance with EN 1090-1. Key to this certification process is ensuring that welding is of an appropriate quality and organisations will be required to ensure a high level of technical competence by providing welding engineers and coordinators.

Finished girders awaiting despatch.

(Inset) Magnetic particle inspection of fillet welds.

In the course of fabricating the first two structures to the requirements of Eurocodes, Mabey Bridge has encountered a few issues where the current requirements in the Eurocodes are unclear. Post assembly plate butt welds which are ground flush are not defined for fatigue in EN1993-1-9. This classification means that this type of weld is now more critical than a transverse fillet weld onto the same plate. The consequence of this is that butt welds cannot be positioned near the mid-point in a girder without a fatigue assessment being completed. Under BS5400 this type of weld would have been permitted. One other change that has been noted is in the limits on plate thickness for subgrades which result in NL grade, which calls up a low temperature impact test as part of the inspection regime, being required on thinner plates than previously. This can lead to increased material costs and longer lead times for the delivery of plate.

Clearly, the introduction of Eurocodes and CE marking has required a significant investment in time and development by fabricators. However, many are now ready to meet the challenges presented by the new requirements. With the first structures fully constructed to Eurocodes, there will be a

period of time where Network Rail, engineers and fabricators develop and refine the technical specifications to arrive at a common set of guidelines which are well understood. These guidelines will enable Network Rail to produce a specification document which can be followed by everyone, but until this is complete there will be differences in interpretation.

It is important to understand that the Eurocodes have a different language and approach to BS5400. However, the fabrication industry is ready for the challenges and understands the requirements. Fabricators can provide a significant amount of technical support and guidance throughout the development of a project. Designers are always encouraged to engage with the industry to discuss these issues, preferably earlier rather than later in the project. Through this engagement, technical issues can be clarified early in the design process, thereby ensuring the most efficient solutions are developed.

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14 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

IRSEASPECT 2012 Institution of Railway Signal T heEngineers (IRSE) centenary year is being marked in many ways. To emphasise its truly international membership and influence, a three-day conference is taking place in London on 10 -12 September entitled ASPECT 2012. The name derived from Automation, Signalling, Performance, Equipment, Control and Telecommunications. The venue is the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre at Westminster, very appropriate in this the Diamond Jubilee year.

This conference is not just for signal and telecommunications engineers and will include topics which would be of interest to civil, rolling stock and electrification engineers as well as railway operators, all in the context of obtaining a more reliable, efficient and cost-effective railway. Thirty papers, plus key note speeches, will be delivered by speakers from the UK and across the world, covering many facets of main line, metro and light rail technologies both in terms of recent experience and predictions for the future. The intention is to enlighten engineers of all disciplines just what is happening in railway engineering around the globe with the hope that best

practice will be noticed and used for the greater good.

The conference will include social events, and on the Monday evening, a House of Lords drinks reception will take place giving participants the opportunity to visit this historic building. On Tuesday, a conference dinner will be held on an upper floor of the QE II centre giving magnificent views of the London skyline, with Ian Walmsley from Porterbrook Train Leasing as the after dinner speaker.

A special event at the conference will be the release of the IRSE Centenary text book, written to set down the achievements of the Institution and the evolution of technology during the past 100 years. The IRSE is honoured that HRH The Princess Royal has agreed to formally launch the Centenary Year and the new book on the first day of the conference.

ASPECT

2012

AUTOMATION

100 YEARS

The fee for attending the complete conference is £750 + vat, but any persons who are members of the Railway Engineers Forum (REF) Institutions will be granted a discount price of £650. Part attendance on individual days is accommodated, again at a discounted rate for REF members.

The IRSE looks forward to seeing people from all disciplines and from many countries at this very special event.

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Westminster, London, United Kingdom

10-12 September 2012

The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers is celebrating its centenary and looking to the future with a major international conference:

PERFORMANCE

CONTROL

•

Launch of the IRSE centenary year in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal

•

32 technical papers on all aspects of modern railway control and communications

•

Speakers from 15 countries representing all the regions of the world where the IRSE is active

•

Exhibition of products and services in the catering areas throughout the conference

•

Evening drinks reception at the House of Lords

•

Conference dinner with an entertaining guest speaker – Modern Railways’ author Ian Walmsley

•

Flexible booking options – attend the full conference or a single day

SIGNALLING

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Download the conference programme and book on-line at www.irse.org/aspect

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 15

feature

Theory into Practice writer

Stuart Marsh of the most expensive S ome consumables on a rail vehicle are its wheelsets and axle bearings which make up a significant part of an operator’s maintenance budget. Scrutiny of railway costs, triggered by the McNulty report, means that successful railway companies must achieve exceptional wheelset operational performance and at the same time maintain very high levels of safety performance.

In the rail engineer issue 93 (July 2012) we reported on the recent wheelset seminars held at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Topics reviewed included the management of safety, an

overview of standards, testing processes and an insight into current research. This is indeed vital and impressive work, but out on the real railway, practical problem solving can be just as important.

New profile Designed, built and maintained by Alstom, the class 390 Pendolino sets were introduced in 2002. This hard-working 57strong fleet (574 vehicles) clocks up 17 million train miles per year. The operator, Virgin Trains, works closely with Alstom on engineering issues and together they have worked collaboratively with Network Rail in solving wheel/rail interface problems.

Dr Mark Burstow, principal vehicle track dynamics engineer, Network Rail, has recently presented a paper at the IMechE on this very subject. He described how, after reports of class 390 rough riding in the Hilmorton area near Rugby, a joint investigation by Network Rail, Virgin Trains and Alstom was undertaken. Analysis of track geometry, rail and wheel profiles revealed no special problems at Hilmorton, but the collected data was used to calculate wheel conicity.

High conicity may be attributed to worn rails/wheels or tight track gauge and it can result in a greater tendency for wheelsets to hunt. Calculations by Dr Burstow confirmed

Installing new wheelsets into Pendolino bogies at Longsight depot, Manchester.

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16 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

that hunting might be expected at the Hilmorton site, but only from worn P8 profile wheels. Rail grinding was undertaken in order to reduce gauge corner contact and this resulted in the conicity for worn wheels being reduced enough for stability to be restored. The drop was not significant however, and to avoid a return to instability a longer term solution was required.

As an alternative to changing the rail profile the wheel profile can be altered. P12 was the chosen profile, as it has a lower initial conicity than the commonly used P8.

Increased flange wear had resulted when P12 was tried on the class 450 outer suburban EMU fleet, but Dr Burstow anticipated that the curvature of the WCML would reduce this problem. P12 was originally developed in order to reduce rolling contact fatigue (RCF) without a significant reduction in steering ability.

Virgin and Alstom decided to trial P12 initially on one trainset, with some P8 profiles retained as a control. The P12 trial trainset ran to 522,000 miles without major problems and flange height grew at the same rate as for P8. Flange wear for P12 was found to be less than for P8 between 50,000 and 200,000 miles. Some P12 conicity values approached instability at as much as 500,000 miles - almost twice that typically achieved by P8 profiles.

To provide a larger sample size and to see how well the P12 performed on smaller diameter wheels, rather than the new fullsize wheels used in the original trial trainset, the scope of the trial was extended to include five further trainsets. So successful has this trial been that a decision has now been taken to extend the P12 wheel profile to the majority of the Pendolino fleet, with a small number of trainsets remaining with P8 wheels as a control sample. The lower conicity and reduced RCF damage should allow significant extension of wheel life.

but the complex transmission system and unconventional bogie design led to service problems.

Paul Sutherland, asset manager with Eversholt Rail, Tony Brown, head of engineering with East Coast, and John Simpson, Principal Engineer with Interfleet, outlined the problem-solving exercise - a story that spans 20-years, albeit with many years in hiatus.

On the class 91, a virtual traction centre is formed by the use of a Watt’s linkage, although the primary suspension system is conventional. Coil springs carry the vertical load and rolling rubber ring units provide lateral and yaw guidance. Timken 150mm roller bearing units with lithium grease lubrication (standard on BR at the time) had given excellent service in HSTs, Class 90s and freight applications, but this was not a dedicated high speed bearing.

Failures started during 1994 after roughly 500,000 miles service, with blackening/oxidation of the grease, signs of overheating and fatigue spalling of the races.

Timken bearing.

Class 91 locomotives were introduced as part of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. These 4.7MW 140mph machines were built by GEC Alstom with BREL as a sub-contractor. They feature a low unsprung mass, having the traction motors mounted on the main frame rather than within the bogies. The target bogie overhaul period was set at 750,000 miles,

Lateral float Timken NG2 bearings with Shell Nerita 2858 grease were giving excellent performance on ICE trains, with no fatigue failure or grease degradation even after one million kilometres. ICE bogies have coil spring primary suspension but a lateral stiffness of just 9MN/m as against 22MN/m on Class 91. Crucially, on ICE the bearings are free to float laterally in the axlebox and are not clamped. Accordingly, a Class 91 was fitted with four different wheelset configurations, all having floating axleboxes.

Testing results Axle

Bearing

Grease

Mean Temp °C

Peak Temp °C

1

Standard (1STD1)

MP3 560g

59.0

87.2

2

Standard Enhanced (1STDEN2)

MP3 400g

58.5

87.2

3

NG2 (1NG2EN4)

Nerita 2858 360g

42.3

71.7

4

Standard Enhanced (1STDEN2)

Nerita 2858 320g

47.2

75.6

The use of synthetic greases offered a way forward, giving lower base oil viscosity, lower operating temperature and better resistance to oxidation.

Unfortunately the results were only partially successful, so new SKF bearings with Shell Nerita 2858 grease were then trialled. This exercise resulted in 12 failures within 10 months, so during 1994 a new Timken bearing was trialled along with Alvania 2760B grease. These bearings were proven on TGV trains and passed extensive rig testing, but in service on Class 91 the grease proved unstable and ran out of the bearings.

Misalignment Bearings

Because there was no theoretical reason why the Timken bearings hadn’t given the desired results, it was at this time that possible bogie geometry issues began to be considered. An investigation revealed that the bogie frame pads were not flat and that there were significant variations in component tolerances. Ultimately, half of the class 91 bogie frames required remachining. Bearings were meanwhile being changed out at half life (375,000 miles) with resultant high labour and materials costs and adverse effects on loco availability.

In 1997, Timken application engineers were consulted on a better solution. They offered the NG2 bearing which has fewer rollers (18 vs 23) and more steeply angled raceways.

Used on ICE and TGV very high speed trains, these bearings would, if anything, be slightly over-engineered for the class 91 application.

As a result, Timken NG2 bearings with Shell Nerita 2858 grease were trialled on three class 91 locos. The result of this trial was fatigue spalling after 170,000 miles, so they too were withdrawn from service.

The trial was then extended to four locos with NG2 and Nerita 2858 during 2008. They ran successfully to 450,000km (two locos) and 550,000km (two locos). This showed that the problem had been with the bogie, not the Timken bearings. From early 2010 Timken NG2 bearings have been fitted at scheduled loco overhauls. Heavy maintenance periodicity remains at 425,000km, but a plan to restructure this has been initiated. Rather than being based on bearings (450,000km max) this will now be based around wheel life. The benefits are greater availability, simplicity and reduced costs.

Coordinated approach Iain Nairne is fleet overhaul manager at Southern. His fleet comprises over 300 units made up of more than 1,100 vehicles.

Each weekday 2,300 diagrams are operated, adding up to 33 million train miles per year, and yet Southern maintains a combined fleet availability of over 92%.

Southern has one Atlas tandem wheel lathe, located at its Selhurst overhaul facility, with all fleets receiving wheel turning based on condition.

During his recent IMechE presentation, Iain described how the workload is optimised by turning between peak periods which avoids any units having to wait in a queue. Turning

18 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

P12 has thicker, slightly steeper flange

P12 has smoother reverse slope transition P12 has anti-RCF relief

Blue line - P8 Red line - P12 (WRISA2)

The difference between P8 and P12 wheel profiles.

is mainly undertaken to remove wheel tread cavities and wheelflats, although it can also correct flange wear, tread wear and rollover.

Southern uses the WheelChex system to detect wheelset problems. WheelChex is a brand name for a Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD) system developed by DeltaRail. The system has been used effectively by Southern and many other operators within the UK and overseas. At the WheelChex site at Salfords on the Brighton main line, about 175,000 Southern trains pass each year, making up 74% of the total fleet. Southern trains account for only 9% of the level 1 warnings generated, the balance being overwhelmingly due to freight operations.

In his presentation, Iain Nairne outlined how he has undertaken a case study on Southern’s class 377 Electrostar fleet which has highlighted the fact that a small but significant number of wheel bearings require premature exchange due to defects. Class 377 was the last fleet to utilise 120mm bearings, the new standard being 130mm. Iain has established that lateral load is the primary cause of defects, although electrical damage (traction return current) is also a factor. To detect this, train riders have travelled on every class 377 unit on a 28 day cycle, but using human perception to detect wheel bearing faults

has proved difficult. It was even harder to pinpoint them to specific wheelsets, with half of the wheelsets removed having no defects.

Iain went on to describe how a complementary system to WheelChex, known as RailBAM®, can be used to detect wheel bearing defects and pinpoint them to specific wheelsets within a train consist.

Australian company Trackside Intelligence Pty Ltd (Track IQ) developed the RailBAM (Rail Bearing Acoustic Monitor) system and is now working with Siemens to lead sales in the UK and Continental Europe. Using acoustic principles it is able to detect bearing defects up to 100,000 miles in advance of final bearing failure. RFID (radiofrequency identification) tags allow trains to be identified and defects to be monitored over time.

RailBAM was successfully trialled on Southern over a 5-month period in 2007, during which 24 bearing defects were reported, with just one false report. The mature system has since been successfully deployed at Swaythling (2009) and Mortlake (2011) on the Wessex Route to monitor the whole of the South West Trains fleet, as well as trains from other TOCs and FOCs passing the sites.

Weibull analysis Chris Tait, fleet projects and contracts manager First ScotRail, has made use of a concept that might not be familiar to many of us - that of Weibull Analysis. Sometimes termed reliability life data analysis, it attempts to make predictions about the life of all products in a population. It does this by fitting a statistical distribution to the “life data” gained from a representative sample of units. Chris has successfully utilised the Weibull analysis technique to improve wheelset management on the First ScotRail class 170 DMU fleet.

ScotRail has four maintenance depots but just one wheel lathe, located at Shields depot, Glasgow. The class 170 fleet comprises 59 3-car sets - 41 Express units and 18 Suburban units. The class 170 express units average 178,000 miles a year while the suburban units cover about 132,000 miles. Both have a planned wheelset renewal periodicity of 715,000 miles and a planned re-profile cut every

140,000 miles. The wheels are designed to the standard P8 profile.

Wheel lathe data from Shields depot was used to determine the average number of days from known good wheel to damaged wheel. This was then converted into average mileage. Ten samples from each vehicle wheel position were used in the analysis. An average wear rate per millimetre was determined for each wheel position, allowing a wheel wear predictor to be established.

The Weibull characteristic life result for class 170 shows a clear distinction between driving vehicles and centre vehicles.

