November 2011
i s s u e
85 OUSEBURN VIADUCT WILL REGAIN ITS STANDING AMONGST THE OTHER BRIDGES AS ‘BELLE OF THE BALL’
The Painted Lady
Sub Surface Renaissance
Paddington Bore
Bishop to King 7
The massive programme to upgrade all London Underground’s sub surface lines.
The completed approach to the Royal Oak Portal, the route for Crossrail’s tunnelling machines.
Bishops Grange underbridge reconstruction wins Civil Engineering award.
written by rail engineers for rail engineers
available online at www.therailengineer.com
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 3
welcome Grahame Taylor’s
Operating notice It’s difficult to imagine the Ouseburn Viaduct, shown on our front cover, being constructed in timber. But this is indeed how it started life. Today it sounds as if it didn’t last long in this form. Thirty years is dismissed in just three syllables, but this was a generation’s worth so it didn’t do too badly. The rebuilt structure then evolved over the years but recently gave rise to concern over its load bearing capacity. It has now been given a full refurbishment with strengthening and painting. Mungo Stacy has been inside the plastic cocoon to see what has been done. By the way, start Googling “M C Escher”. You will need it to appreciate a descriptive subtlety in the text. And the winner of the Civil Engineering Achievement of the Year at the National Rail Awards is..... Bishops Grange underbridge reconstruction. Where? Never heard of it. In Mungo’s second article this month he explains why what appears to be a normal bread-and-butter job picked up the award. At last, Crossrail’s tunnel boring machines have something concrete to aim at......literally. the rail engineer has been down to Paddington to look at the two large circular targets in the new Royal Oak portal. As an aside it’s comforting to know that there are archaeologists on standby at these huge excavations ready to ‘step in’ if anything interesting is found. So, what’s the attraction of Australia then? Well, for one thing, it’s the employment prospects for British railway engineers. As Nigel Wordsworth points out in his summary of the Australian Railway scene, here is a country with a network that is in constant change and expansion. Just look at the advertisements in our sister publications and you’ll see a whole load of opportunities - if you don’t mind poisonous spiders. Nigel also looks at the way that steel, manufactured in the UK, is rolled into 108 metre
long rail sections in France for installation all over Europe and beyond. The UK plant is at Scunthorpe (managed by a Frenchman) and the French plant (managed by an Englishman) is at Hayange in the north east corner of France. Upgrading the Sub Surface Lines on the London Underground is a fiendishly complex operation. It doesn’t just involve changes to signalling and the introduction of an automatic train regulating system, there are complex track changes and a completely new fleet of rolling stock. All this, of course, has to be shoehorned into a system that is already heavily loaded. Clive Kessell has been Sub Surface and reports back. I’ll stick my neck out here and say that I reckon the 225 train sets are the most comfortable and practical on the network despite their being 25 years old. And so I’m cheered to see that they’re being given due care and attention at the refurbished maintenance facility at Bounds Green in North London. Terry Whitley put in a night shift to see what happens when they and the class 91 locomotives come in out of the cold. If you want to find out how the railway industry can “deliver better value for money over the period 2014-19” then just perform a quick Google and download the 157 page pdf file. The document, which carries a rather odd image of a smiling little girl with few front teeth on the front cover, is typically weighty. Or you can get a good feel of what it says instead by reading Graeme Bickerdike’s personal take on the whole matter. The recent Infrastructure Show at the NEC included.... well, infrastructure. That’s everything. Roads, airports, drains. But it also included, of course, railways and from a brief ‘seat of the pants’ analysis I would say that railways stole the show. Be in no doubt, our industry is still attracting commercial attention despite the woes of the economy.
Editor Grahame Taylor grahame.taylor@therailengineer.com
the rail engineer Ashby House, Bath Street, Ashby-de-la-Zouch Leicestershire, LE65 2FH
Production and design Adam O'Connor production@therailengineer.com
Telephone: Fax: Email: Website:
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 stuart.rackley@therailengineer.com terry.whitley@therailengineer.com Advertising Asif Ahmed asif@therailengineer.com Nigel Wordsworth nigel@therailengineer.com Paul Curtis paul@therailengineer.com
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in this issue
The Painted Lady 6 Ouseburn Viaduct is a £10 million project awarded by Network Rail to Carillion. Sub Surface Renaissance The massive programme to upgrade all of the London Underground’s sub surface lines.
10
Paddington Bore 16 The completed approach to the Royal Oak Portal, the route for Crossrail’s tunnelling machines. Bishop to King 7
22
Bishops Grange underbridge reconstruction wins Civil Engineering Achievement of the year. More ballast bashing 32 As part of our Plant & Equipment Focus we look at Swiss manufacturer Matisa. Maintaining Change
46
Nigel Wordsworth speaks with Network Rail’s Director of Infrastructure Maintenance Steve Featherstone. A magical mixture 54 As part of our Concrete feature, we check on a variety of applications in which Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRP) is employed.
The small print the rail engineer is published by RailStaff Publications Limited and printed by Pensord. © All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.
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December January
4 | the rail engineer | november 2011
IN BRIEF New platforms Birmingham New Street development continues as Birse Rail and Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering have been awarded a £16 million contract to refurbish and reconstruct Platforms 2 to 11. The works, which will include fitting new escalators, lifts, lighting and platform finishes, form part of the £600 million rebuilding of the Birmingham station and will run until 2013. The new section of concourse, currently under construction by delivery partner Mace, will be open in December 2012. the rail engineer will be visiting the New Street site and reporting on latest developments in our February 2012 issue.
All change Philip Hammond MP has left the expanding Department for Transport to take over at the declining Ministry of Defence (a promotion?). In comes Justine Greening MP from the Treasury to take over as Secretary of State for Transport.
news
TRAINING
Bringing on new blood In order to reduce the skills shortage and bring new blood into the railway infrastructure industry, Network Rail has signed an agreement with two civil engineering associations to develop a programme which will better equip civil engineers of the future. The graduate development scheme will see Network Rail working with the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) to create a cross industry programme of training and experience for civil engineer graduates. The agreement will allow graduates working for Network Rail to spend time with other civil engineering organisations and vice versa, providing a cross industry level of experience. Neil Thompson, Network Rail programme director for infrastructure investment, said: “This agreement provides an excellent platform for our engineering graduates to gain cross industry experience, working with different organisations to develop their knowledge and skills. It will
also help the future of the engineering industry and develop our business by providing better equipped, more knowledgeable engineers who will help to deliver a safer and better value for money railway for Britain.”
Paul Clark (Network Rail), Mike Cocks (CECA) and Graham Nicholson (ACE) sign agreement. The agreement was signed at The Infrastructure Show, held at the NEC in Birmingham on 17-19 Oct 2011.
ENVIRONMENT
Shine a light on Blackfriars At the same time, Dutch state railway operator NedRail has been awarded a short term franchise to run trains in Greater Anglia under its Abellio brand. The agreement runs for only 29 months from February 2012. The new franchise period, of course, covers the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Quicker payments Delays in payments have always been a cause for complaint for both large and small contractors in the rail industry. Now Network Rail’s investment projects arm has reduced the time it takes to pay contractors and suppliers to 21 days, down from 56 days. This new practice applies to all new investment projects works contracts from 1 October 2011. It will not be applied retrospectively to earlier contracts. David McLoughlin, finance and commercial director, Network Rail investment projects, said: “Suppliers and contractors of all sizes will now have much greater certainty over cash flows.”
The new Blackfriars station - which is being built on a bridge spanning the River Thames - is on its way to becoming the world’s largest solar bridge after work started recently to install over 4,400 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. The Victorian bridge, built in 1886, is the foundation for the new Blackfriars station, which is being upgraded by Network Rail to cater for more passengers and an improved train service. A new roof,
added to the historic structure, will incorporate over 6,000m2 of PV panels, creating the biggest solar array in London. The solar panels will generate an estimated 900,000kWh of electricity every year, providing 50% of the station’s energy and reducing CO2 emissions by an estimated 511 tonnes per year. In addition to solar panels, other energy saving measures at the new station will include rain harvesting systems and
sun pipes for natural lighting. Lindsay Vamplew, Network Rail’s project director for Blackfriars, said: “We’re creating a spacious, modern station while at the same time installing London’s largest solar array to make Blackfriars more environmentally-friendly and sustainable. Constructed in the age of steam, we’re bringing it bang up to date with twenty first century solar technology to create an iconic station for the city.”