Axle

Driving Vehicle

Centre Vehicle

1

176,588 miles

255,546 miles

2

188,143 miles

239,195 miles

3

227,874 miles

232,664 miles

4

243,376 miles

235,689 miles

The results were compared to WheelChex wheel impact alerts from January 2010 to August 2011. These supported the findings of the Weibull analysis, demonstrating that the middle vehicle wheels exhibit fewer wheel impacts and therefore require less tyre turning than the outer vehicle’s wheels.

Chris Tait says, “Weibull and WheelChex data analysis has identified that a staggered tyre turning regime is more applicable for the class 170 fleet. The review of tyre turning periodicity using Weibull analysis has identified the current 140,000 miles is no longer optimal. A staggered periodicity is more suitable, at 150,000 miles for driving vehicles and 185,000 miles for middle vehicles.”

Implementation of the staggered tyreturning regime will result in each unit requiring seven wheel lathe operations from bogie overhaul to overhaul. There are currently five operations with the 140,000 mile periodicity and it is thought that the increase in visits to the Shields Depot wheel lathe will be compensated by quicker turnaround times and flexibility within depot work patterns.

Evolution Wheelsets are of course important drivers for vehicle availability and therefore for customer service. They can also be key components in causing damage and cost to infrastructure. Safely prolonging the life of these expensive items has already paid dividends, but this brief insight belies the extent of the ongoing work.

Clever engineering, pragmatic problem solving and the use of new techniques and technology will continue to optimise the balance between wheelset safety, performance and cost, underlining what we’ve known for a long time - that engineering excellence needs to lie at the heart of any modern, efficient railway system.

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20 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

Borders Under new management writer

David Shirres Different but similar projects

(Top) Footpath to become Narrow Rail Corridor through Galashiels.

(Inset) Demolishing a house on line at Gorebridge.

years ago, a procession of Railway Bills S ixbefore the Scottish Parliament resulted in Acts for Edinburgh Tram (29.3.06), Waverley Railway (14.6.06), Glasgow Airport Link (29.11.06), Edinburgh Airport Link (14.3.07) and Airdrie to Bathgate (28.3.07).

Unfortunately, the promise of these Acts was not fully realised. The lines to Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports were not built, and Edinburgh Tram is a case study of how not to manage an infrastructure project. To date, only the Airdrie Bathgate project has been completed, on time and to budget.

But the Borders Rail project, previously the Waverley Railway, will provide a 49 kilometre non-electrified line from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, largely on the trackbed of the line between Edinburgh and Carlisle that closed in 1969. In April 2011 (issue 78), the rail engineer reported on Transport Scotland’s use of a novel Design, Build, Finance and Maintain (DBFM) contract for the main project works which were expected to start late in 2011 for a December 2014 completion. This also did not go to plan with two of the original three consortia withdrawing. Transport Scotland were not willing to award a DBFM contract to a single bidder so instead turned to Network Rail with their proven track record of delivering the Airdrie Bathgate (A2B) project.

Much of the credit for A2B’s success must go to Hugh Wark, senior project manager, and his team who now find themselves managing the Borders Rail project. Hugh clearly relishes the challenge of another new Scottish railway which has both similarities and differences to Borders Rail. He feels that the team “has learnt a lot on A2B, all positive things we take to the Borders”. Similarities are management of consents, working with neighbours, commissioning a new railway, significant roadworks and utility work on the same scale as A2B. Borders Rail has minimal interface with the existing rail network, unlike A2B which doubled lines at both its ends and electrified 61km of existing railway. Programme constraints associated with work on the existing railway required A2B to have multiple contract packages so Network Rail had to control the overall design. In contrast, the main Borders Rail works can be let as a single package, allowing early contractor involvement in line with Network Rail’s supplier engagement policy. This enables the contractor to offer design ideas, particularly in respect of constructability.

Also a single contractor can provide a better focus and take a more active role in managing neighbour relations.

Work to date In September 2011, Network Rail joined in the management of the project with Transport Scotland who remain the authorised undertaker with legal responsibility for the project. Hence it is Transport Scotland who issue the land entry notices although Network Rail intends to take over this role later this year.

However before doing so it has to develop design and assess constructability to produce a robust cost estimate and a programme to be agreed with both Transport Scotland and the Office of Rail Regulation. Network Rail cannot become the authorised undertaker until these agreements are in place and there is approval from its board. Until this is done main works cannot be authorised and so are unlikely to start until late 2012.

Nevertheless, a large amount of advanced work has been completed or is already planned. Starting in March 2010, it includes utility work, site investigations and scour protection. Since Network Rail became involved, buildings on the line have been demolished and large scale devegetation carried out to facilitate structural assessment and investigations for mining remediation.

Contractors QTS have also erected 20km of fencing. Hugh advises that a lesson from A2B was the need to fence off project land as early as possible. Works to be undertaken soon are those to give farmers access where they can no longer use the solum, mining remediation work, more fencing and drainage works - at one location a landowner had received a grant to create a wetlands habitat on the old trackbed!

Environmental works are required to ensure compliance with the project’s Code of Construction Practice (CoCP), a legal requirement of the Projects Act. The line runs through a particularly sensitive area for which the CoCP specifies particular constraints, for example work in or over the River Gala is restricted to three months per year. Ongoing ecological work is the removal of bats, using one way bat valves over their roosts, and badgers.

There were many mines under the north end of the line, as indicated by the adjacent Scottish Mining Museum. Hence there is a need for mining remediation which will start in September and will take around six months.

Hugh explains that, although the new alignment is to be fully remediated to modern standards (1 in 10 rock cover), a pragmatic risk-based approach is being taken for the old trackbed which previously carried trains.

The Framework Contract The above works are intended to minimise the time for project completion. Another piece of work intended to do this is letting an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) framework contract. After a tender competition, this was awarded in March this year to BAM Nuttall, who had anyway been the last remaining bidder for the previous DBFM contract. It is a £2 million contract for advanced works and further project design

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 21

feature work for which Atkins is the main designer with URS assessing bridges and Donaldsons doing earthwork design.

There is also an option for main works to be done by the contractor and to increase the contract value as a result. This potentially saves some months as it avoids letting a new main works contract. BAM have to submit a proposal for each work package which, if acceptable to Network Rail, will be awarded quickly, though BAM have no guarantee that they will get all the work on the project.

Hugh advises that, when proposals are considered, price is not the only consideration. For example, an important issue for Network Rail is the respective risk allocation between client and contractor for issues such as utilities, planning and land.

Letting the framework contract was a time consuming task which, of necessity, involved large amounts of paper with technical specifications and contract conditions. The role of the procurement team in putting all this together, and ensuring that contractor’s bids were correctly assessed, is perhaps one of the unsung aspects of project management. Hugh advises that, as well as commercial considerations, the criteria used to evaluate the Borders framework contract included technical input, programming ideas and resource management strategy including management of sub contractors.

Thinking about maintenance Transport Scotland’s original DBFM contract included maintenance of the line for 30 years to ensure the contractor’s design took account of maintenance. So

how does Network Rail address this issue?

Hugh explains that project design options considered 30 year maintenance cost and that Scotland’s newly appointed director of asset management has to agree the project design. Moreover, the project has many existing bridges for which Network Rail, with its greater asset base, can take a more pragmatic view than a DBFM contractor.

A comment made by Gavin Gerrard of BAM Nuttall at an Institution of Civil Engineers presentation provides an interesting insight. Gavin advised that the previous DBFM contract had forced BAM Nuttall to think about maintenance as never before. It significantly influenced their initial design and that experience has enabled them to offer design suggestions to reduce maintenance cost. One example was their suggestion that, compared with steel, shorter concrete beams with retained earthwork parapets is the cheapest way of bridging a gap. So it would seem that, although DBFM is dead, its influence lives on.

MILLERHILL YARD

SHAWFAIR STATION

The new Waverley route For its first 3.6km, the line is a new alignment with a station at Shawfair, significant roadworks and a crossing under the Edinburgh City Bypass. After rejoining the old solum, new viaducts at Hardengreen roundabout and Gorebridge are required, with spans of 190 and 120 metres respectively, where the A7 road has cut the old railway. Between these new viaducts is the line’s signature structure, the 23-arch

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NEW RAILWAY / STATION

ORIGINAL SOLUM

STRUCTURAL PRECAST FOR RAILWAYS

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22 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

Edinburgh Waverley

(Right) Inspecting Bowshanks Tunnel.

(Below) Newbattle Viaduct - the line’s signature structure.

Brunstane Newcraighall Shawfair NEW BRIDGE UNDER EDINBURGH CITY BYPASS GLENESK VIADUCT

Eskbank

NEW VIADUCT OVER HARDENGREEN ROUNDABOUT NEWBATTLE VIADUCT

Newtongrange

NEW VIADUCT OVER A7

Gorebridge

FALAHILL SUMMIT A7 ROADWORKS NATIONAL GRID HP PIPELINE

14 EXISTING BRIDGES OVER GALA WATER

LEVEL CROSSING REPLACED BY BRIDGE

A

W ATE R

LEVEL CROSSING REPLACED BY BRIDGE

GA

L

Stow

BOWSHANKS TUNNEL

Newbattle viaduct which is still in good condition. Stations are to be provided at Eskbank, Newtongrange and Gorebridge.

After Gorebridge, the line climbs to the 271 metre high Falahill summit and then descends by the twisting Gala Water over 16 bridges, 14 of which are still in place. Passing through Stow station, the line reaches Galashiels where there is a new embankment with underbridges over the new road layout. After leaving Galashiels, an original viaduct takes the line over the River Tweed where it terminates at the new Tweedbank station.

The line will have three dynamic loops, the exact locations of which are still to be defined as consideration is being given to avoiding double tracking at some structures. One such location is Bowshanks tunnel which is brick lined in poor rock. Here, the passive provision for any future electrification clearance presents significant problems if the tunnel is double tracked. With the trackbed being close to river level, the option of lowering the track could be difficult.

A day on the line

TWO NEW BRIDGES OVER GALA WATER

Galashiels

NEW ALIGNMENT THROUGH GALASHIELS REDBRIDGE VIADUCT 132kV CABLES

Tweedbank RI

V

ER

DISUSED WAVERLEY TRACKBED TO CARLISLE

TW

EED

N

REUSED TRACKBED/STRUCTURE

EXISTING LINE/STATION

NEW TRACKBED/STRUCTURE/STATION

BUILT-UP AREA

the rail engineer last visited the project in February 2011, so a day on site with scheme project manager David Elvy provided an interesting opportunity to see what has changed. Almost all the buildings on the solum have now been demolished, including industrial units at Galashiels. Some fencing has also been erected and the most noticeable work has been large scale vegetation clearance. He explained that, as far as possible, this was done in a sensitive manner - for example he was able to save a row of trees planted by residents in Galashiels.

During this visit, Amey’s engineers, working for Network Rail maintenance, could be seen assessing earthworks to inform project design and for handback when the line becomes operational.

David outlined some of the construction challenges faced by the project. Many alternative routes for roads and pedestrians have to be provided before work can commence on the solum with many requiring time-consuming utility work. He felt that work on river bridges that can only be carried out for three months a year will present the greatest programme challenge.

Some of the old railway’s cuttings have been filled with spoil from improvements to the adjacent A7 road. Removal of this and other debris will require many lorry movements, although some track lifting will reuse a portion of the excavated material. New material for the trackbed will also have to be brought onto site, so David has put a great deal of thought into the traffic management plan to control these movements. For example, lorries will be kept out of Galashiels as much as possible and so some will have to take a longer route via the A68.

How much and when?

It is now six years since the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act 2006 was passed and Network Rail has been involved with the project for less than a year. So it is understandable that, with the work involved in producing a robust estimate, Network Rail cannot yet commit to a project cost and completion date. From the work done so far Hugh is hopeful that Network Rail can meet project cost requirements, currently estimated to be £235 to £295 million.

The Scottish Government is still committed to a December 2014 completion and Network Rail is working with Transport Scotland to see if this date can be achieved.

With main construction starting over a year later than was envisaged early in 2011, this is clearly a challenging target.

Whatever the eventually agreed cost and programme, Hugh’s team’s track record together with BAM Nuttall’s longer project involvement give confidence that it will be delivered to the agreed cost and time.

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 23

bridges & tunnels

writer

Nigel

Wordsworth

bridges

valley

(and a dipper) readers of the rail engineer will R egular have read reports on many infrastructure projects carried out all around the country in a variety of terrains. They will be forgiven for thinking that, after meticulous planning, all projects go exactly to plan and are delivered “on time and under budget”.

Unfortunately, real life isn’t like that. Most projects do indeed go as planned, although they will all have their little quirks and snags which have to be addressed. However, occasionally the opposing team, made up of the gods, Mother Nature, gremlins, protected species and the weather, can conspire against the project team. That’s when the ability to think quickly, adapt plans and timescales and find suitable ‘realtime’ solutions is critical, as is the sharing of lessons learnt post project.

Picturesque Esk One recent example of this was on Network Rail’s Esk Valley line in the North Yorkshire Moors, between Middlesbrough and Whitby. The River Esk meanders through the valley, criss-crossed by the railway. A series of six bridges were built in the area in 1864, all to a similar design, which comprised a series of brick arches over the valley and a metallic bridge over the river itself. The bridges were each constructed from two wrought iron main parapet girders with curved cast iron top flanges. Wrought iron cross girders spanned between the parapet girders supporting the track mounted on longitudinal timbers.

In 1926, a strengthening scheme installed a steel spine beam to the underside of the bridge decks along the bridge centre line. At various times since, each bridge has had additional strengthening added in the form of bracing struts and extra stiffening.

By 2012, one bridge was disused and another, on the North York Moors Railway (NYMR), had already been replaced in 2010.

Now it was time to replace the other four, all of which are on Network Rail’s Esk Valley Line. As the route is regularly used by schoolchildren, the obvious best time was during holiday time.

So arrangements were made to do the work 2-11 June, which was school half term.

Making plans As is usual, plans were made by Network Rail and main contractor BAM Nuttall.

AECOM were appointed to do the design work, and ecological and ground surveys were undertaken.

Access is a problem in that area. With hills as steep as 33% (that’s 1 in 3!), getting materials in and out would be difficult. All the major components were therefore planned to come in by rail, and the lifting work would use two Kirow rail cranes, one from Colas Rail and the other from Volker Rail. This significantly reduced the impact of the project on the surrounding environment.

Best practice was adopted from an earlier scheme - the replacement of NYMR’s bridge 30 in 2010, with a similar design principle adopted. All bridges would consist of two main steel girders braced together supporting a precast concrete segmental deck with walkways. Unlike the NYMR bridge, the beams would be of weathering steel, so there would be no need for future maintenance painting regimes.

Due to the locality of the bridges, they would be constructed in two pairs utilising the same principal resources. The main project compound would be at Carr End bridge (Structure 81), close to Glaisdale railway station, with Thorneywaite (76), 1144 yards further away, being the second of its pair. Four and a quarter miles away is Duck bridge (60), with Danby (58) 621 yards beyond that.

Cutting out the old Duck bridge.

24 | the rail engineer | august 2012

Sparks fly at Duck bridge.

bridges & tunnels

Setting up shop.

Neighbours close to the compound at Glaisdale were contacted and the team worked closely with them to try and mitigate the impact of the works.

Unfortunately, they remained vocal in their opposition to what is a “once in a life time” project.