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 5
news
INFRASTRUCTURE
INFRASTRUCTURE
Canal Tunnel Junction
VolkerRail OLE contract
Balfour Beatty Rail has started construction on the new Canal Tunnel Junction project on behalf of Network Rail. The project involves the installation of two new turnouts in the existing up and down Moorgate Lines to allow East Coast Main Line trains from Peterborough and King’s Lynn to travel further south of the Thames. The southern end connection with the existing Thameslink system, situated just north of St Pancras International low level platforms A & B, will create the new junction. The project is constrained by the old infrastructure and the existing track
VolkerRail has been awarded the Overhead Line ElectriďŹ cation (OLE) and signalling works for the ďŹ rst phase of the White Rose Way Improvement Scheme by Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, as part of the Doncaster Southern Gateway project. The ÂŁ10.3 million contract is being carried out on behalf of Doncaster Council and is funded through a number of sources including the council, the South Yorkshire Transport Plan and the European Regional Development Fund. The work involves the provision of a new dual carriageway road bridge on White Rose Way, over East Coast Main Line. The scheme is to ease congestion problems and enable the delivery of major regeneration
form will need to be broken out and the turnouts installed during key possessions taking place around Christmas. The initial works will comprise of demolition and preparation, followed by diamond wire cutting and support. Structural concrete and preparation work will enable the project team to lift out existing track slabs and place the new turnout sections with minimum disruption to the infrastructure. Concrete inďŹ ll and ďŹ nishing works will complete the project which is due to be handed over on 30th December 2011.
development in areas around Lakeside and the town centre. The current OLE and signalling arrangements are to be altered to accommodate the proposed bridge and its construction. Network Rail requires the OLE to be free running beneath the new and existing bridge soďŹƒts. Said Steve Sorby General Manager, “This project will bring a direct and real beneďŹ t to the town and being a Doncaster based company, with our head oďŹƒce situated ‘next door’, we are extremely pleased to have secured this work, and to be able to play a part in the town’s growth.â€? Work is currently underway with a planned completion date of December 2011 for these enabling works.
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6 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
The
Painted Lady
writer
Mungo Stacy
The elegant Ouseburn Viaduct disappeared beneath eleven layers of scaffolding (right).
bridgescape along the River Tyne is T heinstantly recognisable - a visible, visual celebration of civil engineering. Less than a mile downstream a tributary, the Ouseburn, commands a further gallery of fine bridges. Compared with the postcard glory-bridges though, these specimens normally attract little attention. Yet this collection tells a similar story of engineering development, and the structures vaunt their own distinctive appearance. Modest 18th century Crawford’s Bridge is the lowest and oldest, crossing the burn in a single stone span. Almost directly above is the red-brick Byker Bridge, opened to road traffic in 1878 with a half-penny toll to traverse its 22 arches clear over the valley. Efficient twentieth-century precast segmental concrete technology is represented by the elegant curves of the 800 metre long Metro light-rail bridge. The final group-member is currently in hiding, apparently coy of its dressedmasonry piers, wrought iron arches and delicate spandrel-work. Behind plastic modesty screening, contractor Carillion is tending to every inch of the Network Rail’s Ouseburn Viaduct in a £10M project to address its condition and load-carrying capacity, to a design by Cass Hayward.
Pollution police Two hundred years ago, the Ouseburn Valley rang to the sounds of heavy industry. White lead works, lime kilns, pottery, flax
spinning, iron foundries - all situated themselves here to exploit the river, both for power and to drain away their noxious wastes. One hundred years ago, the river beyond the bridges was culverted and covered in up to 30m of landfill. The Ouseburn Tip became notorious for its fetid smells, its tendency to self-combust on hot days and the local scavengers who went ‘scrannin’ on the tip’. Fast-forward to today, and a plethora of environmental legislation rules the actions of the smallest enterprise. Hence the plastic sheeting which wraps the works and ensures that any contaminants are captured, bagged and removed. Blasting and painting subcontractor Pyeroy has installed powerful extractor units to recover and process the grit used to strip the bridge back to bare metal.
Sounds of industry and activity once again resound across the valley. Inside the wrap, the angular metalwork acts as a sound-box to echo, amplify and retransmit the smallest noise. And the work is loud, not quiet - as the big chisel-heads of demolition picks go to work to remove old rivets, the sound-blows feel physical rather than aural. Up close, the scaffolding resembles a study in persepective by M C Escher. At its highest it has eleven layers, and it took several design iterations to ensure that the right access was available to all areas of the bridge. Although a haul road was created alongside, large plant was prohibited by the steep-sided valley. In lieu of mechanical telehandlers, scaffolding subcontractor Lyndons manhandled up to 20 tons of scaffolding per day over the six weeks it took to install.
Right first time The five main 35-metre spans are built of six parallel metal arch ribs per span. The open spandrels are an intricate tracery intended to support the deck from the arch. Masonry piers give the railway a height of 33 metres above the burn. Two 12 metre-span stone arches each end of the bridge complete the full 280 metre length.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 7
feature
However, these details are not completely original. When first opened on 18 June 1839, as part of the Newcastle and North Shields Railway, the viaduct was built of laminated timber. Compared with stone arches, the only viable alternative at the time, the carpentry saved around 25% on the original construction cost of £24,500. The designers were father-and-son team John and Benjamin Green, who were also responsible for Newcastle landmarks such as Grey’s Monument and the neo-classical Theatre Royal. By some accounts, John was the civil engineer, taking part in early chainsuspension bridge experiments with Capt Sir Samuel Brown RN, whilst Benjamin was more of the architect. That said, it was the son Benjamin who was awarded a prestigious Telford Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers. His description of the Ouseburn Viaduct in the Institution Proceedings of 1841 described the economies obtained by using timber and the ‘Kyanizing’ process to treat it. Unfortunately it seems that the preservative was not entirely successful, for the viaduct was rebuilt in metal thirty years later. Fortunately the original directors of the railway company had insisted on masonry piers which were capable of supporting a heavier superstructure. Care was taken to replicate the form of the timber arrangement, and the engineer on this occasion was T E Harrison. Increasing traffic led to the viaduct being widened in 1887 to add a further two tracks on a similar but slightly narrower new
structure. In the 1950s, the tracks were ballasted and additional vertical frames were added to transfer the extra dead load without overloading the spandrels.
Assessed In the worst tradition of architectural fancies, the ornate spandrels appear to put form before function. Their pretty appearance has contributed to the Grade II* listing of the structure. However, the narrow sections are prone to corrosion, have a tendency to develop cracks and create an indeterminate load-path.
Concerns over the capacity of the bridge led to a speed restriction of 20mph being imposed. Refurbishment was essential as this affected the East Coast Main Line. Network Rail commissioned Gifford to assess the bridge and design a strengthening scheme to Form A, Approval in Principle stage. The scheme will provide full RA10 capacity for 60mph freight and RA8 capacity at 100mph for passenger traffic.
Up close, the corrosion damage is obvious.
8 | the rail engineer | november 2011
The Gifford assessment chose to treat the spandrels as non-structural, accounting for their dead weight but ignoring their stiffness in the computer model of the bridge. This left a well-defined load path, taking vertical loads from the deck into longitudinal stringer beams just below deck level and thence into the 1950s vertical frames down to the arch and to the piers. Strengthening measures were required and detailed for all these elements. Under this scheme the spandrels are not required to carry load, although some residual stresses will remain in them. Loads from the railway will be carried by the existing vertical frames behind the fascia, which can be seen by careful examination of an elevation of the bridge.
Strengthening
Extensive discussions were held with English Heritage and Newcastle City Council’s conservation officer about the works to Ouseburn Viaduct.
The tendered scheme was won by Carillion with designers Cass Hayward to develop the detailed design. Cass Hayward exploited their knowledge of the bridge, gained during the Category III check of the Gifford assessment, to identify opportunities to optimise the strengthening. James Parsons, partner at Cass Hayward, explains: “Originally, doubler plates were shown for the full perimeter of the arch ribs. During detailed design, we were able to look more closely at the areas needing extra material which allowed us to remove around two thirds of the main rib strengthening.” The newer 1870s section of widened bridge only carries a single line plus the overhead line equipment bases, and around 90% of the strengthening to the ribs was designedout for this section. Construction has been carefully sequenced whilst still allowing the contractor to work on several spans at once.
feature Clearly, strengthening had to be in place before introducing additional load into existing members. Thus, the works to the arch web splices are first, followed by the doubler plates to the arch flanges. After this, the lower connections for the vertical frames are to be strengthened. Then new stringer-beams will be added to support the deck off the vertical frames. Additional infill panels will be fitted to the spandrels at the centre of the arch where new stringers cannot be installed.
Heritage value Extensive discussions were held with English Heritage and Newcastle City Council’s conservation officer about the works to the bridge. Darryl White, Network Rail’s scheme project manager, commented, “They were most concerned about the appearance of the outer elevations”. He added that, following eight to nine meetings over a couple of years, a suite of details was agreed and consent obtained. A key consideration has been retaining the original structure as far as possible. The reduction in arch rib strengthening has assisted with this as it allows more of the original material to be visible rather than overplated. Other detailed-design changes have also helped. The longitudinal stringer beams were intended to be standard universal beam sections. These were changed to T-sections trussed together by channels, on first sight a cumbersome arrangement, but
actually assisting with installing the smaller pieces in a congested area and reducing the changes needed to the existing vertical frames to make a connection. Recent policy on painting for historic bridges has been to recreate the original colour where possible. Specialist conservators Crick Smith were engaged to analyse the original paint. Although it seemed that the bridge had been taken back to bare metal in the past, a few traces were found. Trial panels in these colours were previewed by the interested parties to make a colour selection. In engineering terms, the M20 RT98 system is expected to have a 25-year life.
Re-emergence When the bridge re-emerges next summer after a year of work, the most visible change may be the fresh paint. It is a tribute to the attention paid to the heritage that the extensive works, which will fundamentally change the way the structure carries loads, have such a minimal impact on the appearance of the bridge. With the scaffolding removed, and with the capacity to meet the needs of twentyfirst century rail traffic, the Ouseburn Viaduct will regain its standing amongst the other bridges as belle of the valley.
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10 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
writer
Clive Kessell
Platform extensions at Baker Street.
Sub Surface
Renaissance
publicity has already C onsiderable emerged on the new S stock trains being delivered to the Metropolitan Line. However, these are only part of a massive overall programme to upgrade all of London Underground’s sub surface lines. With a variety of ageing rolling stock, and some signalling systems that date back to the 1940s, the lines are overdue for modernisation. Hedley Calderbank is the Upgrade Sponsor within London Underground (LU) to ensure that the project plans are financially on course to deliver all the required benefits to LU’s business. He gave the rail engineer a fascinating insight into the project, its planning and delivery.
The business plan In the PPP era, the two organisations awarded the contracts were required to put forward plans for major improvement works. Metronet, responsible for the Sub Surface Railway (SSR), was committed to a complete upgrade of trains and signalling on all those routes as a single project. The existing track layouts had been unchanged for years - some even dated back to the loco hauled days of the Metropolitan Railway. Piecemeal renewals had kept everything largely unchanged as this had been the
simplest thing to do. As a result, many track layouts were less than optimised for the existing train service while the capabilities of both signalling and rolling stock fell well short of LU’s aspirations for capturing more traffic. The PPP organisational structure has been overtaken by events, but it was the catalyst for developing the SSR scheme as a single entity embracing the Metropolitan, District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. The ensuing business case for the upgrade has been based around a number of elements: • Shorter journey times for passengers entry gate to exit gate • Faster trains with better acceleration • Provision of more frequent trains, thus giving less waiting time on station platforms • Higher speeds on the Metropolitan line out in the north-west suburbs • Fulfilment of suppressed demand because of existing service limitations. Considerable work has gone into proving that the business case is robust. The peak number of trains per hour on every route will be increased as follows: • Metropolitan Line - from 21 to 28 • Circle and Hammersmith & City (central section) - from 28 to 32 • District (central section) - from 28 to 32
• Hammersmith & City - from 7 to 16, already partially achieved by the extended Circle line • District Line branches - by 1 train on each. Many of these additions are interdependent but, once the existing signalling has been replaced, the peak passenger capacity of the network will be increased by more than 30%.
Layout constrictions and improvements The SSR group of lines has four major junctions where little can be done to eliminate flat crossings: Aldgate, Baker Street, Edgware Road and Earls Court. To provide grade-separated layouts would be prohibitively expensive. However, running more trains across the conflicting paths can be simplified by changes to the track layouts, the signalling system and the use of ATR (Automatic Train Regulation). One example is the Metropolitan line at Baker Street which has two through platforms and two terminating bays. The new service envisages 28 trains per hour with 12 terminating and 16 running onto the Circle line. This can be achieved by minor adjustments to the track layouts and by changing the signalling to give better ‘run in’ times to platforms so that over restrictive overlaps are removed.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 11
feature Elsewhere, there are around 30 locations where even minor changes to the layout can give improved operating flexibility and/or higher speeds, as well as providing the opportunity to terminate trains at additional stations. Some of those locations will have new trackwork with fewer point ends and thus cheaper signalling and less maintenance. Bi-directional signalling enhances these simplifications at some sites.
The Signalling Work and Contract As important as the provision of the new trains is the resignalling of the entire SSR network with a modern Automatic Train Control (ATC) system. The signalling work contract has recently been let to Bombardier for a value of around £350m based upon their CITYFLO 650 product which has been proven on the Metro de Madrid and the Shenzhen Metro. The terms and conditions for implementation are predictably quite onerous. For the first time on LU, there will be no major blockades permitted for signalling installation, testing or commissioning, although some closures will, of course, be needed for trackwork changes. The ATC system will first be tested and proven by Bombardier on the Old Dalby test track in the East Midlands. This is planned for 2012/3. Thereafter the new lineside signalling equipment will be progressively installed with the intention of testing it in traffic while in shadow mode. It will be switched to be live during engineering hours to enable testing to be carried out, but switched back to the old system ready for traffic the next day. The system will have all the features one would expect of a modern metro: • Automatic Train Protection continuous with elimination of train stops • Moving Block, allowing variable headways • Attended Automatic Train Operation retaining the driver in leading cab • In-cab display showing movement authority status and no lineside signals • Automatic Train Regulation with junction optimisation. Lineside equipment is much reduced with most of the active equipment on board the train. Space was designed into the rolling stock design for the new signalling equipment. However, as some new trains have already been delivered, these will need to be retrofitted as will the engineering fleet. Later builds of the trains will have the in-cab signalling fitted as original equipment at the Derby factory.
(Above) Installing a Bailey Bridge at Neasden for construction traffic access.
The new Service Control Centre has already been built. A second disaster recovery centre will also be provided in due course. All communication to and from trains will be by radio which will use conventional aerials on the overground sections. However, radiating cable will be needed at some locations in tunnels where antenna mounting is not possible. It is intended that a dual transmission path will exist continuously to all trains, resulting in an extremely robust communication system. To achieve this, both cab units on the train will be active and will receive radio data by independent paths. The cab units will be connected together via an on-train fibre link. A new fibre network will be installed to convey safety critical instructions to the trackside transmitting points. Train position will be confirmed by small track-mounted balises. Axle counters will be used for secondary detection only. They will not be needed under normal operation but, should disruption occur, then they will be part of the recovery process. Point machines of varying types pneumatic and electrical - will remain where the layout is unaltered, but for new trackwork LU will standardise on a modern in-bearer clamplock design on ballasted track and the Surelock point mechanism elsewhere. Since station dwell times will be critical in achieving service performance, the driver will have responsibility for door closing, aided by an in-cab countdown clock.
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12 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
Interfaces with other lines Track relaying at Baker Street and Hammersmith.
New S stock train on the Metropolitan line.
The Metropolitan and District lines share tracks with the Piccadilly line from Rayners Lane to Uxbridge and Barons Court to Acton. The District line operates over Network Rail tracks to Wimbledon and Richmond while the Metropolitan line has to accommodate Chiltern Railways trains over its tracks from Harrow to Amersham. Different philosophies are being employed to cater for the continued safe operation of these “alien” train services. On the Piccadilly line sections, studies have shown that it is more cost effective to equip the trains with the new SSR ATC equipment rather than to provide dual ATC and lineside signals. This will also allow interoperability of tracks between Barons Court and Acton so permitting both District and Piccadilly trains to run on either track. The full ATC system will be provided on the Wimbledon branch from Putney Bridge to Wimbledon in addition to the legacy lineside signalling for the few non-LU trains. From Gunnersbury to Richmond, the ATC system will be overlaid on the existing conventional Network Rail signalling. On the Chiltern line, there will be lineside signals in parallel with the full ATC system for Marylebone to Aylesbury trains. Provision may need to be made at Watford for the extension of the line to Watford Junction under the Croxley Link scheme now under active consideration by Hertfordshire County Council. Should the project come about, this will
mean another interface with Network Rail signalling at Watford High Street. The Chesham branch will remain ‘One Train Working’ but the junction will be moved northwards from Chalfont & Latimer to gain greater capacity.
Project Phasing and Priorities 8-car S stock trains are already entering service on the Metropolitan line and deliveries will be complete by 2013. These will take over from the A stock that has been in service since 1960 and are LU’s oldest trains. The new trains have, however, necessitated some adjustments to the existing signalling to cater for slightly longer cars, a different driving position and altered signal sighting. Before the new ATC signalling can be brought into public service use, all trains on a particular route must be operated solely by the new stock. New signalling can then be commissioned on the Uxbridge branch and then progressively on the rest of the Metropolitan line by 2016, although not at that stage from Baker Street to Aldgate.