With everything in place, preparations could begin. Some of the brick arches, such as the small cattle bridge (Structure 59) between Danby and Duck, had to be shored up and strengthened with temporary propping to withstand the weight of the Kirows when carrying a load. Doing the same on the brick arches at Carr End closed the road, so that to drive between the site compound and Glaisdale station, just on the other side of the tracks, meant a detour of around five miles.

Materials came in by train, and the two Kirows arrived. A family of blue tits was found nesting in one of the bridge structures, but the chicks fledged three days before work was due to commence so there were no problems there.

breeding pairs in the UK. However, their nests cannot be disturbed without a licence from Natural England. Given the bank holiday, this was going to take several days to procure.

Network Rail and the BAM Nuttall project team reset their programme to minimise delay to Carr End and to start work on the other three bridges.

Darned dipper - part 1 However, the project team weren’t so lucky when, two days before the possession, as scaffolding and netting were being installed, a dipper was found nesting deep within Carr End bridge. She was so far in, that the nest could not be seen from ground level at all.

The only way to have spotted the nest would have been to stand waist-deep in the river itself.

Dippers are rounded, short-tailed birds which are noted for walking into and under water in search of food. They are not particularly rare - the RSPB believes that there are between 6,800 and 20,000

Making a start Props were installed between the abutments, holding them apart and in place so that there was no danger of them collapsing inwards under the weight of a Kirow crane close to the edge. In addition, due to exceptionally poor ground conditions at Danby, embankments were stabilised under the high Kirow loading by placing fill material at the toe of the slopes.

Demolition contractors S Evans & Sons moved in, and the three other bridges started to come down. The old cast/wrought iron structures were cut free and lifted out

by the Kirows, then moved to compounds where they were cut up and the pieces loaded into lorries. Some of the beams exceeded the carrying capacity of the Kirows so they were cut into smaller sections. Before that, strengthening angles were added to ensure girder stability was maintained even while the cuts were being made.

The bridge abutments were dug away, freeing the old 1926 spine beams which were similarly removed. More of the abutments were cut away, making room for new precast concrete impost units to be fitted. These imposts, together with the concrete bridge deck sections, were already on site having been manufactured by Macrete in Northern Ireland.

With the bridges removed, the Colas Kirow was land-locked between Danby and Duck.

Careful planning had made sure that all the components were on site, and a large RRV excavator on the Middlesbrough side of Danby was utilised to undertake the excavations on that abutment.

26 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

Once sufficient material had been removed, a layer of semidry concrete was carefully levelled to within a couple of millimetres of the design requirement and the impost units lowered into place.

Several of the bridges had a high degree of skew. Danby had none, but Duck was 42°, Thorneywaite 52° and Carr End 57°. The impost units were designed to remove that skew, allowing the new beams and concrete deck sections to be regular in shape.

Darned dipper - Part 2

By Wednesday 6 June, all three bridges were out and work was continuing on the abutments. Natural England, having visited site, gave verbal consent to remove the dipper from Carr End, though physical removal could not take place until a formal licence was in place which took another 24 hours.

Once granted, the nest was immediately relocated, allowing work to start, though time taken to resolve the issue left the project requiring an extension to the original possession of around 24 to 48 hours.

Work stopped while the wiring was repaired, which took twelve hours.

Scheme project manager Darryl White himself found the vital missing fuse amongst the ballast to get the Kirow up and running. The only requirement now was to weld the conduit back to the main jib.

Amazingly this was undertaken by a local mechanic who could have asked for the earth but only charged the magnificent sum of £20. Well worth the money!

Back in action, the Kirow removed the offending bridge beams and work on the abutments could begin.

But now there was another delay. The rain had been heavy for a few days, and as a result the water level in the river had risen.

Even though the danger to the workforce had originally been assessed as minimal, with harnesses and life jackets utilised where required, by the weekend the river was in flood. HM Inspectors asked the project to suspend work while divers, boats and lifelines were acquired in case anyone should fall in the river. It was another day lost although, in view of the conditions, it was a sensible precaution.

Beams, section and hollow chambers Crane issues Demolition got underway, and before long the old bridge deck was ready to be removed. When first lifted, the beams tilted, implying that they weren’t balanced. A short section was cut off to equalise things, and the lift started again. This time it tilted even more alarmingly the other way, causing the end of the lifting beam to hit the crane jib, breaking a metal conduit and damaging the wiring inside.

(Inset top) The spine beams at Danby had to go in separately.

(Bottom) Installing the precast concrete deck sections.

By now, the other three bridges were nearing completion. The spine beams for the new bridges had been made by Allerton Steel and delivered to site via train from AV Dawson’s yard in Middlesbrough. At Danby, the beams had been delivered to site already bolted together but it was decided that, as there was only one prop in this location, it would be safer to reduce the load and install the beams singly. The pre-assembled beam was unbolted, and each part installed separately. Some of the new beams

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 27

bridges & tunnels

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28 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

Once installed, the precast concrete deck sections were fitted. Resembling an upside-down top hat in section, track was relayed in the “crown” section, while the “brim” on either side formed the walkway. Each section had rectangular holes in the bottom, corresponding with shear studs on the beams that were grouted into place to stitch the concrete section to the steel beams and allow the section to act monothically. At each end of the bridge, a precast concrete step section gave access to the walkway, which was fitted with a handrail.

When each bridge was complete, the ballast and track could go back down, ready for tamping.

Meanwhile, there were more delays at Carr End. Once the bridge deck was up, it was discovered that the original abutments, as built, were hollow and made up of a number of chambers or voids. At some stage, probably during the fitting of the spine beam in 1926, these had been half filled with clay, which is what the trial coring had shown. However, they weren’t full, and would need to be, to support the Kirow installation loads. Fourteen lorry-loads of ready-mix concrete (80 cubic metres in total) had to be conjured up quickly. were nearly 34m long and, to extend the reach of Kirow, these were installed with counterweights to offset the centre of gravity closer to the crane.

Temperamental tampers

Railway Monitoring

Instantel Calibration Centre

At Duck and Danby, tamper trouble saw the job completed with a 20mph speed restriction. A second tamp was organised through Network Rail NDS for Thorneywaite and Carr End, but unfortunately the tamper broke down again, with a complete new tamp required post possession.

Despite the challenges (of which there were many), the project was finally finished and the bridges handed back on Saturday 16 June, five days later than planned. On the following day, the bridges were crossed by the famous Sir Nigel Gresley A4 steam locomotive which was travelling to Grosmont to carry the Olympic torch on its journey through Yorkshire. That deadline had been another pressure to get the job completed.

So, a very relieved project team were pleased to be finished. Two follow up tamps would be required to restore the linespeed to 45mph (35 on Carr End but that is so close to Glaisdale Station that it is impossible to do that speed anyway) and these were carried out before the end of June.

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the locals for remobilising and demobilising and it’s probably saved at least another 3 months on site.

“Of course I’m disappointed that the works overran, but taking into consideration the challenges faced and the intense pressure that we, Network Rail and BAM Nuttall, were all under, I think we worked well together to see the job through to completion - it should be noted without any accidents or injury.”

Richard Allan, area director for the train operator Northern Rail, was in agreement. “The decision to extend the closure of the Esk Valley line was a joint decision reached with our colleagues at Network Rail. We chose to extend the blockade, as opposed to stopping work all together, in order to reduce the overall disruption to local communities in the Esk Valley.

“Although the work did overrun by five days, we managed to reduce impact as well as cost, by ensuring further blockades did not happen, especially during weekends, which are vital to Whitby’s busy tourism season.

With both man and machine already onsite, it was a more cost effective approach for the industry on a whole, to remain there and finish the work which had been started.”

Darryl White reflected on a difficult few weeks. “I’m pleased all of the work was completed, as having to come back, more than likely during the winter, would have been particularly difficult. This was definitely the best outcome for everyone, putting the customer first. A return visit to complete Carr End would have taken longer than the five day overrun. You have to add into this the disruption to

Looking forward But what of the challenges - the birds, the weather, the cranes and the structures themselves? A thorough “lessons learnt” exercise was carried out the Monday after work completed to make sure it was fresh in the minds of all those involved.

Nesting birds were naturally top of the list. Thanks to the dipper, not only will future surveys be suitably timed to take account of bird nesting seasons, but wherever possible mitigation will be put in ahead of work starting to prevent the problem.

The ORR intervention was also discussed, along with the fact that the British weather will always remain a challenge. When working over water, worst case scenarios will be taken into account at planning stages.

As for combining works (four bridges, one job), it was decided that, for future projects, different scenarios will need to be tested through a schedule risk assessment process which challenges the robustness of the programme and the likelihood of success. Fallback plans should be in place to enable the right decisions to be made by project teams.

So that’s it. Four new bridges in the Esk valley. Darryl White Network Rail Scheme Project Manager just hopes that, on his next job, the opposing team of the gods, Mother Nature and the gremlins all stay at home!

Many thanks to Darryl White and the Network Rail and BAM Nuttall project teams for their courtesy and assistance in arranging a site visit and helping with this article.

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30 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels writer

Graeme

Bickerdike

That sinking feeling years and earning £40,000 for their troubles.

With the end in sight, two spans collapsed on 6 October 1849, killing three men and injuring a fourth. Blame was attributed to heavy rains - percolating through the brickwork to prevent the mortar from setting - compounded by the premature removal of the arches’ centring.

Flaws and imperfections

The undulating line of the parapet tells the story of the viaduct’s settlement.

(Inset) The northern arches with the abbey gatehouse in the foreground.

(Bottom) Needle beams are inserted above the pier to form a springer for the new arch.

(Bottom far right) Formwork and reinforcements are fitted ready for the spray concreting.

Abbey was not a lucky place.

S tanlow Built on the Mersey’s south bank, the last decade of the thirteenth century brought flooding, storm damage and fire.

No surprise then that its resident monks craved calmer waters, finding them 40 miles away in north Lancashire. There, alongside the River Calder, they established new domestic ranges, outbuildings and a fine church, enclosing the site with crenellated walls and successfully exploiting local resources to flourish financially. It was a seat of genuine industry, built on crops, wool, iron and coal. But the Dissolution of the Monasteries did for it, prompting piecemeal destruction over the centuries that followed.

Today the remains are listed - still significant local landmarks although somewhat overshadowed by a more recent structure of even greater scale just 70 yards beyond the surviving gatehouse.

Engineering at a price 1845 saw Royal Assent for an Act that incorporated the Bolton Blackburn Clitheroe & West Yorkshire Railway (BBC&WYR) known later as the Blackburn Railway to save time and breath. Planned as a 45-mile connection between Bolton and the North Western Railway at Long Preston, its southern section was completed in stages, opening to Chatburn - two miles north of Clitheroe - on 22 June 1850. The through route would not be advanced for another 30 years, joining the then-Midland line at Hellifield and creating a strategically important link from Manchester to Glasgow via the Settle and Carlisle.

Engineered by Terrence Wolfe Flanagan, the BBC&WYR boasted two substantial structures: the 2,015-yard Sough Tunnel and a viaduct of 48 arches across the Calder valley. This stands alongside the abbey ruins and, to help harmonise it with them, Flanagan inserted brick screens beneath two of the spans, decorated with large Gothic arches.

Reputedly comprising seven million bricks (it’s not known who counted them), Whalley Viaduct carries its two-track railway for 660 yards, crossing the river at a height of 70 feet and climbing to the south on a gradient of 1:82. It commands the landscape thereabouts. Contractors Nowell Hattersley & Shaw were given the job of erecting it, taking three

Defects have manifested themselves throughout the viaduct’s history, with the first recorded strengthening work taking place in 1884. Today, the undulating line of the parapet tells its own story. Timber piles support the piers: numbers 13 and 14 (in the river), 46 and 47 were underpinned as part of two projects, the first taking place in the early 1940s. The northernmost arch was also rebuilt. And evident throughout are patch repairs and recasing. Unsurprisingly then, Network Rail has a long-term monitoring plan in place, with sensors located at various points along the structure tied to the usual system of alerts and alarms.

Routine inspections late in 2010 recorded significant defects in Span 34 towards the northern end - including flattening to the west ring face of the arch

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 31

bridges & tunnels barrel and a full-width transverse crack. It was immediately clear that Network Rail Infrastructure Projects would need to fast-track another intervention, with Birse Rail assigned the works under the civils framework agreement.

To better understand how the structure was behaving, Datum Monitoring Services installed crack and rotation sensors around the affected span, together with two extensometers alongside the east and west faces of Pier 34. Six cores were drilled through the pier to confirm its composition: solid brickwork sitting on a sandstone raft above the timber piles.

Some evidence of hay bales was also apparent.

Over the spring months, movement in the arch appeared to be a function of thermal expansion - sometimes as much as 5mm in a day - but recovery was only partial so it was gradually rotating towards the north, with the crack acting as a hinge.

The east-elevation spandrel face was also being pushed outwards. Subsequent 3D monitoring suggested that the deformation was actually being driven by settlement of the pier, at a rate of around 5mm per month during wetter periods. Computer modelling techniques confirmed this through analysis of the gathered data.

Ground investigations, performed by BAM Ritchies, recorded a locally high water table almost reaching ground level - the seasonal rise and fall of which could have hastened the timber piles’ deterioration through repeated cycles of wetting and drying.

Concrete boot Needle beam Stool New concrete pile

Permanent steel casing Original timber pile Sandstone raft

Additional insight was obtained using a Cone Penetration Testing truck provided by Lankelma. Sinking a borehole for a piezometer revealed that disturbance of the groundwater regime accelerated the vertical movement of the pier, adding to the future challenges confronting the project team.

The rock head was encountered 6.5-8.15m below ground level, varying across the pier.

A limited menu Timescales and the need for guaranteed longevity helped to define the way forward.

Construction methodology was another critical factor, given the possibility of transitory instability. Whatever the

Geotechnical Solutions

permanent solution, it would have to be delivered sensitively in light of the structure’s condition. A two-phased approach was therefore adopted, first stabilising the arch with a concrete ring before then installing piles onto which the pier’s load would be transferred.

Birse Rail appointed Donaldson Associates to develop the Form B design. This identified complex sequencing to mitigate the risks involved, although it was recognised that there would be some “evolution” as practical experience filled knowledge gaps. The solution reflected the viaduct’s assigned capacity of RA8 at 45mph with a heavy axle weight restriction of 20mph.

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32 | the rail engineer | august 2012

(Above) A coring rig is set up above one of the piles.

Constraints came in a number of forms, the viaduct’s Grade II listed status being just one. But Ribble Valley Borough Council adopted a helpfully pragmatic position in granting consent. More significantly, the availability of only one wheels-free possession late in November 2011 needed for initial shotcreting - created a fixed point in time around which the programme would have to be planned and executed.

Welcome to Whalley (Inset) The arrangement of needle beams, stools and piles.

(Background) The completed arch and underpinned piers.

Site mobilisation occurred in October with the establishment of a compound in a field alongside the viaduct. Span 34 was the other side of a lane - the west elevation being accessed through a narrow parcel of land in which the northern part of the structure stands, necessitating a section of wall to be taken down.

Standard Scaffolding Specialists used a school playing field to reach the east elevation,

bridges & tunnels erecting a protective screen between the worksite and very-adjacent bungalows. All this demanded land access agreements. An 11kV power cable, inconveniently passing beneath the affected arch, had to be diverted further south.

Using MEWPs (Mobile Elevating Work Platforms), initial stabilisation work involved pinning, grouting and stitching to spans 33, 34 and 35. Additional monitoring was also installed. Two rows of staggered needle beams were then inserted above each of the two piers to form springers for the new 475mm concrete arch and its reinforcements, to sit beneath the existing barrel.

Located at 490mm centres, each hole was core drilled, the beam inserted and fully grouted up before work began on the next, the overall process following a carefully developed sequence. This paved the way for the first spray-concrete operation during November’s crucial 29-hour possession.

Recognising that, at this stage, the additional dead load of the planned arch could prompt further deterioration, it was decided only to form an intermediate ‘holding’ ring of 150mm.

Concurrently, a trial pile was driven and load tested, 3.5m from the west elevation, to confirm the design suitability and proposed methodology. After a seven-day curing period, work proceeded with the structural piling, undertaken by main subcontractor APB Group - a predetermined sequence again being adopted, although this differed to that specified in the design as a consequence of the adverse ground conditions. There are 14 piles per pier; seven per elevation - each was poured in 450mm permanent steel casings, it being impractical to subsequently remove them as would generally be the case due to the inevitable disturbance it would cause.

After each opposing pair was sunk, the brickwork was cored, a beam installed and the hole grouted at the earliest opportunity to start transferring the load, the intention being to reduce any settlement. This required supporting stools to be secured between the piles and the beam.

Room for manoeuvre With the piles at 1.2 metre centres, the piling rig’s lateral operation became increasingly restricted as more needle beams were inserted on a ‘do one, miss two’ rotation. Mounting the coring drill suffered from similar constraints. End to end, this

critical process took about four weeks during which time three wet months worth of settlement - about 15mm - was recorded.

With the site closing down for Christmas, it was vital to have confidence that everything was fully supported and stabilised, with contractors remaining on standby to respond to any alarms.

The pier element of the design was concluded with the installation of intermediate needle beams which would load the reinforced concrete boots around the piers’ bases once they were cast. This allowed the remaining arch reinforcement and shotcreting to be progressed - a job that APB Group subcontracted to BAM Ritchies.

In terms of eccentric loading, the impact on the piers is limited, with the new arch adding around 10% to the dead load. To soften its visual impact, the elevation sections were faced in brick, with corbelled brickwork detail beneath connecting the new with the old.

Years of movement had opened some of the mortar joints between the parapet and string course. As a final act, the parapets were pinned to ensure gravity couldn’t take the initiative if further movement occurred.

Two expansion joints were introduced on each elevation, relieving some of the compressive forces focussed at this location.

By early April the physical works were done; the site shut down on the 24th.

Up against it Continuing monitoring of the installed strain gauges show the load is being progressively transferred to the piles. Any arch movement is now exclusively thermal, expanding and contracting as would be expected. And there are no signs of this new hard spot pushing problems elsewhere.

Costing a little under £2 million, this scheme met no-one’s definition of cheap and cheerful. But what’s reflected in that price is the severity of the problem, the nochoice solution, the logistical complexity and the challenges thrown up by dynamic conditions to which the team had to respond. Viewed in that context, a successful and entirely non-disruptive scheme has emerged here from demanding circumstances. No mean feat.

Whalley Abbey will remain the only ruin locally.

Many thanks to Dan Wilcock and Mark Billington of Network Rail, and Birse Rail’s Gavin Collins and Graham Gallagher for their help with this article.

34 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

Russian railways shoot for Olympic gold writer

David Shirres linging to a narrow strip of coastline C between the Caucasus Mountains and

Tunnel lining formwork at northern portal of road tunnel No.1.

the Black Sea, the 150 kilometre long Sochi conurbation is the world’s secondlongest after Los Angeles. Its terrain is such that planes can only land at its airport from the sea. In Russia, Sochi is a popular tourist resort with long beaches, tropical palms, sunshine and a humid subtropical climate. In 2007, it was chosen to host the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Although this might seem an odd choice, Sochi does have a mountain winter resort 48 kilometres inland where the outdoor events will be held. Indoor games are to be held on the coast at a new Olympic Park which, after the games, will be the site of the first Russian Grand Prix. Given that most of the £21 billion being spent preparing for these games is on infrastructure improvements, the rail engineer was keen to accept an invitation from Russian Railways (RZD) to see its Olympic rail improvements.

Into the mountains As the mountain venue is currently reached by a twisting narrow road through a deep river valley, a new high capacity road / rail corridor is required. This project includes a 50km road with six major junctions and a

Tunnel Complex

Length (metres) / Tunnelling technique DB - Drill and Blast; HR - Road header; TBM Tunnel Boring Machine

Rail Tunnel 1

2523

RH

2

116

DB

3

4055

TBM

4

449

DB

5

2857

TBM

6

407

DB

Total

48km railway with two new stations. This line will be electrified at 25kV and climbs to 560 metres with a maximum gradient of 1 in 25. It is single tracked in the mountains with four dynamic loops, giving a capacity of four train pairs per hour. Due to the demanding nature of the terrain, 46% of this new line consists of bridges or tunnels. This explains why the project’s cost is £4.5 billion, of which 60% is the new rail line.

With such a narrow corridor, road and rail construction is inseparable. For example, there are three tunnel complexes where parallel road and rail tunnels share the same service tunnel. As shown in the table, 12 tunnels totalling 27.4km are being constructed by Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM), Roadheaders (RH) or Drilling and Blasting (DB). TBMs are both German

10407

Road Tunnel 2296

RH

Total length (metres)

Service Tunnel 2366

RH

7185 116

4034

TBM

4124

TBM

12213 449

1367

TBM

2838

TBM

7062 407

7697

9328

27432

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 35

bridges & tunnels Herrenknecht and Canadian Lovat machines.

Rail, road and service tunnels are typically 10.6, 13.2 and 6.2 metres in diameter. All rail tunnels are single tracked, except for the double tracked Number 6 tunnel, and the scheme won New Civil Engineer’s Major Tunnelling Project of the year in 2011.

Bridges galore The project includes 23 rail and 23 road bridges, totalling 11.5 km and 9 km respectively, criss-crossing the river Mzymta.

Bridge designers had to take account of the region being subject to earthquakes and a curvature radius of 600 to 1200 metres for most of the rail bridges.

The large number of bridges, required by the design to minimise the impact on the river bed, meant that they could be built in kit form with standard components. Beam spans ranged from 18 to 34 metres and trussed girders from 55 to 110 metres. The exception is a 766 metre cable-stayed road bridge, with pylons 82 metres high and a maximum span of 312 metres. At this location, the river runs directly below the line of the road and the long bridge removes the need for pylons in the river.

The project’s enabling works are a further indication of its scale. These include eight work camps housing 7,800 people, five access roads totalling 37km and 10 temporary bridges. Electrical substations at the tunnel portals have a total capacity of 41.3 MW and are fed from 40km of new power lines. On the coast, two freight yards were opened in 2009, one for aggregates and one for construction components, with annual capacities of 11 million and 3.7 million tons respectively. The largest construction facility is a tunnel lining plant that also houses 570 workers. The production capacity of its four production lines, which produce various types of lining, is 15,000 cubic metres per month.

A controversial aspect of the project is its environmental impact on the Sochi National park, in particular the river Mzymta. In consultation with Greenpeace Russia and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the design was changed to either avoid particularly sensitive areas or to minimise impact by the use of elevated structures.

Other mitigation measures include planting 163,000 rare plants, the provision of animal crossings and releasing 50,000 salmon yearlings into the river. Once construction is complete the riverbed and floodplain will be subject to remedial works.

Visiting the project in May 2012, it is clear that much has been achieved, including almost all of the tunnelling. RZD advises that work is 75% complete and are confident that the road / rail corridor will be completed by April 2013, after which there is a three month testing and commissioning programme to ensure the route is ready for the games in February 2014.

these bottlenecks had to be removed.

From 2008 until April this year these sections have been progressively doubled, increasing the lines capacity from 54 to 70 train pairs per day. The construction of these second tracks required significant structures along the shore and two additional single track tunnels of 1km and 0.8km.

At Adler, the station is being rebuilt as a major interchange hub.

One reason for this is that passengers using the newly opened Sochi airport line have to change here for Olympic venues. Another is to provide a park and ride facility and a maritime connection to reduce road congestion along the Black Sea coast. When completed, the station will have a floor area of 23,000 square metres on six levels. Its normal capacity is 15,000 passengers an hour, although during the Olympics it will be able to handle 24,000. Work on the station was well advanced when THE RAIL ENGINEER visited, during which cross bracing for earthquake protection could be seen. RZD expect to complete the station by the end of the year.

From Adler, a new 2.8km long railway to an elevated station at Sochi Airport was opened in February of this year. This railway included two tunnels (164 metres and 368 metres long), four bridges totalling 794 metres, and 980 metres of retaining walls. It has a capacity of four trains per hour and is expected to carry 60% of all airline passengers during the games.

Along the coast Until recently, the 103km railway between Tuapse and Adler had eight single-track sections totalling 30km. With Sochi’s Olympic preparations requiring an additional 65 million tons of freight, and the big increase in Olympic passenger traffic,

The train just arrived from Germany Doubtless Sochi’s rail infrastructure will be ready for its games, but what of the trains to run on it? In May, the first new Olympic train had just arrived from Germany. From Siemens’ Krefeld factory north west of

Düsseldorf, its journey involved a barge along the Rhine to Amsterdam, a coaster to Sassnitz, a train ferry to Ust Luga near St Petersburg, from where it ran 2,500km to Sochi.

This journey started in 2009 with an agreement between RZD and Siemens to develop and deliver 38 five-car suburban electric multiple units (EMUs). To Siemens, these trains are the Desiro RUS, the latest in their Desiro EMU family. In Russia, they have been named Lastochka, Russian for swallow.

This is the first of 294 such trains. However, few will make the tortuous journey from Krefeld. Part of RZD’s international strategy is localisation of production to both reduce the cost of trains and develop Russia’s manufacturing capability. Siemens have clearly bought into this strategy, having signed contracts in 2010 and 2011 to deliver a further 16 and 240 trains with respectively 35% and 80% of the production value in Russia. It is investing £160 million to construct a factory at Yekaterinburg for this purpose.

The Lastochka is a big train. At 3.5 metres wide it is 0.7 metres wider than its Scottish cousin, the class 380 Desiro unit which is also manufactured at Krefeld. This explains why,

by UK standards, the Lastochka might be thought heavy at 54 tons per car. In fact, it has

(Top) Diagram of new road / rail corridor.

(Inset) Diagram of Sochi’s Olympic rail improvements.

36 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

using the system. The first KLUB device was certified in 1994 and there are now around 30,000 vehicles so fitted.

KLUB-U can override the driver to ensure maximum permitted speed is not exceeded and signals are not passed at danger. It also controls driver vigilance, applies sanders if required and records train movement data. If digital radio is available, KLUB-U requires radio authorisation to pass a signal at danger and give controllers the ability to remotely stop a train in an emergency.

Sochi’s Olympic lines will be a pilot to further development of this system by the use of digital radio, GLONASS and KLUB-U to provide radio block signalling that meets the requirements of ERTMS level 2.

This is part of a £1.2 billion deal between RZD and Finmeccanica of Italy which will use Russian radio block signalling whilst the Italians provide telecoms expertise. The pilot scheme will also include a computerised traffic management system that can implement the optimum train service pattern to recover from any disruption.

(Top) Rebuilding Adler station.

(Inset) Lastochka being loaded into a Rhine barge and (below) KLUB-U Driver’s display panel.

Be the best you can be a lightweight body shell made up of aluminium fabrications and extruded profiles.

With this, and an intelligent traction control system, Siemens claim that their Desiro RUS will use 30% less energy than current Russian EMUs. There are power cars at each end of the five coach unit that deliver a total of 2,550kW. The trains have a dual voltage power supply, 3kV DC and 25kV AC, and are fitted with regenerative braking.

They have been tested in Rail Tec Arsenal’s climatic wind tunnel in Vienna at temperatures between -40°C and +40°C, and underframe equipment is designed to prevent the accumulation of ice and snow.

KLUB Class Signalling In-cab signalling is provided by a Unified Integrated Locomotive Safety System (KLUBU), a system developed by RZD which uses coils under the train to detect AC pulse patterns in the track that denote signal aspects. KLUB-U uses GPS, supplemented by wheel sensors, and a stored electronic rail system map to display the train’s position, gradient, allowable speed and next significant asset. GPS is the Russian GLONASS (GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema) which is widely used

by Russia’s railways with 12,000 rail vehicles

The Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (Faster, Higher, Stronger) challenges individuals to become the best they can.

Sochi’s Olympic rail investment, with an award winning tunnelling project and cutting-edge signalling system, shows how Russian Railways are also striving to be the best. RZD has come a long way since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 by restructuring, privatisation, introducing new technology, and by engaging with leading international rail companies such as Siemens and Finmeccanica. As a result, those who come to Sochi in 2014 will see the world’s best athletes and a world class railway.

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Bombardier systems are easily adapted to existing equipment and can deliver increased safety, interoperability, high speed and reduced need for wayside infrastructure.

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40 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

and fall

e s i n r e Hidd don: its

d a H

EE

BY THR R U O F : Y GRAPH PHOTO

writer

Graeme

Bickerdike (Above) The section of masonry arch that collapsed with such tragic consequences on 2nd July 1861.

(Right above) No.1 shaft, at the south end of the tunnel, is just 3 feet deep effectively just an opening in the arch.

(Right below) Buttresses are provided to support the west side-wall, helping it to counteract the thrust of the arch.

the procrastination over High Speed 2 I fever gives way to construction, the line will navigate the Chiltern Hills via a series of tunnels - some bored, some ‘green’. The latter comprise open-ended concrete boxes, sunk into the landscape, above which the ground is restored to something resembling its original state. It’s a modern term but a well-established principle. When the Midland Railway pushed its Buxton branch through the Peak District in the 1860s, it excavated the 1,058-yard Haddon Tunnel so as not to blight the Duke of Rutland’s estate.

Opened 150 years ago this month, the structure has lain silent since closure in 1968.

Initial drawings survive in the Midland Railway Study Centre, with three signatories. Most notable is that of William Henry Barlow, installed as the Midland’s first Chief Engineer in 1844 and later celebrated for the outstanding St Pancras train shed. George Thomson, fulfilling the role of contractor, and his brother Peter also appended their names.

On paper, Haddon was envisaged as two tunnels, separated by a short cutting. The most southerly would extend for 120 yards, sitting on a ledge cut in the gently-graded hillside. Beyond this, a longer structure of 900 yards - punctured by two ventilation shafts - would comprise cut-and-cover sections either side of a bored portion.

But anyone visiting the tunnel today would struggle to recognise it from that description.

Two shafts became five; the cutting disappeared; substantial changes in section

are met; an open box brings 11 yards of daylight. Engineering contracts generally demand that work is carried out in accordance with the plans unless unforeseen problems are encountered. Trouble is, with activities below ground, virtually everything is unforeseen. So it comes as no surprise that the design evolved in response to prevailing circumstances. And clues to what they were have been left for us by civil engineer John S Allen.

The earth moves On 12 December 1861, Allen presented a paper on the tunnel’s construction to the Civil & Mechanical Engineers’ Society. This records that the stratum traversed throughout was shale overlying limestone, with a varying thickness of clay above it.