Similarly, on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and District lines, which will all receive 7-car S stock sets, the existing signalling will be modified so that trains can be driven for a period in manual mode. S stock deliveries will be complete in 2016 whereupon the new signalling will be commissioned on the Circle and Hammersmith & City routes, with the District line finally being converted by 2018. The complexities of this project should not be underestimated. It will be considerably more difficult to achieve than the recent Victoria and Jubilee line upgrades as these were essentially end-to-end routes with no intermediate junctions. There will no doubt be issues surrounding the required safety case, although a measure of cross acceptance will be applicable as the technology has successfully been applied elsewhere. To facilitate this, LU has every intention of not deviating from the standard signalling product even if this means changing its operating rules. It is going to be fascinating over the next seven years to watch the work as it progresses. The end result will be a world class metro operation that should be good for an intended life of 40 years.
Bombardier CITYFLO 650
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14 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature PHOTOS: JONATHAN WEBB
writer
Terry Whitley
Getting back to
Good Engineering East Coast Main Line is the most T herecent, and most obvious, example of
East Coast 91109 is serviced at Bounds Green depot. On the left is a rake of Mk 4 carriages minus their class 91 (inset) East Coast DVT 82210 has its tyres turned at Bounds Green depot.
the failure of a rail franchise. Taken back into public ownership in November 2009, the route is now operated by Directly Operated Railways (DOR) under the “East Coast” brand. From the outset, DOR established a clear vision for East Coast, supported by transparent objectives and performance indicators to ensure that the executive team and management understood the direction and focus for the business. One of the objectives was to improve the Fleet Engineering function. A decision to re-launch the business in May 2011 coincided with the introduction of a major new timetable for the East Coast Main Line, the biggest such change on the line for more than 20 years. Requiring 155 trains to run each day, this new timetable needed the train fleet to be in top condition - particularly in terms of reliability.
Lagging behind DOR’s own board reported last year that East Coast’s engineering organisation “had lagged behind other train operators in achieving their goals”. However, this year they could report “As part of the East Coast turnaround, which started early in 2010, the Engineering function has been substantially re-organised during the year, and significant advances have been made. This has included a revitalised Engineering Management System and a review of maintenance practice. The lack of investment in previous years has been reversed; and as a consequence, this investment has started to translate into improved performance. Utilising its 500 engineers, and by adopting a systematic approach using visualisation techniques and condition monitoring methods, both of the East Coast fleets (InterCity 225 electric fleet, and the HST diesel fleets) are currently amongst the most reliable InterCity fleets in the country.”
The fleet The East Coast fleet is managed from three principal train depots. These are Bounds Green in London, Craigentinny in Edinburgh and Clayhills at Aberdeen. The train fleet consists of 31 Class 91 locomotives, 30 225 train-sets and 13 HST 125 train-sets.
Bounds Green is the major depot used for Class 91 locomotives and the 225 train sets maintenance programme whereas Craigentinny maintains the HST fleet. A number of Class 08 shunters are located at the 3 depots and shunting movements within the depot was one area of concern that was focused on in the last 2 years to reduce shunting mishaps. the rail engineer was invited along to Bounds Green to see how the recent improvements have affected the work carried out overnight.
Bounds Green Everything starts with the afternoon team briefing which plans the evening and night maintenance schedules, looking at any material requirements for unexpected faults or failures. One major input into this is the information gathered from East Coast’s new remote electronic fault reporting and monitoring system, Project Falcon, which is being introduced across the whole fleet of Electric Class 91/DVT’s and Diesel Class 43 locomotives. The 225 train sets are now 25 years old. Even with the best maintenance procedures, and they haven’t always been as good as they could be on the ECML, components wear and faults occur. When a component is critical to the train’s performance, so that if it fails then the train fails too, is called a “Single Point Of Failure”. In a 225, there are no less than 300 of these. It is therefore crucial for the maintenance team to know how each item is performing, and whether it is getting close to failure.
Monitoring and recording Project Falcon is a web-based, real time system that transmits live data from a Remote Monitoring Device (RMD) fitted to the trains via wi-fi. The System will analyse On Train Monitoring Recorder (OTMR) outputs plus the performance of other key items of equipment. Based on a proven system on NXEA Norwich services, where tangible benefits are already being delivered, East Coast is looking for further developments to provide greater functionality. The aim is to have every aspect of a train’s performance monitored and recorded. Then any problem that is reported may be
analysed in detail to find the cause. Even the position of the driver’s controls can be played back to see how any incident may have developed. This has additional benefits other than just train maintenance, as now the whole operation of a service can be scrutinised. A couple of examples could help explain that. Analysis of a run between Newcastle and London revealed that a particular train never reached its top speed, but instead ran at only 122mph. After checks, it was found that the Automatic Speed Limiter had been set too low. This was easily recalibrated and, when the unit was returned to service, it covered the same route three minutes faster. As a second example, East Coast engineers were looking to see why there was a high incidence of delays at Wakefield. Was something causing the train to be held in the station too long? Examination of the recordings showed that the dwell times were consistently one minute, but that the preceding timing points made it difficult to achieve the station stop time accurately. The timetable was adjusted slightly and the problem solved. East Coast plans to be the first train operating company to have all its fleets installed with remote monitoring and automated delay attribution. The project will be crucial in helping the company deliver its performance targets in future.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 15
feature
Repairing an air conditioning unit from a Mk4 carriage at Bounds Green depot. (inset) A class 91 has its sanders filled by hand. To mechanise this process would cost thousands of pounds, so East Coast has no plans to replace a man with a can!
More conventional engineering Once the data has been analysed, and the engineering teams briefed, it is then down to conventional engineering to keep the trains running. But even that has been the subject of reorganisations. Air conditioning systems with a fault were routinely replaced with a spare and sent to a contractor near Doncaster for repair. However, any backlog could quickly mean that there was a shortage of operational units. Now, engineers can power-up air conditioners at Bounds Green, check for faults and make simple repairs on-site. Only major defects still have to be sent away. This has resulted in withdrawn units being repaired and returned to service much more quickly, with no more shortages. When East Coast took over the fleet, it was common for a class 91 to operate with one traction motor isolated due to an unrepaired fault. This is now rare. Miles per casualty for the 225 fleet now runs at 16,774 - still poor compared to 45,000 for the HSTs but significantly better than when DOR first started. East Coast’s Engineering Director, Ian Duncan, commented that 26 of the 225 sets were in traffic at any one time, with one held in reserve and one or more away for a major refurbishment. Such an overhaul can take a month, so scheduling each set’s absence from service is important, and the more work that can be done at the depot the better. Bounds Green has its own Hegenscheidt wheel lathe, installed by GNER in 2007. Usually it takes a shift to reprofile the four wheelsets on a Class 91 or Mark 4 coach. Wheel slide protection (WSP) on Mark 4 coaches works well but the Slip/Slide on class 91s is not so effective and can cause wheel flats. The wheel lathe corrects this,
while another ongoing project aims to reduce the occurrence of the problem in the first place. Sanders, which can have an adverse effect on wheel condition, were a major area of un-reliability due to lack of repair/parts, but big improvements have been made during the East Coast regime. Likewise, pantograph repair and maintenance is now conducted in the depot. To cut down on workload at Bounds Green, the facility at nearby Ferme Park has been upgraded. Situated on the other side of the main line, this now has facilities for train washing, cleaning and the emptying of toilets. Trains can now be routinely fettled at Ferme Park, and even ones destined for Bounds Green can have their daily service first.
There is still much to do at East Coast, and at Bounds Green. But Ian Duncan and his team are determined to keep the momentum going, and improve fleet availability and performance through the application of Good Engineering. Two EC class 91 sets undergo routine maintenance at Bounds Green depot.
16 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
writer
Grahame Taylor
Paddington Bore Buried services here are always developments going on beside the railway. Many go un-noticed. If you travel by train from South Wales into Paddington, there’s always been a mishmash of sites just to the north of the main line. The Westway A40 dominates the skyline and there have been rows of parked buses and lines of taxis in various states of assembly and colour. There’s even the Great Western Studios occupying a cold-war bunker style building. But now, as you prepare to arrive at Paddington, being forever exhorted to “Make sure you have all your luggage and children with you” and to “Mind the blindingly obvious gap”, a glance over to the lineside reveals that everything has changed. The buses have gone, as have the taxis and the seemingly immovable Great Western Studios have vanished.
T
Entrance to the underworld All this is because of Crossrail – a major project that is well and truly under way. On the invitation of Crossrail, the rail engineer has had a chance to view the completed approach to the Royal Oak Portal. What might resemble a slip road in more rural surroundings is in fact the entrance to the underworld – the route for the project’s tunnelling machines and then, later on, the fleet of Crossrail trains. Simon Pledger is Bechtel’s Project Manager for this part of the Crossrail scheme and leads us through the background engineering.
Narrow strips of land
(Right) Excavating the approach to the portal.
A little bit of orientation may help. There are two sites involved. The Westbourne Park area will eventually accommodate the turnback sidings for trains out of Paddington, along with a reinstated bus deck. Originally the site of all the buildings and vehicles
The Crossrail parliamentary bill allowed for compulsory purchase orders for the land involved and, when all these processes had run their course, two contracts were let for demolition work. Morgan Sindall undertook the clearance of the Westbourne Park area along with moving an existing retaining wall back to create a wider site for the ultimate relocation of the buses and for new sidings for Tarmac. The Studios (Studio Space for the Creative Industries) have been relocated to just the other side of the A40. Keltbray moved into the Royal Oak site to prepare the land for the portal works. In the process, ‘things’ were found. Simon remembers that, “We encountered at least 26 buried services across the site. It may have been more. These and other obstructions to the movement of the Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) had to be removed. They included a thrust block to a cable chamber, a signal gantry leg and a selection of signalling location cabinets.
“We have implementation arrangements with Network Rail that allows them to do that work on our behalf. So far as plant working right by the London Underground and Network Rail tracks is concerned, there are a number of liaison mechanisms to ensure we adhere to undertakings and carefully protect their assets. We develop what we call ‘work package plans’ – effectively method statements for how we do the work. Where there’s an impact on their assets we share those method statements with London Underground and Network Rail over which they have approval rights. They’re also involved at the design stage and have what we call a final design submission that they get to approve - this basically tells them what we’re going to build.”
PHOTO: JONATHAN WEBB
mentioned above, it also has a Tarmac stone terminal siding facility – which has to be moved. The Royal Oak Portal site, which is just over half a mile from the bufferstops at Paddington, is just to the west of Westbourne Park. They are both narrow strips of land sandwiched between the A40 on its flyover and the London Underground and Network Rail tracks.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 17
feature Temporary props With the site cleared it was time to install the diaphragm walls. Most of these structures are of reinforced concrete placed in trenches filled with bentonite slurry. The bentonite keeps the trench sides stable and is displaced by the poured concrete. The remaining part of the wall, completing a long box structure, was constructed using sheet piles. Temporary props were placed across the tops of the walls so that material could be excavated down to track formation level. Some of these props were designed to remain in position as part of the permanent structure. Others remained in place only until the track base slab had been poured and had cured. At this point the props were removed. The project was fortunate that the material arising was mostly from made ground. There were none of the issues of contaminated material so often encountered in urban and especially railway environments.
Leading the muck away With the site being long and narrow, there were limited options for leading the muck away. The original contract had provision for carting material out via both the eastern and western ends. The eastern end sent haulage traffic out into Central Paddington. The western end was land locked and was dependant on an agreement with the contractor occupying the Westbourne Park site. An agreement was reached with Morgan Sindall that allowed CSJV (A joint venture between Costain and Skanska) to construct a haul road through the Westbourne Park site and out at the western end. “It was a much better option because it allowed us to use both ends of the site and also it speeded up the programme with easier access and egress,” Simon Pledger recalled. Traffic went out at set times throughout the day in accordance with the Section 61 agreement arranged with Westminster who were fully supportive of the spoil going out the West because of the reduced impact on Paddington Central area. Most of the material – London Clay – went off to the Downes Barnes Golf Course in Hillingdon.
Ancient geological structure All four sides of the new box structure have vertical extensions to cater for a ‘flood level 2’ – a fairly bland term for a major flood that would have the rest of London in trouble long before Crossrail! On more mundane drainage matters, this large hole in the ground has temporary sumps and pumps to remove rainwater before the main cross-London tunnel drainage is installed. The Natural History Museum had an interest in the excavations as they went through the Westbourne River. This ancient geological structure was found at about 11m depth and yielded around 160 (animal) bones, some of which appeared to have had ‘human intervention’. This caused some delay. However the contractor did well to minimise any disruption by working with the archaeologists and eventually completed the job almost a month ahead of schedule.
The subterranean riparian encounter had been expected because of earlier soil investigations. Crossrail has a number of different sites which are likely to have significant historical interest and has a targeted ‘watching brief’ on these areas. An archaeologist will stand watching work in progress and as soon as they spot something they will ‘step in’. The first phase portal structure is now complete – that is, the civils works for the purposes of allowing the TBMs to drive through London. There is some additional scope of works to do once the tunnelling contractor has finished. Once the muck has been taken out from Bond Street and beyond and the TBM has emerged at Farringdon and been taken to pieces, the portal will be finished off and a headhouse erected.
Future programme So, what next for Simon? “I’m looking at scoping the works that need to be done at Westbourne Park and Royal Oak Portal between the tunnelling contractor completing and the system-wide team
coming through. So there is some scoping of works to get the buses back at Westbourne Park, an undertaking to manage the relocation of Tarmac and to put the sidings back. Still to do is the headhouse finishing for the portal, Network Rail’s Marcon Sewer drainage and the Green Lane Sewer drainage to accommodate the new Crossrail tracks. I’m setting that up at the moment and basically assisting the delivery team with some exercises trying to simplify our processes and to find additional value for money.” A major item of Crossrail infrastructure has been completed. The next things we will see (that is, if we pay attention as we arrive on our trains from the west) will be the TBMs being delivered in bits, being assembled and trundled down to the headwalls. the rail engineer looks forward to an invitation to see it all close up!
(Top) Lifting steel props by gantry crane. (Left) Some of the bones uncovered by archaeologists.
18 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
All
that Graeme
Bickerdike Chinese must be feeling very smug T heindeed, gazing westwards at the warm
Trains and trackworkers converge in the throat of Manchester Piccadilly.
PHOTO: JONATHAN WEBB
PHOTO: FOUR BY THREE
Remote condition monitoring and time-smart engineering practices help to create additional capacity.
glow of Capitalism burning. In the second quarter of 2011, economic growth there almost hit 10%; industrial production was up more than 15%. Energising this expansion is cheap power - generating capacity is being doubled to 1,000 Gigawatts - alongside the relentless march of transport and communications networks. Major conurbations are having their skylines redrawn in steel and concrete. Even the poorest are profiting - moving out of caves and into proper housing, just as many Britons prepare to go the other way. The contrast in fortunes is blinding.
An uncomfortable SoFA? The first manifestations reveal themselves in two Initial Industry Plans (IIP) developed by Network Rail, ATOC, the Rail Industry Association and Rail Freight Operators’ Association. Published in September, they look forward to Control Period 5 (2014-2019) and beyond - one dealing with England and Wales, the other focussing on Scotland. The former aims to provide 170,000 additional seats on key urban networks during the peaks whilst making room for 30% more freight. This will be done against a backdrop of efficiency improvements and revenue growth, cutting by two-thirds the financial burden borne by the taxpayer from £3 billion in 2014 to £1 billion in 2019. It is also presumed that High Speed 2 evades the nimbys to relieve pressure on the West Coast Main Line, with the Chilterns welcoming its first bulldozers during CP5. Think of the IIPs as a portfolio of investment opportunities. Beyond those already committed - the Thameslinks and Crossrails - it features up to £5.6 billion worth of proposals, bringing with them a very impressive social and economic benefit:cost ratio of 4.5:1. But ultimately the choice lies with government. Next summer, having considered the industry’s pitch, Westminster and Holyrood will present their expectations through High Level Output Specifications (HLOS) alongside assessments of what they can afford to spend, known as SoFAs (Statement of Funds Available). Given the parlous state of our finances, the money will probably come from down the back of one. Nothing is set in stone until the autumn of 2013 when the ORR issues its final determination based on Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plan - a statement of how the firm intends to deliver the HLOSs, working with the industry. Pause for breath.