During the course of the work, movement of the clay caused several extensive slips, whilst ground pressure was sufficient to break 18inch timber crown bars.

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 41

bridges & tunnels

As built, the structure rises towards Bakewell on a gradient of 1:102 and comprises three sections: from the south portal, a covered way of around 490 yards, then a 350-yard tunnel, followed by another cut-and-cover section of 220 yards. Ground was broken on 10th September 1860 with the sinking of a shaft close to the main tunnel’s midpoint, from which a heading was driven. April 1861 saw work get underway at two points within the heading to excavate the tunnel to size. Progress was made in lengths of 12 feet, each requiring 12 crown bars, two miners’ sills and about 30 props of varying dimensions.

At either end, the covered ways took shape. Having opened the ground to the requisite depth, side walls and arching was inserted, and the excavation then backfilled.

In places, it is possible to walk alongside the tunnel at track level, such is the shallowness of the fill and gradient of the slope. As a consequence, the ground could not sufficiently counteract the thrust of the arch, prompting the introduction of buttresses to support the west wall.

Allen concludes that “The works are of an interesting and instructive character, and have been carried on with very slight interruption night and day.” In just 16 months, Haddon Tunnel had been buried seamlessly beneath the Duke of Rutland’s estate. Whilst Allen was right to celebrate it as an engineering success, one unmentioned failure - the cause of that “very slight interruption” - had a human impact that should not be overlooked.

A nomadic existence Alfred Plank was a lad of 15. On 7 April 1861, the national census records him as living in one of five ‘sod huts’ erected for the navvies at Great Rowsley, about a mile from the tunnel. Ten souls inhabited it, with Alfred’s father William head of the household. His wife Sarah and five of their eight children were joined by three boarders, also employed on the railway.

It seems likely that the family followed the contractor around the country as work arose. The youngsters were born in towns across South Wales; by 1851, home was north of Newark alongside the East Coast Main Line, then being built by the Great Northern. Now in Derbyshire, Alfred and his 13-year-old brother Charles were both wage earners, working on the Buxton line as horse drivers.

PLANS: MIDLAND RAILWAY STUDY CENTRE

Centres of excellence?

It’s fair to presume that Tuesday 2 July 1861 was much like any other.

Within the northern section of covered way, a 36-foot length of arch was waiting to be keyed with three courses of stonework. The centring that supported it comprised eight ribs, each with props at both ends and another in the middle. Three rakers steadied the structure.

The same centres had been deployed in the construction of four other lengths and were deemed fit for purpose again, their assembly overseen by carpenter Edward Sykes who inspected them twice daily.

Seventeen men were busy hereabouts.

During the early part of the afternoon, two or three loads of stone arrived, pushed up a wagonway that passed between the props.

Each wagon was opened at its end and the contents tipped into the metals. The blocks, some measuring 3 feet in length and weighing 3-5cwt, were then manoeuvred within reach of a derrick, located at the arch’s northern end, ready for hoisting up to the masons. Operating it was Alfred Plank, with motive power for chain-pulling provided by his horse.

Having just been emptied, six men pushed a wagon away from underneath the stonework. Up top, some of the masons paused for a breather whilst labourers adjusted the wooden boards on which the materials were wheeled, leaving 36-year-old George Buckley, Jacob Rowland, George Twyford and Frederick Bacon still on the centring. Then all hell broke loose. According to Bacon, “I dropped down just as if I had been suspended in the air by a cord, and the cord had been cut. There was not the slightest warning, not the least imaginable.”

The arch had gone. All hands immediately began clawing at the debris. By six o’clock - two hours after the event - the victims had been extricated. Lost were John Millington, aged 40, James Bird, 36, and 21year-old James Clarke. Two were found side-by-side, horribly crushed. And just a few feet from safety was the boy Plank, lying alongside his horse. A cart carried the bodies to the Royal Oak in Bakewell to await the inquest. Buckley had survived with the loss of both legs, but succumbed in the early hours.

Work on the tunnel got underway in September 1860 with the sinking of No.4 shaft near the midpoint of the bored section.

Whys and wherefores The affair cast a shadow over the district; the following day, hundreds arrived on site to pay their respects. At the Royal Oak, it fell to Coroner F G Bennett and a jury of 12 gentlemen to seek the accident’s cause, hearing two days of witness testimony.

Much attention was paid to the centres, determining their condition and the impact of bolt holes drilled through them. Expert opinion concluded that they were working well within their combined 560-tonne capacity, bearing about 120 tonnes.

It was learned that it had not been general policy to insert a middle prop until George Thomson had insisted upon it about a week earlier, “to make sure”. Edward Sykes revealed that the lone raker at the

Initial drawings for the tunnel show the north portal and a drainage system towards the southern end, neither of which were built to plan.

42 | the rail engineer | august 2012

bridges & tunnels

TION WSLEY ASSOCIA PHOTO: THE RO

Decline and renewal?

(Above) A remarkable image captured by Sir Miles Cave on 3rd July 1861, the day after a section of arch collapsed killing five navvies.

(Inset) The same scene today is considerably more tranquil.

north end of the centres had been taken away some time before the accident, although this was not unusual.

“They were put up to steady the centres and not to support them”, he insisted.

But it was W H Barlow who glued the clues together. “The statements of the witnesses indicate that the [eastern] end of the centres swerved out towards Rowsley, and also that all the centres twisted on their sides, the tiebeams being found towards Rowsley and the upper rib towards Bakewell. The only reasonable mode that occurs to my mind for explaining those appearances is that one or more of the props on the [eastern] extremities of the centres had been knocked away… The loss of a single prop…might cause the whole weight, by giving a twisting action to the centre prop, to give way.”

Accidental death became an occupational hazard for the navvy. Early in September 1861, 22-year-old John Bishop, also a horse driver, was knocked down in the tunnel and then run over by wagons. But such events did little to impede progress. The structural work was concluded in January 1862. The first public train passed through on 1 August, running to a temporary terminus at Hassop, three miles away. Buxton was connected in May 1863.

Test of strength

(Right) In 1900, distortion of the arch and problems with ventilation prompted the opening out of No.3 shaft.

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, it became apparent that all was not entirely well with the structure. At No.3 shaft, inspections had detected a movement of 1½ inches at one side of the brick arch.

Difficulties were also being experienced with ventilation - smoke was accumulating due to increased traffic levels. In July 1900, the Chief Engineer’s Office in Derby drew up plans to remove both the shaft and 33 feet of arch around it, instead constructing an open box. Work got underway almost immediately, taking eleven months.

With earth removed from above the brickwork, “a few stalwart masons” gathered on the morning of Sunday 2 December, waiting for the start signal that would follow the passage of the 10:38am service from Bakewell. Great difficulty was experienced breaking away the crown but, once gone, the remainder fell with little persuasion. A gang of men cleared the debris, allowing services to resume before midday - passenger trains having incurred no delay at all.

Such an intrusive scheme would not have been undertaken lightly, given its complexity and operational impact. The extent of the works offers some insight into the concerns engineers must have had over ground movement. Constructed in a 44’ x 46’ excavation, the enlarged shaft boasts concrete side walls faced with blue brindles, bonded together with ironwork. At no point is their thickness any less than 5’, and at the base exceeds 8’6”. Estimated at £2,000, the scheme’s final cost was £2,904, suggesting perhaps that the scale of the challenge was initially misjudged.

The line’s closure to through traffic was determined by a 1964 study into ‘duplicate’ trans-Pennine routes and the introduction, in April 1966, of electric haulage for Manchester-Euston services on the West Coast Main Line.

From October that year, freight was diverted via the Hope Valley line. The anticipated announcement that passenger expresses would follow was not long in coming, and on Saturday 29 June 1968 1H18 St Pancras-Manchester Piccadilly became the last train to endure Haddon Tunnel’s darkness.

Perhaps it is testament to those who built the tunnel - now bricked up and ignored for over 40 years - that it has survived the withdrawal of substantive maintenance largely unscathed. Any decline is sufficiently limited for its reopening to be pursued as part of an extension to Derbyshire’s Monsal Trail, occupying the trackbed northwards towards Buxton.

John Millington, George Buckley, James Bird, James Clarke and young Alfred Plank are honoured by a memorial in the churchyard at Rowsley. Their efforts, against the odds, were not unique; neither was their sacrifice. But were it not for their like, we would have no railway network. So when you next travel, don’t just gaze at the train - look under it, above it, around it.

Celebrate the work of the humble navvy.

And if you end up labouring on the green tunnels of High Speed 2, give thanks for the technological revolution of the past 150 years. Count your blessings for health and safety too. Yes, really.

Many thanks to Glynn Waite of the Rowsley Association and Dave Harris from the Midland Railway Study Centre for their help with this story.

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44 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

writer

Nigel

Wordsworth

D2WOexplained One scheme - many sites A total of forty-seven different worksites are included in the project.

The work, as originally planned by Amey under its Grip 4 design, is split down into three main areas. Eight stations need work, either platform modifications to copings and height, or awning alterations. Five bridges have to be modified,

Excavations at Deblenfield.

route from Doncaster to T heWater Orton runs for 110 miles through the East and West Midlands. It passes through Rotherham, bypasses Sheffield down to Chesterfield, and then takes the Midland Mainline through Alfreton and Langley Mill to Trent Junction. Thereafter it uses the freight-only line past Castle Donington, joins the DerbyBirmingham main line at Willington and runs down to Water Orton, just after Coleshill Parkway.

It is an ideal route for freight from the North East to the West Midlands apart from one thing - it is too narrow. As it stands, large containers can’t pass down the line without fouling bridges, platforms and station canopies.

So Doncaster to Water Orton (or D2WO) is the latest part of the rail network to be tackled as part of the gauge enhancement programme. Originally planned to enlarge various freight routes to W10 gauge, this section is now being taken out to W12 by Carillion under their multi-asset framework agreement (MAFA) with Network Rail.

either by full or partial reconstruction, or by jacking to increase the clearance underneath them, and track at a further 38 locations needs altering, mainly lowering, again to improve clearance under bridges.

Some sites are close together, others are more isolated. At some, access is easy, at others more problematic. Each one is an individual challenge, even if the actual work to be carried out is similar.

Straight talking Martin Thornton is the liaison officer for Carillion, which means he is the link between the project team and everyone who isn’t Network Rail. He meets with local authorities, residents, utilities and other

interested parties whom the work will affect to discuss the work that is necessary and attempt to minimise any disruption.

Any bridge reconstruction, or even jacking, has an impact on the other services that cross the railway on the same bridge. It is part of Martin’s role to negotiate any diversions to those services, which could include erecting a temporary service bridge.

Footpaths also occasionally need diverting, again by temporary footbridges and other means, and Martin negotiates those as well.

So, knowing that five bridges would need major work, Martin sat down with the electricity, gas and water companies to discuss the temporary move of their services. However, as part of those negotiations, he also looked at other alternatives which could be less disruptive and, to date, the anticipated scope has been significantly reduced.

Martin isn’t the only team member looking at alternatives. Paul Smedley leads the track delivery team, and his knowledge of the area coupled, with many years of track experience has led to alternative proposals for three bridges. It now looks possible that the track can be lowered rather than the bridges having to be reconstructed, potentially saving a lot of work, much disruption, and money.

The reasons why the plans could be altered were various. Watling Street bridge number 76 is one example. It is very close to Wilnecote station, and lowering the track would also have lowered it through the station, adversely affecting the platform height. However, since Amey drew up its designs, an existing disruptive access has been identified. Carillion can take advantage of that, drop the platforms and lower the track, and avoid an expensive rebuild of the bridge.

Network Rail is naturally very keen to save money on this, and every other project. So much so that Carillion is on a bonus relative to the amount that can be saved. Not having to rebuild three bridges is therefore very advantageous to both parties.

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 45

feature Preparing to replace sleepers at Newlands.

(Below) Completed track lower at Deblenfield.

Of course, not all 47 sites are being worked on at once. In fact the whole scheme, worth about £20 million in design and construction, is being run with approximately 30 people. 15 are involved in the overarching management of the project, and a further 15 on track supervising the work. Additional labour for the track gangs comes from Carillion’s sister company Sky Blue, and various subcontractors are brought in to perform specialist work.

Carillion’s project manager is Alan Sheffield, and one aspect that pleases him and the Network Rail project team most about the organisation is the lack of disruptive possessions that he has had to request. “We worked very closely with Network Rail while we were planning this,” he commented. “Especially on the busy Derby to Birmingham section of the route.

They already had various work planned for other reasons, and we changed the order of the sites we are working on to fall in with their plans to provide our delivery plan. As a result, the main train operating company was initially not required to experience any further disruptive possessions due to this scheme being delivered.”

Liaison with Network Rail was also important for other reasons. Much of the materials are being supplied free-issue, and the National Delivery Service (NDS) has to arrange for trains to deliver those materials to site, trains which have to be booked 35 weeks ahead.

Although in theory this scheme is made up of lots of small projects, having so many of them in close proximity means that one management team can look after all of them. This helps with negotiations with NDS, and also means that more experienced managers can be allocated than any one worksite would justify. That in turn makes delivery on time more certain, and gives the whole project the skill set that will make it a success.

So good is that team, that it has been “lent” to other small, local Carillion projects as a type of “flying squad” to sort out certain snags and situations. This means that small MAFA and other projects, which don’t justify heavy management resources, have also benefited from having the D2WO team based locally.

After planning from October 2011, work started earlier this year. The whole scheme has to be completed by March 2014, the end of CP4, as it cannot run over into the next control period. By early July, six track lowerings have been completed, on time and without incident, and everything is going smoothly.

Only 41 more to go!

Water Orton

Lean and mean

Wilnecote

46 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

The English Summer 93mm of rain in 3 hours! writer

Collin Carr

I tinisthemidsummer UK, and here are some extracts from the news on the evening of the 28 June 2012: “Major disruption has been caused by unprecedented levels of rainfall causing flooding and landslides which have cut off both main rail lines connecting Scotland and England.

The West Coast line has been closed by a landslip at Tebay in Cumbria as well as flooding at Oxenholme Lake District station.

Buses have replaced trains between Lancaster and Carlisle, adding about 60 minutes to journeys.

“On the East Coast line, a landslip near Berwick-upon-Tweed has caused serious disruption and added two hours to journey times. No trains are running between Durham and Berwickupon-Tweed and no replacement bus service is available.

Newcastle station is closed by a spectacular storm similar to those normally seen in the American midwest. There is widespread flooding and a lightning strike has knocked out signalling.”

Flooding off the railway One can’t help but feel sorry for the beleaguered passengers but, while reading this article, consider the pressure that the local engineering teams must have been feeling. Not only did they have to find engineering solutions for the myriad of problems that were emerging, but they also had to deal with other logistical problems caused by flooding in the area, such as roads

and bridges being blocked or washed away.

How did they get essential items of plant and materials to sites, as well as the skilled workforce needed in such situations? The challenges become even more significant in view of the personal circumstances that many of the workforce were facing, having to deal with their own meteorological disasters on a domestic level.

To gain a better understanding of the difficulties involved, THE RAIL ENGINEER spoke with two senior Network Rail engineers about their experiences during this time.