All about context So how do you ‘manage’ more capacity into the network rather than build more of it? The answer has several components, none of which bring revelation. You make the infrastructure more resilient and then monitor how it performs, taking proactive steps to avert failure; you reduce the need for engineering access through longer-life components and more time-smart practices; you improve signalling headways, adjust the
PHOTO: FOUR BY THREE
writer
With our economy flat-lining and the Eurozone debt crisis frightening the markets, those tasked with accommodating the railway’s substantial projected growth in both passenger numbers and freight have found their options limited by the coalition’s hatchet. Standing on the brakes to control public spending has largely blocked-off the strategist’s preferred route out of trouble: build new infrastructure. Room for manoeuvre has been further constrained by Sir Roy McNulty. Remember him? Though some privately slate his ‘value for money’ conclusions as flawed or oversimplistic, political expediency demands that the railway is seen to respond positively to them. Whilst it is widely accepted that costs need to come down, how and to what extent? McNulty’s study asserted that the Route Utilisation Strategy process “tended to lead too easily to capital and infrastructure solutions”, instead advocating “a move towards ‘predict, manage and provide’, with a much greater focus on making better use of existing capacity.” The objective remains the same; the legacy is directional change.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 19
PHOTO: MATT BUCK
Big ideas The headline proposals have already been well flagged: the closure over 30 years of 800 signal boxes as part of Network Rail’s new operating strategy, with control transferred to 14 modern signalling centres (see Issue 83 of the rail engineer), the application of ERTMS on the Great Western and East Coast as a precursor to its adoption on other routes after CP5, as well as an extension to the electrification programme launched in 2009. The latter would involve wiring • the Midland Main Line northwards from Bedford to Sheffield via Derby, along with the section from Trent Junction into Nottingham (already supported by a strong business case) • Gospel Oak to Woodgrange Park Junction, benefitting London Overground services and offering a through electric freight route from the Thameside area • South Wales’ Valley lines, linking Cardiff Queen Street with Rhymney, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Treherbert, Radyr (via Ninian Park), Penarth and Barry Island • the North TransPennine network, encompassing ManchesterLeeds/York/Hull through Standedge Tunnel, Temple Hirst Junction-Selby and Northallerton-Middlesbrough
• the remainder of the diesel-operated passenger lines around Scotland’s central belt, beyond the 342 single track kilometres involved in EGIP, the ongoing Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvements Programme. Conversion of the South East’s vast third rail DC network to overhead AC traction is also under examination - presumably beneath cold, wet towels. The cost and logistical implications are clearly off the scale. Providing better links across the North, vital for economic stimulus, is the force behind the Northern Hub - 17 discrete ventures that could collectively bring 700 additional weekday trains to the region (see Issue 81 of the rail engineer). Costing government £735 million, it offers benefits back at an attractive ratio of 4.1:1 All this will entail more new rolling stock, over and above the 2,150 vehicles committed for Crossrail, Thameslink and main lines via the Intercity Express Programme. Around 150 electric vehicles are required in London and the South East, 100 more for long-distance services and upwards of 320 (dependent on TransPennine electrification) to serve regional and Scottish routes - a mix of electrics and diesels. Key to this will be economies of scale, both from better procurement practices and by cutting back the plethora of rolling stock designs, possibly based on five broad categories identified by the ubiquitous working group.
Original thought More likely to catch the engineer’s eye and certainly that of the product designer are the less quantifiable opportunities. Over the course of CP5, £150 million will hopefully be earmarked for innovation - ideas that
PHOTO: DAVID SHIRRES
timetable and match train length to demand; you optimise passenger loadings through the fares structure, offering off-peak incentives (or by clobbering commuters with a mallet). All this can be done, is being done and will continue to be done. But then what? The IIP paints a picture of an industry trying to put its house in order, providing 50 pages of ‘context’ and ‘value for money’ analysis, extolling the railway’s safety performance and fine environmental credentials. It gets very touchy-feely about meeting customer needs. Improved contractual relationships are described; so too are asset management savings; so too is devolved decision-making to local routebased organisations; so too is the movement towards goal-based standards and their trialling using Red, Amber and Green indicators. Yes, it all gets quite granular. McNulty’s critique (see Issue 80 of the rail engineer) is tackled and despatched point by point. It seems almost apologetic when the plan serves up nuggets of cold capital investment.
PHOTO: JONATHAN WEBB
feature
help to meet system-wide needs with the aim of delivering annual cost savings of more than £100 million. Two-thirds of the fund would be used to progress ‘demonstrator’ projects on key programmes identified by the Technical Strategy Leadership Group; the other £50 million will be available for emerging schemes. Did the trend towards benign winters lull the industry into a false sense of security so far as weather resilience is concerned? Either way, the attendant disruption over two consecutive harsh winters brought reputational damage that the railway could do without, prompting a strategic review of the system alongside shorter-term initiatives to minimise service impact. A >£300 million shopping list of potential fixes has been identified featuring 4,000 heavy-duty switch heaters, the fitment of insulation to 18,000 existing point-end heaters and 24 additional winter trains with snow ploughs, hot-air blowers and steam lancers. Even on the agenda is the establishment of an earlywarning network of around 2,000 weather stations, together with a purpose-built climate chamber to test S&C units, OLE systems and carriages. Global warming - or whatever we’re calling it today - will have longer-term consequences for the industry, thus it’s largely a blur at the edges of these five-year focussed plans. It is though worth highlighting a single sentence lurking on page 123: “The scientific understanding is
More electrification and the establishment of 14 modern signalling centres are amongst the headline proposals.
The Midland Main Line could benefit from remodelling work at Derby and electrification, as well as longer trains and platforms.
20 | the rail engineer | november 2011
How England and Wales’ AC electrified network might develop.
feature
that…on a global basis, carbon emissions are increasing faster than the extreme scenarios used as the basis for established likely climate change outcomes”, prompting the recognition that any projected impacts on the railway can only be ‘probabilistic’ and subject to change. Now that’s the definition of ‘wriggle room’.
Existing OLE network (25kV AC) Schemes already confirmed Possible CP5 schemes
Best of the rest
(Below right) Upwards of £300 million could be invested in weather resilience projects. (Below left) Freight traffic levels are being driven upwards by container movements.
Meriting a round-up are some of the localised interventions that could bring wider operational gains. An unsurprising priority will be congestion relief at major stations that have not recently been remodelled, with Fenchurch Street, Clapham Junction, Charing Cross and Liverpool Central amongst those on the list. Platform lengthening to accommodate 11car trains is suggested as a space-creating measure on the Midland Main Line. Renewal-led opportunities could see packages of work taking place through the Oxford corridor, at Derby Station and around the Medway towns of East Kent. Signalling and track layout changes are proposed between Ferriby and Gilberdyke in East Yorkshire, with Halifax and Bradford Interchange benefitting similarly. Detailed options are being developed for access into Heathrow from the west whilst, north of the border, Inverness and Aberdeen will gain from an investment of £200 million on the routes into and between them, together with their commuter networks. Low-cost opportunities could be exploited by a fund targeting improvements in journey times and connectivity. Development is still in its early stages but several candidate schemes have already been identified on the Maidstone East, Portsmouth, Hastings and West of England lines, amongst others. Freight figures heavily. Traffic levels are expected to double over 25 years, largely driven by container flows between the deep-sea ports. The industry’s Strategic Freight Network Group has developed a series of options with strong stakeholder support. Amongst these is a second phase of capacity enhancements between Nuneaton and Felixstowe, allowing some
HTLINER PHOTO: FREIG
freight to travel crosscountry rather than via London, thus releasing capacity on the congested Great Eastern. Gauge clearance to W12 on the Great Western will open the door for terminals to be developed close to Heathrow and at Avonmouth. Infrastructure options for the core and diversionary routes between Southampton and the West Coast Main Line are being established in light of forecast growth, along with the business case.
Mother of invention “The world has changed” is a lazy and over-used truism. But it has, and the tone of these Initial Industry Plans reflects that. There’s a sense of consolidation, more restraint than before; lacking (for the most part) are those big eye-catching schemes, in deference to McNulty. In the context of cost cutting it’s certainly ambitious. There is though a
PHOTO: TIM16 6
mountain to climb dispelling Philip Hammond’s recent “uncomfortable fact” that the railway is “a rich man’s toy” will command much time and effort. RPI+3% annual fare increases continue to push the summit upwards. The mind-boggling expansion of China’s high speed network - 6,000 miles of it built in just a decade - reflects national aspirations and the health of its economy. Another 10,000 miles is planned. Cash has been thrown at HSR like confetti - totalling $300 billion by 2020 - to fuel growth. But the fallout from July’s crash at Wenzhou, which claimed 40 lives, has exposed a rat’s nest of suspect safety and quality systems, ministerial corruption and environmental impact exceedances. Ticket prices are high, ridership low, and now the trains have been slowed down. Money doesn’t always bring the best solutions; it can impede creative thought. Who knows, perhaps a dose of austerity is what our industry needs to rebalance those years of plenty. Of course several thousand employees might have a very different perspective.
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22 | the rail engineer | november 2011
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Bishopto King 7 writer
Mungo Stacy the rail engineer we like to celebrate A tsuccess. So we are pleased to report on
Positioning the new bridge.
the Bishops Grange underbridge reconstruction, winner of Civil Engineering Achievement of the Year at this year’s National Rail Awards on 15 September. First an admission though - when the shortlist was announced, no-one on the editorial team had heard of the project. A bit of research showed why. Underbridge redeck - minor road - one out, one in - bit of a skew - heavy load transporters. It all seemed to be bread-and-butter stuff. But that’s where this project, or rather this project team, did something a bit special challenging assumptions and pushing the boundaries. Rather than take the proffered concept design, contractor May Gurney’s tender
submission proposed an alternative, more cost-effective structural form. And in the drive towards the 24/7 railway, they have staked a claim for the fastest mainline bridge reconstruction on the London North East region.
Pity me Between Durham and Chester-le-Street, the East Coast Main Line skirts the exquisitely-named village of Pity Me. An unclassified minor road heads north and passes below the twin-track electrified railway close to Bishos Grange. The rail underbridge, a half-through girder design with trough decking, had a high skew of 62 degrees and was life-expired. And, minor road or not, replacing the bridge deck required a closure of the 115mph main line.
Pressure from the train operating companies put a maximum of 43 hours on the available shut-down. The scheme was tendered on this basis in late 2009 including a pre-booked possession for January 2011. An agreed Form A preliminary design for a western region-style box-girder was provided to suit the high skew, requiring 18m-long girders despite a road width of only 7.5m.
Alternative tender Rather than simply price-up a conforming bid, May Gurney took the initiative to develop an alternative submission in addition. This “non-compliant” response proposed a design change to a U- deck type, offering lower cost, reduced construction depth and improved maintenance by designing-out the confined spaces associated with box girders. Each Udeck
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 23
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carries a single track, allowing the construction to be shallower than the wider conforming two-track design. In turn, this allowed a standard headroom of 5.03m to be provided over the road by planing off just 200mm from the high side. However, the U-deck cannot cope with such a high skew. Working with their designers Pell Frischmann, May Gurney’s tender proposed a 55 degree skew by intentionally making the bearings nonparallel with the abutment. This allowed the deck to have a smaller skew than the road with the mismatch accommodated by a wider cill beam.
Never content In the spirit that epitomised the project, once the contract was awarded on 8 December 2009, May Gurney revisited the design to see if it could be done even better. Further work brought the deck skew back to 50 degrees, now at the upper limit, but within the range, of Network Rail’s standard underbridge details. While the alternative design still required a new Form A to be produced and agreed, using the standard details removed much of the programme risk for gaining those approvals, a significant advantage.
Design to build
Steve Richardson, May Gurney’s project manager, says, “We were extremely conscious of the deadline of the pre-booked possession, so we worked closely with Network Rail to look at timescales and design parameters.”
Heavy load transporters from ALE were fundamental to the construction method. Critically, these allowed the entire replacement to be carried out below the isolated overhead line equipment which remained in place throughout. They also removed any risk of high winds delaying the programme.
Replacing the track.
Essential. Rail Services
We work in long-term framework contracts with our client Network Rail to deliver vital maintenance and refurbishment works on rail structures, rail property and in the signalling environment. We have an enviable safety record and have won numerous awards for the quality of our delivery, including nine industry awards for our heritage maintenance works on the High Level Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne. We improve access, quality of service, and safety for those who travel by rail.
www.maygurney.co.uk May Gurney is an infrastructure services company. We are committed to helping our clients in the public and regulated sectors deliver sustainable improvements to front-line services across the UK.
Group office: Trowse, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 8SZ Tel: 01603 727272 Fax: 01603 727400 Email: marketing@maygurney.co.uk
24 | the rail engineer | november 2011
‘The plaudits May Gurney and Network Rail are receiving for designing, planning and the implementation of this project are well deserved,’ said Kirk Taylor of Stobart Rail, who themselves had 17 pieces of plant and 40 men on this scheme.
Proud to have been involved with the reconstruction of Bishops Grange Bridge
Pell Frischmann provide a wide range of rail design services to depots, stations and bridges from minor masonry repairs to deck reconstruction and major structures overhauls
www.pellfrischmann.com
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There have been 8-hour bridge replacements before, but they have tended to be of smaller, square structures on less critical routes. “Forty three hours is exceptionally tight for a bridge of this kind”, says Steve Richardson. “We looked at time-saving in everything in the design”. As much as possible of the revetment walls were left insitu behind the abutments, reducing the amount of new ballast retention and backfill needed. Just a 20mm gap each side was allowed to squeeze the new deck in. With these tight tolerances, a little strategic adjustment with a lump hammer was needed on the night! The cill beams were connected to the deck and driven in as one unit, making neat use of the anti-uplift devices at the bearings for the attachment. Temporary tie-downs were positioned to avoid conflicting with the waterproofing and track, making their removal a non-critical event later in the sequence. Further time was saved by doing the ‘drive out’ and the ‘drive in’ with ballast in place, both as the old deck was removed and with the first layer of ballast already installed on the new deck. The high, narrow embankments made this a major consideration since they prevented the normal lay-out of ballast on the cess. Over 200t of stone was needed to reballast the deck trackwork, with additional road-rail machines being used to transport bagged ballast from the nearest access points up to a mile away. Network Rail played a critical role in the delivery too. This included the key enabling work of slewing the lineside cabling onto a temporary services bridge. Operations staff tracked the
progress of the last trains due over the structure from the day prior to the possession, allowing the electrical isolation to be taken two hours in advance of the possession rather than after commencement. Finally, with the area handed back six hours early by May Gurney, Network Rail’s maintenance team installed the track and tested the signalling to allow the railway to be brought back into service.
Checkmate The award judges commented, “The winning entry truly demonstrated excellence in both design and execution”. Although May Gurney’s contract value was a fairly modest £910k, the short timescales of the design phase and possession required a high level of attention to detail which paid off with a successful project. The team has set what is believed to be a new record for a main-line reconstruction. But today’s record is tomorrow’s target - and the train operators will surely soon be questioning whether 43 hours, or better, can be achieved not just this time, but every time. So perhaps in a year or two, our editorial team will be justified in overlooking a 43-hour rebuild as the norm. The finished bridge open and ready for business.
BISHOPS GRANGE Bridge Underpass ‘’Stobart Rail are extremely proud of the part we played in assisting in the delivery of this time critical scheme. The plaudits May Gurney and Network Rail are receiving for designing, planning and the implementation of this project are well deserved.” Kirk Taylor, Managing Director
Incorporated in 1993 as WA Developments by Andrew Tinkler, now Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Group, Stobart Rail represents the civil engineering and rail-based freight elements of the UK’s leading multimodal transport business. Stobart Rail is one of the UK's leading names in rail network maintenance, repair and improvement. The company is active throughout the earthworks, structures, permanent way, drainage and lineside infrastructure sectors of the rail industry and offers a presence throughout the UK.
Stobart Rail holds a Network Rail Principal Contractor's Licence and Rail Plant Operating Company Licence, as well as a comprehensive list of Link-up accreditations. The Company's wide-ranging expertise, innovative approach, experienced workforce and extensive fleet of plant is also deployed undertaking development projects and delivering improvement works at a number of major Stobart Group facilities. Stobart Rail operates an award winning training school, ensuring all operatives and staff are qualified to the very highest standards.
David Richardson Plant Hire t. 01228 518 150 e. david.richardson@stobartrail.com Kirk Taylor Managing Director t. 01228 882 300 e. kirk.taylor@stobartrail.com Liam Martin Rail Freight Director t. 0151 424 6724 e. liam.martin@stobartrail.com
stobartrail.com
26 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
Land of Opportunity
who have recently browsed R eaders through the Appointments pages of our sister publication RailStaff, the online jobboard RailwayPeople.com, or even the back pages of this magazine, will have noticed a number of advertisements from Australian railway companies seeking British railway engineers. Everyone knows that British engineers are amongst the best in the world, but why suddenly are they in such demand on the other side of the world? the rail engineer has been to find out…
History of confusion Australia is a big place, but with only a few centres of population. They started as British colonies, so the first instructions were to ensure that all railways were built to the
British standard gauge of 4’ 8½” (or 1435 newfangled millimetres). However, politics and an Irish engineer intervened, so by the time that the various colonial networks started to take shape there were a mixture of gauges. Railways in Victoria and South Australia were built to Irish Broad Gauge (5’ 3” or 1600mm) while New South Wales, after opening one line in Broad Gauge in 1855, then built the rest of their network in Standard Gauge. Queensland decided to use Narrow (Cape) Gauge of 3’ 6” (1067mm) for their network, as did Western Australia around Perth. Tasmania built one line in Broad Gauge, then standardised on Narrow Gauge. All this wasn’t a problem while the individual networks didn’t connect. However, once the railways started to grow, and freight movements became important, this became more of a problem. Various reports suggested standardising the network, but to no avail. By the outbreak of World War II there were 12 breaks of gauge on the network, and some interesting multigauge trackwork in several yards.
Today, the individual city metro services still retain their original gauges. However, the long-distance inter-state routes, used primarily for freight and tourist passenger trains, are now all standard gauge. So are the privately-owned, heavy-haul railways built by the iron ore mines in the Pilbara in Western Australia. The other heavy freight routes, out of the coal mines in Queensland and New South Wales, use the regular stateowned lines. Perhaps the best way to break down current activity is by state.