Major roads blocked Michael Ewart is Network Rail’s route infrastructure maintenance manager for London North East and the East Coast Main Line (ECML). Michael lives on the north side of Newcastle which experienced 93mm of rainfall in three hours - the normal monthly rainfall is only 60mm. He said that he has never experienced anything like it before.

Not only were many parts of Newcastle closed to traffic but also the A1 road was impassable in many places. Just getting around the area to find out what was going wrong became a major challenge in itself.

There were many sites that were causing concern on his patch, but probably the most significant one was at Scremerston in Northumberland, three miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed. At this location, more than 400 tonnes of formation material had been washed away from under the tracks situated on a high embankment. This was not a known problem site and normally this would not be a location that would cause concern.

Network Rail’s partnership contractor, Construction Marine Ltd (CML), based in Leeds, is responsible for landslip and drainage repair in the North East. Martin Weston, construction director, managed to ensure that more than 30 engineers reached the site. They then worked around the clock, from 16:00 Thursday 28 June to 08:00 Sunday 1 July, to reopen the route.

Vital local cooperation In such circumstances you need all the friends you can get and fortunately, the local farmer was very helpful. CML was able to construct a temporary roadway and haul a site cabin and equipment across the farmer’s

flooded fields to set up a site. To stabilise the bank, 1,000 tonnes of type 1 stone were brought in by two tracked dumper trucks.

Two 16-tonne tracked excavators were used to remove the debris from the landslip and construct a 1200mm diameter chamber two metres deep that was connected to a 240 metre long network of drainage pipes that was installed into the embankment.

A ballast train operated by Network Rail maintenance staff imported 600 tonnes of track ballast to enable track gangs to lift and line both tracks ready for tamping. The Down Line was opened at 50mph at 13.00 Friday and the Up Line was open to traffic at 20mph at 08.00 on 1 July. Subsequently, 600 tonnes of top soil has been placed to complete the work. Fortunately, at this location the overhead stanchions and equipment remained intact.

It is worth recapping that all this work, including transporting 1,000 tonnes of stone across isolated and now flooded farmland, happened very quickly. The Down Line was opened within 21 hours and the Up Line was re-opened to rail traffic in the early hours of Sunday 1 July, little more than 48 hours after the landslide occurred. Michael emphasised that this was an excellent example of effective supply chain management.

Michael’s wasn’t the only team that was busy. Network Rail had to deal with similar issues on the ECML at nearby Spittal where Story Contracting was brought in by the maintenance team and cleared the cutting slips on the Down side on the first night after the floods, enaabling the line to reopen.

There were flooding problems with other embankments, and track beds had been washed away in the Haltwhistle Station area on the Newcastle to Carlisle route, which also had to be closed. Stobart Rail helped the Network Rail maintenance teams reopen this section.

Further west 60 miles west of Newcastle, the West Coast Main Line (WCML) had similar problems. Darren Miller, Network Rail’s infrastructure maintenance engineer WCML, is based in Carlisle. He explained that, throughout the Lake District area, signalling equipment was damaged and many overhead power line structures were left leaning precariously in all directions. Also,

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 47

feature

many bridge piers were left needing emergency inspections to ensure that debris in the swollen rivers was not causing excess scouring.

Alongside the river Caldew near Carlisle, 50 metres of retaining wall which was supporting the railway formation was undermined and collapsed. The Caldew Viaduct piers supporting the deck over which the WCML runs, and Cummersdale Viaduct which carries the Carlisle to Whitehaven line, were both having to cope with unprecedented volumes of water passing under and around the structures, necessitating the need for divers to inspect and repair the damage both to these structures and a number of nearby culverts.

Fishing out stanchions Many OLE stanchions were damaged but one of them, complete with its concrete foundation, was washed away into the River Caldew. The Environmental Agency was extremely concerned because a main sewer pipe lay in the middle of the river and if the stanchion base was to collide with the pipe the consequences could be both significant and most undesirable.

Fortunately, as with the East coast, Network Rail has a Partnership supplier, Murphy Ltd, ready to respond to such issues. Using two back actor machines, they managed to carefully fish the structure out of the torrent before any damage was inflicted on the sewer pipe.

At Tebay, water regularly cascades down from the hills through well flushed culverts under the railway and into the river Eden. The volume on this occasion was so great that more than 600 tonnes of formation was washed away leaving the west coast main line unsupported. It had to be closed from 16.00 hrs on 28 June.

Fortunately, supplies of large quantities of stone are nearby and over 2000 tonnes of large 6G graded stone and 800 tonnes of type 1 stone were transported by road to access points then transferred into rail wagons and transported to site to fill the void.

Within 14 hrs Murphy, working

alongside Network Rail’s maintenance teams, was able to open the route to trains at 20mph and by early July, with regular monitoring, tamping and packing, line speed of 125mph had been restored.

Bird’s eye view Darren explained that one of the most effective pieces of kit that they have had access to lately is a Network Rail helicopter. Darren spent three days during the flood period, flying around the network in the NW, checking all the trouble spots. From such a vantage point, he was able to review the condition of the adjacent land, as well as the permanent way itself, which proved invaluable. Using on-board cameras, he took 147 images from 50 sites and this form of inspection enabled him to identify trouble at two further sites that conventional inspections hadn’t picked up.

In addition, now that all the maintenance staff have been issued with iPhones, Darren was able to identify a location, establish the GPS coordinates and then send them to the local gang who were able to pinpoint exactly where the trouble spot was at ground level. It also gave everyone involved the added confidence that there would be no surprises as they are confident that they now know exactly what is going on at ground level.

This article has only been able to touch on a few of the many locations that have been subjected to significant engineering problems and challenges as a result of the extreme weather encountered over the last few months.

There were bank slips at Dalton Bank and many other locations where ballast was washed away leaving the sleepered track suspended in midair.

General flooding was extensive throughout the Lancashire area with the River Yarrow bursting its banks causing particular problems at Croston near Chorley.

However, what is clearly evident is that sound, professional and experienced suppliers, working as one with their client Network Rail, can overcome logistical problems that on

the surface appear insurmountable, in a very short space of time. Also, wasn’t it a good idea to issue iPhones to all levels and not just senior managers? Incidents and the events described above helped the rapid justification of that investment. However, the basic engineering skills are still needed, along with copious supplies of graded rock and engineering nouse. The bad weather doesn’t seem to want to go away.

Railway Civil Engineers

Design, Construction & Maintenance EARTHWORKS, DRAINAGE, EMBANKMENT STABILISATION, BRIDGES & CULVERTS SCOUR & EROSION PROTECTION, COASTAL DEFENCES, RETAINING WALL STABILISATION RAILWAY PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Inc. REFURBISHMENT WORKS To STATIONS & SIGNAL BOXES

48 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

IMechE goes Loco

(Above) Entries from Birmingham, Independant, Interfleet and Manchester.

(Right below) Birmingham’s loco about to start its trials with judge Bill Reeve in white hat.

(Left below) Interfleet test their loco.

young engineers is a key role D eveloping of the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers (IMechE). Since 1999, its Automobile Division has being doing so through the Formula Student Challenge in which teams design, construct and drive a racing car to specified criteria.

Not to be outdone, this year the Institution’s Railway Division held its first Railway Challenge which replaces the racing car with a 10¼” gauge miniature locomotive.

While not as outwardly sexy as a racing car, the competing teams used much ingenuity, worked hard and took great pride in their creations. These included the first locomotive built at Derby Locomotive Works for 45 years, a hydrogen powered locomotive and one with a mechanical spring drive.

trailing load, and the preparation of detailed drawings and maintenance manuals. Tim was impressed by the range of technologies used which he felt demonstrated that the specification has met its aim of being performance driven without constraining the team’s imagination.

In this first year, the competition would be limited to four teams. Two were from universities - Birmingham and Manchester Metropolitan, one from industry - Interfleet, and an Independent team from Derby.

Setting the Standard The main aim of the IMechE Railway Challenge is to allow teams of engineering students studying at a UK university or apprentices working in industry to compete against each other to design and manufacture a miniature railway locomotive in accordance with a set of rules. Teams would be judged on a technical presentation and on a series of performance trials.

The Institution’s Simon Iwnicki, otherwise professor of railway engineering at Manchester Metropolitan University, first thought of the idea in 2010. Since then he has been developing the challenge’s concept and its supporting rules and technical specifications. Points are scored in five categories. Three of these are

performance based: Energy Storage (250 points), Traction (150) and Ride Comfort (150). Points are also awarded for design philosophy (100) and business case (100) after the team’s presentation. The energy storage challenge requires energy stored during retardation to be available for traction power, and Simon gave this the highest weighting to drive innovation.

Tim Poole, who normally works on the sub-surface upgrade project for London Underground, produced the technical specification. This included systems assurance, performance requirements, locomotive structure and vehicle suspension. Specific requirements include refuelling in 90 seconds, 95% of materials being recyclable, remote operation from the

The Stapleford trials In a miniature recreation of the Rainhill trials, the competition was held on 1st July at the Stapleford Miniature Railway near Melton Mowbray. Unlike Rainhill, no one was killed although the railway did have Emma Peel tied to its tracks in a 1965 episode of The Avengers.

Stapleford was chosen because it has a 1 in 80 gradient, a central location and is not usually being open to the public. It was opened in 1958 when the Second Lord Gretton was looking for an attraction for his stately house and grounds. It proved popular and was steadily extended to its current 2 mile track layout. By the 1960s there were even 45ft long scale model liners on the adjacent lake.

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 49

feature After the death of its founder in 1982, the railway was mothballed. In 1992 Lady Gretton agreed to the formation of Friends of the Stapleford Miniature Railway (FSMR) to restore and operate the railway. In 1995 FSMR was able to hold its first open day, and has done so every year since then.

Innovation in miniature Each team’s presentation of its design concept and business case provided an insight into its thinking and demonstrated how the specification had driven design. For energy storage, both Interfleet and Manchester had used supercapacitors with their rapid charge and discharge. The Manchester team had also used a coil spring which wound up at low speed when electrical regeneration is less effective. In addition, they had also designed their locomotive around the ride specification by incorporating an adjustable radial arm suspension into its frame.

All locomotives were powered by standard petrol generator sets except for one. This was Birmingham’s innovative use of a fuel cell powered by hydrogen stored in a metal hydride tank, an expensive component that stores 6,000 litres at low pressure. Although the fuel cell’s output was only 1.1 kW (compared with Interfleet’s 5kVa generator) it continually charged batteries that could deliver 4kW. Birmingham also developed a bespoke software control system with a wireless link for remote control by tablet. In a reflection of a certain real world project, it was difficult to see the screen in bright sunlight.

It was not all innovation, however, as the locomotives incorporated much conventional railway engineering with the design packs containing calculations for body frames, suspension and braking systems. To meet the business case requirement, production costs need to be minimised and in this the Independent team was successful with its entry costing £2,000, a fraction of the others.

And the winner is…

After a day of much running on the Stapleford track with a travelling judge in tow, together with presentations given to the judges. Interfleet’s graduates won the competition with a locomotive manufactured at the Roundhouse in Derby.

Second, third and fourth places went respectively to Manchester Metropolitan University, Birmingham University and the Independents.

A key factor in Interfleet’s win was their locomotive being the only one tested on a miniature railway beforehand, so it was the only one that “worked out of the box” during the previous day’s testing. Other locomotives had problems with electronics and chain drives, one even required rescue

by Stapleford’s “Thunderbird” locomotive.

Stephen Head, Interfleet’s team leader, felt this team had the right mix between simplicity and innovation, that energy storage was the most difficult part of the challenge and the best part was seeing the locomotive move for the first time. This comment was echoed by the Birmingham and Manchester teams, although they had different views about the most difficult aspect. For Birmingham’s Stephen Kent this was managing suppliers, deciding when to fix design and the chain tension system.

Manchester’s David Crosbee considered the hardest part to be the control system and filtering out the petrol generator spikes.

This was a real issue for the independent team whose Michael Heaton wanted to show that the challenge could be met at minimal cost. His small team of four had produced the locomotive in his garage but had not tested it. Unfortunately, its diodes burnt out during the testing, following which the team spent hours installing heavier current circuitry, a job that was only just complete before their test.

Sadly, after the locomotive started to haul its load, the electronics burnt out again.

Challenges for the Future Although this year’s challenge was very much a pilot, all concerned felt it was a great event. Its success was evident from the enthusiasm of everyone concerned. The general view was that everything had gone well, in no small part thanks to the Friends of the Stapleford Miniature Railway. The pilot competition did provide some lessons, one of which was the need for testing before the competition. Another concerned mass and rolling resistance not scaling down equally, so Stapleford’s 1 in 80 gradient is not as formidable as one on a full sized railway. As a result, when applied the regenerative braking stopped the miniature train instead of just retarding it.

Bridget Eickhoff, IMechE Railway Division Chairman, expects there to be a larger number of entries next year and is confident that the challenge will cope with this. She was extremely impressed by the efforts of all of the teams, with their different and innovative designs from the same specification. She wondered how long it will be before innovations in this and future challenges appear on the real railway.

In designing and building their own locomotives, the young engineers faced many real world operational, design and project management problems which provided a great learning experience. As Bridget commented, this also encouraged innovative thinking. For these reasons, future UK railways will no doubt benefit greatly from the Institution’s Railway Challenge.

Manchester loco under trials.

(Left) The winning Interfleet team.

(Above) Birmingham and indepentant teams work on their locos.

50 | the rail engineer | august 2012

level crossings

Predicting the Future of Level Crossings has been written, not least in M uch these pages, about safety at level crossings. Any interface between people and moving trains is inherently risky, with both pedestrians and vehicle drivers sometimes prepared to take a chance, occasionally with disastrous results.

Naturally, there have been many meetings devoted to the topic. Back in 2002, there were extensive discussions involving Invensys, Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) to identify the main causes of level crossing accidents and to develop improvements to the infrastructure. One of the main causes of accidents was identified as the varying time between barriers closing and the train arriving - in particular it seemed that, at Automatic Half Barrier (AHB) and User Worked Crossing (UWC) sites, users were much more prepared to take risks.

As a result of these talks, Invensys focused on the Level Crossing Predictor solution that was in use elsewhere within the Invensys Rail group, particularly the WESTeX GCP3000 system which can be overlaid onto existing infrastructure and which provides consistent warning times.

Well established principle While new to the UK, the Invensys Rail WESTeX Level Crossing Predictor (LCP) system had been in operation in the United States since the mid-1960s, with tens of thousands of the system in successful use across the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

The basic principle of the predictor is that, once an approaching train has travelled over a shunt, the system calculates the speed of the train and therefore the point at which it will arrive at the level crossing. By calculating the speed of the train, the GCP3000 is able to provide a consistent, pre-determined warning time for each train regardless of its approaching speed, minimising disruption to road users and significantly reducing the risk of crossing abuse.

Once the train has passed over the level crossing, the sequence to re-open the crossing to users is initiated - the train is monitored until it has passed over the termination shunt, ensuring that the same level of bi-directional functionality is

provided as with a conventional system. The predictor typically requires just a single unit at the crossing itself, together with passive termination shunts between the rails at the strike-in point.

Both Network Rail and the ORR saw this as a potential solution. The GCP3000 system successfully passed through the product acceptance process in 2009 for all types of level crossing on non-electrified infrastructure, covering both AHB and UWC installations.

Initial trials A number of UWC trial sites were installed in England and Northern Ireland, covering a range of configurations, including those featuring stations on the approach. In 2011 a further eight UWC sites were installed across the UK, each of which is now in full operational service.

In March 2012, the first GCP3000 AHB application was commissioned at Cherry Holt by a third-party provider. The system was interfaced with standard 24v Dorman road traffic lights and conventional type BR843 barrier machines. During the trial, an incident occurred due to poor rail shunting with a light locomotive on rusty rails. The level crossing predictor system, however, behaved exactly as expected by providing a warning that, although shorter than

normally expected, still brought the barriers to the lowered position despite the intermittent rail shunting. During the investigation, the system remained in full operational service as the inspection report was very positive about predictor technology.

More recently, a GCP3000 system has been installed at West Bank Hall on the Drax line, and a further five AHB systems will be delivered as part of the third tranche of the level crossing programme.

Effectively now offered as an “off-the-shelf” solution, the GCP3000 is suitable for use on Miniature Stop Light (MSL), AHB and Automatic Barrier Crossing, Locallymonitored (ABCL) applications. For example, at sites such as Tinsley EUWC, which has a standard up and down line with no track circuits and a 70mph maximum speed limit, it offers a good solution with all the equipment fitting in a standard location case.

Diagnostics The GCP3000 also provides operators with a full diagnostics capability. It monitors the condition of the railway throughout the area covered by the crossing strike-in and advises the maintainer if there is a problem with the infrastructure, and where that problem is on the track.

We deliver Water Orton resignalling Invensys Rail successfully completed the commissioning of the final phase of the Water Orton Corridor Resignalling project - handing back into operation, on time, after a 98 hour possession.

A complex commissioning, it was approximately double the size of Phase 1, involving 273 track circuits, 103 signals, 58 point ends and 4 fringes. It also involved an extension to the WESTLOCK previously commissioned under Phase 1.

Thanks to months of planning and preparation by all the project disciplines, the work was smoothly carried out over nine shifts without any engineering or incidents.

Find out how we can help you deliver, visit www.invensysrail.com or call +44 (0) 1249 441441

Proud to be Network Rail’s Supplier of the Year 2011

52 | the rail engineer | august 2012

level crossings The Invensys Rail technical support team recently worked with a Network Rail maintenance team which had reported a problem during the re-linearising of a level crossing following a re-rail exercise. Using remote diagnostics, the Invensys team identified an area of poor rail condition which coincided with the re-rail. The site team subsequently discovered that a small area of the new rail was slightly corroded.

Once cleaned, the new rail and the level crossing were successfully brought into service.

When a level crossing is equipped with a modem, the Invensys team and the maintainer both have dial-in diagnostic capability for any issue within the strike area.

Now that the GCP3000 system has been certified, technical support for all first line technical issues is passing from the company’s York office (where the WESTeX development team is based) to its central aftermarket support team in Chippenham.

As part of this process, new technical manuals are also currently being developed, in conjunction with Network Rail, to ensure they are complete from a maintainer’s, designer’s and installer’s perspective.

Lightweight barriers In addition to the predictor systems, the WESTeX range also includes the lightweight S60 barrier machine, which in June 2012 received a certificate of acceptance from Network Rail for use at MCB and AHB level crossings. Examples of the S60 will be installed in the UK as part of the Crewe Shrewsbury modular signalling project, with sixteen machines being installed at Manually Controlled Barrier (MCB) crossings which are being converted to MCB with Object Detection (OD) - consequently, the barriers are being supplied fully fitted with skirts. In line with Network Rail’s modular ethos, the S60 machines are being built and tested off-site at Invensys Rail’s facility at Chippenham prior to being delivered for installation and commissioning.

The S60 barrier machine is an electromechanical product rather than a traditional hydraulic system, making it far simpler to operate and to maintain. Available in a range of configurations, the machine uses less power and requires a smaller equipment

housing and footprint than conventional systems. The post on which the S60 is fixed is also able to mount the road traffic lights.

With a balanced weight distribution, it can use a screw-pile foundation, offering the potential for both installation time and cost savings.

Future developments The next generation GCP4000 Level Crossing Predictor system has recently been introduced to the UK. An advanced predictor and solid state crossing control system, the GCP4000 delivers all the capability of the GCP3000 system but with the addition of a level crossing controller enabling direct control of 12 volt road traffic lights and the Invensys S60 barrier machines. It also incorporates additional functionality enabling it to control more complex infrastructure, while reducing the number of external timers and relays and therefore the REB requirement and the cost of civils work.

Trials of the GCP4000 have been completed at High Scampston on the York to Scarborough line in shadow mode, successfully demonstrating that the barrierdown time is reduced through the use of the predictor. In line with Invensys Rail’s modular solution, standard GCP4000 designs have now been templated, meaning that sitespecific data needs only to be added for each new application. Consequently, the unit may be tested off-site, reducing cost.

Two other current projects address issues with UWCs. The first covers the lack of a suitable (110V) power supply in remote locations, with the company working to develop solar and wind-powered options.

The team is currently seeking product acceptance for a number of systems. The second project is addressing the issue of the misuse of UWCs, particularly gates being left open. Invensys has implemented a level crossing in Scotland where security key fobs have been assigned to the principle user, with a push-button system for infrequent users. This trial has led to a 95% reduction in misuse.

Introducing this technology forms part of Network Rail’s ongoing initiative to make crossings safer - which is already showing positive results.

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54 | the rail engineer | august 2012

level crossings

writer

Martin Gallagher Head of level crossings, Network Rail evel crossing safety has been at the top of the safety agenda and a high profile issue for the industry, politicians and media for a considerable time. Network Rail has duly responded and committed to significantly improving safety at level crossings, setting a challenging target of reducing level crossing risk by 25% by March 2014.

This is probably the most high profile safety programme within the rail industry in Great Britain, and the most significant business change programme for level crossings in the history of the railway. The scale of this challenge should not be underestimated and has come about as a result of a number of high profile accidents and consistent themes emerging from accident investigations and recommendations.

L

Crossing

in safety New people, new projects Network Rail CEO, Sir David Higgins, created the post of head of level crossings with a clear remit to change the way the organisation innovates and delivers safety improvements and to achieve measurable benefits quickly. As a result, 19 new projects to improve risk management have been introduced. These include the national introduction of over 100 level crossing managers with better training, a mentoring and coaching framework, improved tools and systems, and greater assurance to enable staff to deliver quality risk and asset management.

Alongside this, the national team is delivering £131 million of safety enhancements over the next 18 months.

This is where the big risk reductions and benefits will be realised. These projects, which will be introducing new concepts and reducing costs and timescales for delivery, include: • Closing 750 user worked crossings; • Improving sighting at 1,100 passive crossings; • Providing better information on train position at 200 crossings in long signal sections; • Introducing lower cost barriers at 72 automatic open crossings; • Closing 50 high risk footpath crossings and introducing lower cost footbridges; • Introducing “smart cameras” for better census gathering at 660 locations; • Introducing red light enforcement cameras at 150 high risk public road crossings; • Introducing automatic gate openers / closers at 500 user worked crossings; • Introducing spoken audible warnings at 151 station crossings; • Rolling out of mobile enforcement vehicles across all routes.

56 | the rail engineer | august 2012

New footbridge at Birchland Wood, Bucks, carries a public footpath over the LondonBirmingham line.

First innovations Progress has been good with approximately 600 crossings (10% of the total) already closed and sighting improved at over 1,100 locations. A GPS-based train detection system is being trialled in Anglia alongside a product called WaveTrain that detects train movements using seismological sensors attached to rails. This type of train approach warning system purely provides an enhanced level of information direct to users and does not necessarily give an instruction to cross. The cost will indicatively be in the region of £25,000 per site, depending on commercial variables and production volumes.

To tackle another problem, a new audible warning device to alert users verbally of a second train coming has been installed at Scarrington Lane in the East Midlands Route.

Not noticing a second train approaching is a risk that has been highlighted in several reports and this new device is designed to address that.

Network Rail is currently working with the DVLA and Home Office to introduce the first ever Home Office type-approved fixed enforcement cameras. The evidence from these will be used as a primary source and does not require corroboration. This will be a major step forward in deterring motorists from running lights and weaving barriers, one of the biggest risks of derailment and multi-fatality accidents at automatic crossings.

Footbridges Many countries have a policy of not having unprotected crossings on main or high speed lines. Things are different on our rail network where pedestrians, including children and the elderly, are free to cross at grade on 125mph lines such as the east and west coast main lines. Extinguishing or diverting public rights of way is difficult but where support is forthcoming providing an alternative access via a footbridge eliminates this risk.

The programme is closing a significant number of foot crossings by installing new footbridges and is midway through a national programme of over 200 site appraisals. Network Rail can then look to install standard, modular design footbridges to close the crossings. The current standard steel design utilises either stepped or ramped solutions depending on location and usage and provides adequate vertical

level crossings clearance for future electrification. The suite of standard designs caters for the vast majority of sites and even include for anti-vandal measures and lighting should these be appropriate.

All of the bridges are designed to be installed in nondisruptive possessions.

In order to drive down unit costs, Network Rail is currently tendering in large packages of work and is looking to move to a national call-off contract with one or two key suppliers. The average as-built cost is being reduced from around £1 million to £564,000 with timescales at the first location approximately 25 weeks from concept to commissioning.

The key risks associated with this programme of work are obtaining planning consents and the legal footpath diversion orders. The local councils approached to date have been receptive and keen to improve safety.

It is worth remembering that 80% of fatalities at level crossings in the last ten years have involved pedestrians, mostly on non public road crossings.

Barriers The issues at public road crossings mostly involve automatic crossings, introduced to reduce barrier down times and congestion but susceptible to deliberate acts of misuse.

A relatively high number of accidents at automatic open crossings has increased the calls for barrier solutions.

The typical cost of an upgrade often makes this a decision based on reputation and not on safety benefit or risk. Low risk crossings on low speed lines and rural roads which are relatively lightly used are not always the best candidates on which to spend significant sums of safety enhancement money when there are so many higher risk locations.

The key to resolving this dilemma is to reduce the cost of a barrier solution for automatic open crossings and in the process introduce a new type of crossing known as an AOCL+B. This project has engineered a modular solution that allows rapid and costeffective fitment of barriers to AOCL crossings.

This “overlay” of barrier equipment appears to the road user and train driver as an ABCL or a half barrier crossing. Ardrossan Harbour in Scotland was selected as the first site and the trial was commissioned in May. In order to minimise the time and cost of implementation, the interface with the existing crossing is limited to power supplies, monitoring of the road traffic light circuit and the drivers control indicator circuit.

The outcome of all of this activity is positively measurable; the latest indication is that Network Rail has already reached a 20.3% reduction in risk, in line with its 25% objective. More important to stakeholders, users, passengers and train crew will be the introduction of a new operating regime and the rollout of so many initiatives that are actually delivering, both quickly and cost effectively.

The programme was recently reviewed as part of an independent assurance review and received the highest score / likelihood of delivery of any project within the company. Taking a systematic approach to a systemic issue appears to be well on the way to success.

Crossing types There are many types of level crossing in the UK, all with their own challenges and risks.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) lists the following: • Gated crossings operated by railway staff - protected by gates on both sides of the railway which complete the fencing of the railway when closed across the road or the railway.

• Barrier crossings operated by railway staff - protected by road traffic light signals and lifting barriers on both sides of the railway. An audible warning to pedestrians is also provided.

• Barrier crossings with obstacle detection - protected by road traffic light signals and lifting barriers on each side of the railway. An audible warning to pedestrians is also provided.

• Automatic half barrier crossings (AHBC) - protected by road traffic light signals and a lifting barrier on both sides of the railway. Audible warning to pedestrians is also provided.

• Automatic barrier crossings, locally monitored (ABCL) - appears, to the road user, to be similar to an automatic half barrier crossing. It is protected by road traffic light signals and a single lifting barrier on both sides of the railway.

• Automatic open crossings, locally monitored (AOCL) - no barriers but is protected by road traffic light signals and an audible warning for pedestrians.

• Open crossings - no barriers or road traffic light signals. Only road traffic signs are provided. Road users must give way to trains at the crossing.

• User worked crossings (UWCs) for vehicles - usually protected by gates, or lifting barriers on both sides of the railway. The gates, normally closed across the road and hung so as to open away from the railway, are operated by the users.

• Footpath and bridleway crossings - where the railway crosses a footpath or bridleway.

• Foot crossings at stations - between platforms at stations, these may be the only route between platforms or the only practicable route for people who cannot use steps.

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58 | the rail engineer | august 2012

level crossings

It’s a

RRAP

(Far right) Installing a RRAP at Dalston western curve.

vehicles (RRVs) are now R oad-rail accepted parts of the railway engineer’s tool box, often preferred to rail-bound equipment. They can be brought to the nearest access point to the work-site by road, without the problems of special routing, making them especially valuable in emergency situations.

However, the disadvantage of RRVs is that they need space at the access point to actually get onto the track. A review in 2011 revealed that, apart from at level crossings, Wessex was not best served for RRV access points.

Therefore, early in 2011, Network Rail Wessex decided to provide additional permanent road-rail access points (RRAPs) at strategic points throughout the Route. The project, led by Robin Cooper, set out to provide 36 permanent RRAPs by March 2014. It was important to Network Rail that these access points were designed to the highest standards, with a planned life expectancy of 30 years.

Typically, RRAPs are 9.9m long (measured along the track), and will have reinforced concrete aprons between the tracks and at the access point. Nine have already been installed, at Walton-onThames, Ewell West, Bracknell, Farnham, Esher, Oakley, Kingsworthy, Weston and Upwey. The highest profile RRAP will be at Nine Elms, about 2 miles out of Waterloo on the main lines to Portsmouth and Windsor. It will cross six tracks, and will have a significant impact on Network Rail’s ability to do work efficiently in a crucial part of the Wessex Route.

Staggered design Occasionally, when designing RRAPs at the most advantageous locations, obstacles such as platforms or S & C units need to be overcome. In these cases two RRAPs are built, one for initial access onto a single track, the second well away from the obstacle with decking across multiple tracks.

This second crossing will allow RRVs to change tracks.

Having considered options for within the 4 foot, innoSTRAIL rubber crossings became

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 59

level crossings the preferred system. Each crossing is a mat of full-depth textile-reinforced rubber panels. The recycled rubber is vulcanised, a heat and pressure process which fuses rubber granules into a homogeneous mass, making each panel extremely tough with properties similar to those of vulcanised vehicle tyres. As with all STRAIL crossings, the interlocking panels are tied together with full-length high-tensile steel rods and the addition of mineral grit provides a skid resistant surface.

Occasionally there are two or more different types of sleeper in the same crossing, in which case tapSTRAIL is recommended as it can accommodate different sleeper shapes.

Individual design Each RRAP is individually designed following an initial scoping visit carried out

by Robin Cooper. As Wessex is mostly a third rail electriďŹ ed system, a conductor rail gapping design is completed in house by the EMP Woking team run by Dean Moss.

A detailed design proposal is prepared by STRAIL (UK) Ltd. The Strail design will identify key variables, such as rail section, sleeper and fastening type, the number of tracks, geometry and cant, which will be taken into account in the manufacture of the innoSTRAIL. Sleeper spacing is not signiďŹ cant because both innoSTRAIL and tapSTRAIL are independent of it.

Once all is agreed, Network Rail places an order for the crossing components and issues an invitation to tender for the installation work. Approved installers include B & M McHugh, Dyer and Butler, Keltbray and Amco.

If all goes according to plan, by the end of March 2014 Wessex will be able to move road-rail plant and equipment quickly to wherever a new task presents itself, thus bringing the seven day railway one step nearer to fruition.

New RRAPs at (background) Esher and (below) Farnham.

60 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

Becoming a

principal contractor writer

Paul Curtis to the rail engineer a S peaking couple of months ago (Issue 92, June 2012), Simon Kirby, managing director of Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, stated that one of his aims was

to “open up the market to new suppliers”. Those new suppliers will naturally have to meet Network Rail’s high standards, but how is that process coming along?

Katie Ferrier is the head of supplier engagement for the infrastructure projects business, and she, along with assurance manager Graham Trueman, is driving through a supplier assurance system to bring those suppliers on board.

New suppliers tend to come to Network Rail from one of two routes.

Companies can approach the procurement department looking for work, or sub-contractors can be recommended by Network Rail project managers or main contractors. In both cases, they end up with the supplier assurance team.

Audits and more audits First step is for Achilles to conduct a core audit. This looks at management systems, safety and environmental protection arrangements, and produces an initial recommendation as to the suitability of the new company.

If favourable, one of Katie Ferrier’s sector-specific supplier assurance teams carries out its own audit.

Primarily a desktop-driven exercise, including a gap analysis to examine the difference between the companies actual and expected performance, this includes a site visit. Recommendations and observations are made, and the most important are mandated to be addressed before the next stage. A second audit visit, to ensure that the

comments have been closed out, will, if favourable, result in the company being granted a provisional principal contractors licence.

That licence qualifies the company to tender for jobs as they come along in the normal way. It does not guarantee success, as the tendering process is carried out by the procurement department who are divorced from supplier engagement, but it does enable the company to compete.

Once a first contract has been obtained, supplier assurance will arrange to audit the delivery process on site, and, following a stringent risk review, again make recommendations and observations. These will need to be addressed during subsequent contracts until, in the assessor’s opinion, everything is satisfactory and the company is ready to become a principal contractor.

With the infrastructure business being only a few months old, this whole procedure is still being adjusted to give the most effective results. As part of the development process, over 100 existing and potential contractors met at Network Rail’s Westwood facility near Coventry to be introduced to the new system and discuss how it can be fine tuned for the future.

august 2012 | the rail engineer | 61

feature New recipients When a recent batch of new suppliers were to be awarded their contractors licences, the rail engineer was invited to Eversholt Street, London, to witness the event. Two companies had been through the whole process and were to receive principal contractors licences, while a further six were part way through and were being awarded provisional licences.

Katie Ferrier was joined by Dave McLoughlin, finance and commercial director, to present the certificates. Graham Trueman was present, as were his colleagues Leigh Dawkins, who is responsible for plant operators, electrification and track, Gillian Scott (signalling and telecommunications) and Alan Tillman (buildings and civils).

Katie explained the thinking and rationale behind the new sector specific auditing teams and commented: “The Supplier Engagement Programme exists purely to deliver a high performing supply chain. We are challenging suppliers to work with us by collaborating through effective assurance, performance management and continuous improvement programmes.”

Katie then reminded the recipients, which would now be looking to tender for contracts, to look at the new work bank planning section of Network Rail’s website and select which contracts they thought would best suit their capabilities.

Selected contractors Two companies were presented with full contractors licenses. Tata Steel UK Rail Consultants Ltd is the design consultancy business of Tata Steel, the well-known rail manufacturer which also produces platform extensions and electrification gantries. NDC Consultants Ltd qualified for its principal contractors licence following successful completion of the SPT Concentrator Renewals 11/12 project. This consisted of life extension works on the existing concentrator at Cathcart ECR and replacing existing crossing telephones with Public Emergency Telephone Systems (PETS) at nine crossings.

Cleshar Contract Services Ltd received a provisional licence. Having been established for 21 years, the company has successfully delivered almost £600 million worth of projects on local and national railway

infrastructure and is currently turning over in excess of £70 million per annum with a fully trained skilled/multi skilled workforce of 1,200. Recent projects included a new signalling control centre for Docklands Light Railway, supporting Balfour Beatty on their Network Rail track renewals framework and supporting the Costain / HOCHTIEF joint venture at Reading.

Already an established contractor on London Underground, Tricia O’Neill, Cleshar’s commercial director, commented on the reasons for applying for a Network Rail principal contractors licence. “Foremost amongst these is our desire to demonstrate our commitment to the control of quality and safety assurances. With the on-going growth of the company, acquisitions and the

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For further information please contact: t: + 44 (0)20 8733 8888 e: info@cleshar.co.uk

www.cleshar.co.uk A member of the CCS Group Plc

62 | the rail engineer | august 2012

feature

(Top) Lee Dawkins [centre] conducting an audit.

Katie Ferrier and Dave McLoughlin present certificates to (middle) Daniel Jane of Cleshar and (bottom) Adrian Taylor of Eric Wright Civil Engineering.

further geographical spread of our activities, it is critical that we are in absolute control of all of the works we undertake.”

Coffey Construction, also receiving a provisional licence, is another established contractor having worked with Irish Rail for over 25 years.

Simon Coffey explained: “We have worked on infrastructure and building projects, in the UK but outside the rail sector, since 1988, so it is a natural step to bring our rail expertise to the UK rail market.

“We have undertaken a wide range of railway building and civil engineering projects, such as the repair, strengthening and replacement of bridges, embankment stabilisations, platform extensions and station refurbishments. One of our key strengths is our multi-skilled direct workforce, which allows us to undertake all but specialist works without sub-contracting. The company is very much engineeringled, and we will be challenging our designers to work with us to examine innovative options in producing the best engineering solution for each project.”

Previous experience Eric Wright Civil Engineering already has Link-Up approval covering 205 product codes in 65 product groups. The award of a provisional licence will allow the company to tender for construction projects in its own right. This was also the appeal for Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd with over 44 years’ experience of civil engineering in Wales, the border counties and the West Country. Alun Griffiths, with a turnover now in the region of £85 million, will be looking for work such as overbridges, station works, scour protection and footbridges.

Miller Construction Ltd has been working closely with clients outside the rail industry to establish recognition for its health and safety practices and procedures. Making the transition to a provisional licence holder was therefore a relatively straightforward step. In addition, the successful delivery of the £120 million Union Square shopping centre in Aberdeen depended on the company’s ability to work closely with Network Rail and First ScotRail.

Emeg Electrical was also presented with a provisional principal contractors’ licence, to the delight of managing director Richard Simmonite. Mechanical and electrical engineers specialising in the installation of depot equipment such as train washes, the hope is that direct contracts from Network Rail Infrastructure Projects will further develop the business.

So eight companies now have full or provisional principal contractors licences and are keen to show Network Rail Infrastructure Projects what they can do. We look forward to seeing them again as they do so, here in the pages of the rail engineer

Such a great idea! We jumped at the chance to get involved with this event.

Tricia Riley, Director, Human Resources Transport for London

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64 | the rail engineer | august 2012

LNWR is a leading independent train maintenance company based in Crewe at the heart of the UK rail network.

senior appointments

LNWR is trusted by leading train operators, owners and OEM’s to support their needs for high quality, reliable servicing and maintenance round the clock.

LNWR are currently looking to recruit:

Mechanical / Electrical Fitter & Technical Riding Inspector Based at LNWR Cambridge Depot

For both roles we require candidates to: · Deliver highest possible performance as a team member. · Deliver customer requirements in accordance with VMI instructions ensuring compliance at all times. · Working safely as an individual and as a Team Member. · Maintaining tooling and equipment. · Managing and fitting materials issued to you using best practice and company guidelines. · Maintaining a safe and efficient workplace.

Main Duties and Responsibilities include: · Carry out tasks allocated to you in accordance with laid down VMI's and other specified documentation ensuring prompt and safe delivery of vehicles to the customer. · Ensure efficient use of tools and materials to deliver services to the customer. · Working on site at other locations.

· Assisting other departments where required. · Covering absence; sickness and annual leave · Any reasonable request.

The ideal candidate will have the following competencies: · Competent in Railway Vehicle Maintenance · Competency in class 170 DMU's or DMU servicing experience (Preferred) · PTS (Preferred). · First aid trained (Preferred). · Recognised craft apprenticeship (Preferred).

To apply, please email send your CV to office2010@lnwr.com

www.lnwr.com

maintaining today creating tomorrow

An Australian company with over 100-years of proud experience in delivering vital engineering services

General Manager - Engineering UGL's Rail business is Australia's largest and most experienced provider of rolling stock and infrastructure solutions to the passenger, freight and rail systems sectors - and a growing player in the Asian rail industry.

UGL Rail has an exciting career opportunity for a General Manager – Engineering to work on a permanent basis at their offices in Pymble, Sydney and in Newcastle.

The primary purpose of this position is to lead the engineering and design activities for their rolling stock manufacture, remanufacture and refurbishment business from the initial inquiry stage to completion ensuring the technical quality, cost, safety, performance and time schedules are met or exceeded.

This role will provide strategic support and advice to the Company's Senior Leadership Team and their teams in support of achieving sustainable and responsible returns, revenue and growth, mutually beneficial relationships with customers, suppliers and technology partners.

The person is to work with related business areas to ensure coordination, planning, benchmarking, development and deployment of operations-wide, best practice designs, project management and control processes to ensure all works and projects are effectively and efficiently executed and managed profitably in compliance to agreed contractual and commercial requirements.

Requirements to succeed in this position: • An appropriate mechanical or electrical Engineering or Science Degree from an accredited institution.

• Minimum of 15 years' experience in railway rolling stock design, preferably in passenger or freight design.

• Leadership and integrity to set a high standard of engineering capability within the organisation.

• A thorough understanding and knowledge of manufacturing / fabrication principles in multi-discipline rolling stock environment.

• Previous experience in running change programs, with an ability to lead and support rapid change and hold a steady course in an ever changing environment.

• A high level of business and commercial acumen backed by a sound ability to create, read and interpret budgets, financial statements and analyse variance reports.

• A thorough understanding of quality control and a record of implanting continuous improvement utilising Lean and Six Sigma.

• Strong communication skills (oral & written) including strong negotiation and influencing skills and the ability to establish effective working relationships with a variety of people at different levels both internally and externally.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently to organise and prioritise demands, handle multiple complex tasks simultaneously, set and meet deadlines and follow-through within a fast paced environment with multiple and competing demands.

• High proficiency in software: MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access and MS Outlook.

This is a rare opportunity to join a dynamic leadership team in a major Australian company. In return, you will be rewarded with a competitive remuneration package, the opportunity to join a supportive team and to work on high profile projects.

www.ugllimited.com

RailPersonnel

Matching people and positions

For more information please contact David Hyland at RailPersonnel on +61 419 209 930 or email him on davidh@railpersonnel.com

POWER ● WATER ● RAIL TRANSPORT ● RESOURCES ● PROPERTY SERVICES ● TRANSPORT SYSTEMS ● COMMUNICATIONS ● DEFENCE

66 | the rail engineer | august 2012

senior appointments

www.trsstaffing.com

As a new entrant into the UK rail market with significant rail contracting experience outside the UK, Coffey Group require several key personnel for railway civil engineering and building projects in the UK.

Rail and Infrastructure Vacancies TRS Staffing Solutions are international engineering recruitment specialists.

We recruit for major National and International projects for leading National Rail organisations, main contractors and consultancies. Currently we have vacancies for the following:

Contracts Manager - Rail Sector REF: UK1211 The successful candidate will be responsible for a portfolio of rail projects.

They will have a related degree and ideally be chartered. A minimum of 12 years experience in Civil Engineering contracting is expected with 5 years experience in the rail sector.

Senior QS & Commercial Managers

Signal Designers, Engineers and Managers

London / Birmingham / Manchester - £300 - £400/day Rail and NEC contract experience

UK & Australia - £400/day or £45 - 65K IRSE license or significant relevant experience

Rail Project / Construction Managers

Senior Civil & Structural Engineers

UK, UAE, Australia & Africa £350 - £500/day or £50 - £80K Experience on rail & station enhancement project

Warrington & York - £35 - £55K Rail experience including station, groundwork’s, drainage and utilities design

To apply, please email a cover letter and C.V. to: hr@coffeygroup.com

HV/LV Electrical Engineers

Senior Planning Engineers

Please see the careers section of our website for further information on the positions.

London - £45 - £70K or £450 per day Traction Power, AC/DC or construction experience

London, York & Birmingham £320 - £400/day or £40 - £55K Rail, LUL or construction experience.

P3e/P6 essential

Construction Project Manager - Rail Sector REF: UK1212 The successful candidate will manage one or more rail projects, including responsibility for management of design. They will have a related degree and ideally be chartered or working towards this. A minimum of 6 years in Civil Engineering contracting is expected with 3 years experience in the rail sector.

Coffey Group is an equal opportunity employer

Please send your CV or if you’d prefer to discuss a role in more detail and in confidence, please contact one of our specialist consultants on

+44 (0)20 7419 5800 or email rail@trsstaffing.com

www.coffeygroup.com

Rail, Infrastructure & Construction

Job Title

Location

Ref

Material Planning Engineer

Helensburgh

88187

Principal Engineer Specialist

Bristol

88186

Procurement Specialist

Leicestershire

88184

Overhead Linesman

Across Scotland

ORSGLA4

Visit our website for a complete list of Rail positions across the UK and apply online today quoting the ref above.

Orion Rail Services (ORS) are part of the UK’s largest engineering recruitment specialists Orion Group.

ORS are a Network Rail approved company and are Link-Up accredited to supply a number of rail related positions.

The Group work with some of the largest industry players across rail providing manpower throughout the UK and overseas.

People are our business worldwide

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Glasgow London Manchester

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0141 892 6666 0207 405 6300 0161 662 4900

The MTR Corporation is expanding the network in Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rail infrastructure to bring high speed connections to this vibrant and fast paced city. If you are keen to work in a challenging environment, you are most welcome to join our team.

We look for professionals in the following disciplines:

Senior / Contracts Engineer

Senior / Programming Engineer

Senior / Construction Engineer (Civil / Tunnels) Construction Engineer (Signalling) Construction Engineer (Rolling Stock)

Senior Construction Safety Advisor

Senior / Geotechnical Engineer

MTR has engaged with Resourcing Solutions and Rail Personnel to recruit for engineering talents.

If you think you are the right fit, please send your CV to mtr@railpersonnel.com or contact Susan Cardy at Resourcing Solutions on +44(0)118 932 0100.

RailPersonnel

Matching people and positions

Delivering your energy infrastructure

UK Power Networks Services is a leading provider of electrical infrastructure to the rail industry.

Whether it is the groundbreaking electrification of High Speed 1, or the technically complex programme of upgrade works at Blackfriars, we are consistently providing electrification excellence on the most challenging projects.

Our long-term commitment to delivering best in class electrical infrastructure is at the heart of everything we do. As part of the Cheung Kong Group, we have access to a wealth of international experience in managing power distribution and infrastructure assets.

www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/services