Queensland Passenger services are run by the stateowned Queensland Rail. The Narrow Gauge network covers 7000 kilometres and the company employs 7000 people to run
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 27
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writer
Nigel
Wordsworth
260,000 scheduled services a year. Annual revenue is over A$1.8 billion (£1.1 billion) and the network services the main population centres around Brisbane as well as reaching as far north as Cairns along the coast. The Brisbane-Cairns service is operated by a diesel-powered Tilt Train built by Downer Rail. The 1050 mile service runs twice weekly and takes 23 hours 55 minutes. A more leisurely service, The Sunlander, is loco hauled and takes 31 hours, three times a week. The more conventional suburban and short-haul services are run by a fleet of around 150 EMUs. Two new classes are currently being built by Downer / Bombardier. Freight operations were split from passenger services in 2009, with the formation of QRNational. This is the largest rail freight operation in Australia, in terms of weight hauled, with 9,000 employees, 746 locomotives and 16,330 wagons hauling 243 million tonnes each year. QRNational also operates and maintains 2,300km of largely dedicated and purpose built, heavy haul, narrow-gauge rail infrastructure, known as the Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN). The Queensland Government announced plans to float Queensland Rail on the stock market this month, after a A$5.1 billion (£3.1 billion) bid for the coalfreight network by a consortium of coal companies fell through.
New South Wales Passenger services are operated by Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) under two brands - CityRail for metropolitan services and CountryLink for long-distance services. RailCorp employs 15,000 people and owns and operates the 1595 kilometre standard gauge Sydney area rail network as well as providing access to that network for freight operators. Passenger stock is a mixture of electric and diesel-powered multiple units. The latest EMUs are the A sets (or Waratah named after the flower which is the emblem of New South Wales), being built by a joint venture between Downer Rail and Hitachi. The order for 626 carriages was the largest passenger rolling stock order in Australia’s history. Deliveries commenced in July 2011 and will run through until 2014. Also currently in production are the H sets (or OSCAR - Outer Suburban Car). 122 carriages have already been delivered by UGL and a second order for 74 cars is underway.
British visitors will recognise CountryLink’s XPT as it is based on the British Rail High Speed Train! The power cars are shorter, with derated diesel engines, and the train has Budd carriages as the Mark 3s were thought to be unsuitable for Australia’s conditions. But the shape is very similar.
Victoria Melbourne’s broad gauge suburban network is operated by the franchise Metro Trains Melbourne, a joint venture of MTR Corporation (Hong Kong), John Holland and UGL. It is currently two years into an eight year franchise contract. 331 trains are operated over 830 kilometres of track and 211 stations. Rolling stock is primarily EMUs which in 2009 were taken over from predecessor Connex, although an order for a second tranche of 38 six-car Alstom X’Trapolis units were in the process of being delivered. The first 19 were built in Italy, the balance assembled at UGL’s Ballarat plant to meet the requirement for a 40% local content. In contrast, the diesel-powered trains in regional Victoria are operated by V/Line, which is owned by the state government. It operates 82 railway stations and also runs a large number of coach services. The fleet is a mixture of DMUs and locomotive-hauled trains, the most recent being Bombardier’s VLocity 160 DMUs that were first delivered in 2005. V/Line also maintains all the non-urban lines, including those that are freight-only, but not including the interstate main lines.
South Australia There is a small broad-gauge metro system around Adelaide operated by Adelaide Metro. It is the only one of Australia’s suburban rail networks that operates solely on DMUs, although there are plans to electrify it from 2013. The 600km of the narrow-gauge Eyre Peninsular Railway is totally separated from the rest of Australia’s railways. It carries freight only, mainly gypsum, salt and grain.
Western Australia Perth’s urban services are operated by Transperth Trains, a division of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. The 173km system consists of five lines and 69 stations and is operated by a fleet of 94 EMUs.
QR National coal train (Moura line).
28 | the rail engineer | november 2011
Queensland Rail diesel-powered tilt train. (right) Brisbane new interurban multiple unit.
Services outside of Perth are operated by another Public Transport Division, Transwa, which links 275 stations within Western Australia. There is also a standard gauge line from the port of Esperance to Leonora, which crosses the main interstate railway at Kalgoorlie. The Pilbara region, on the northern coast of Western Australia, is the centre of the country’s iron ore mining. Privately-owned heavy-haul railways, all standard gauge and with axle loads as high as 40 tonnes, run inland from the ports of Dampier, Cape Lambert and Port Headland. The newest such railway, opened in 2008 by Fortescue, is 260 kilometres long and regularly carries 220-wagon trains up to 2.5 kilometres long and with a gross weight of 35,200 tonnes at a 40 tonne axleload.
PHOTO: BOMBARDIER
PHOTO: QUEENSLAND RAIL
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QRNational also operates in other states than Queensland. It took over that part of the Australian Railroad Group which runs in Western Australia and South Australia. The balance, including the line up to Darwin, is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Elsewhere, a subsidiary of Freightliner operates in New South Wales, and there are half a dozen other significant freight operators.
Northern Territory Darwin has no suburban rail network at all. In fact there is only one railway in the whole territory, and that is one end of the standard gauge interstate railway from Adelaide.
Current developments With such a complex railway system, there is always something happening. New projects are being run at both national and state levels. These include some big-money projects, several of which are on hold pending federal government funding, and some more conventional ones.
Interstate railways The capital cities of all six states are linked by standard gauge main lines that are used for both passenger and freight services. There is a costal route from Brisbane down through Sydney and then on to Melbourne. Another line goes from Melbourne through Adelaide to Perth. And part way between Adelaide and Perth, at Tarcoola, a track splits off north through Alice Springs to Darwin. Most of this network is owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), although Tarcoola to Darwin is owned/leased by AustralAsia Rail Corporation. In Western Australia the operator is another non-profit government organisation WestNet Rail. Some other stretches are owned by the local operators. The Great Southern Railway, which is owned by Serco Asia Pacific, operates three named passenger trains, The Indian Pacific (Sydney-Adelaide-Perth), The Ghan (Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin) and The Overland (Melbourne-Adelaide).
Installing points at Dalrymple Bay coal terminal.
Freight traffic falls into two categories. There are dedicated services, such as those on the private iron-ore railways in Pilbara or the coal trains running in Queensland and New South Wales. There are also longdistance general freight trains which tend to run on the interstate main lines. Pacific National is one of the largest private freight operations. With over 600 locomotives and 14,000 wagons, it operates on the interstate main lines and also rural lines in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania (which has a small freight-only narrow-gauge system).
PHOTO: QR NATIONAL
Freight operations
Queensland projects The Queensland government is looking at expanding the Acacia Ridge freight terminal so that it can handle 1500 metre long trains and have a capacity of 750,000 containers a year. Five new intermodal freight terminals are also on the shopping list. Work is already underway to extend the region’s rail network from Darra to Richlands. The second phase, taking the line out to Springfields, should be complete by 2013 for a total cost of A$646 million. The Gold Coast Rapid Transit System is a new tram network being built over 13 km from Griffin University to Broadbeach. This first phase will include 16 stations and is expected to be finished by 2014. The trams
will be Bombardier’s Flexity 2 - longer versions of the ones recently launched in Blackpool (the rail engineer issue 84, October 2011). Work started in 2010 and the total project has a budget of just under A$1billion. Construction will start in 2012 on a rail link from the Bowen Basin coal region to a new export terminal at Gladstone. The A$900 million project includes construction of a 15km balloon loop near Gladstone, upgrades to sections of the North Coast Line, the Moura System and the Bauhinia branch line as well as dualling sections of the Blackwater System. First trains should run on the new link in 2014. The Environmental Impact Statement has been released for an A$8 billion project to move 120,000 people in the two-hour morning peak. 18km of track, 10km of it in tunnels, and six new stations are included in the project which will run from Salisbury to Bowen Hills. QR National is laying railway track on the Northern Missing Link in Central Queensland as part of the A$1.1 billion Goonyella to Abbot Point (GAP) expansion project. The A$385 million Northern Missing Link rail corridor is the cornerstone of the GAP expansion, which is one of the largest rail infrastructure projects in Queensland’s 145-year rail history. The GAP project includes 69 kilometres of new track across the ‘Missing Link’ to join the existing Goonyella and Newlands systems as well as the expansion and upgrading of existing track and 15 new bridges along the Newlands rail system, including associated rail unloading infrastructure at the Abbot Point Coal Terminal. New South Wales projects ARTC will duplicate existing track to remove a bottleneck caused by a steep grade over the Liverpool Ranges as part of an A$284 million upgrade to the Main Northern line. Coal exports through the Port of Newcastle are expected to increase from the current 6 million tonnes a year to about 50 million tonnes by 2020.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 29
PHOTO: BOB AVERY
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Western Australia Perth is developing plans to build a light rail network with three routes, out from the central business district, to Mirrabooka and Balga, to the University of Western Australia via the QEII hospital complex, and to Curtin University via Victoria Park. Rio Tinto Iron Ore is spending money on its private railway and port facility in the Pilbara. Ansaldo STS has been given an A$467 million contract over 5 years to install railway signalling, train control and communications systems. At the same time Abigroup, in a JV with Geraldton Linehaul, has an A$83 million contract for the construction of rail formation earthworks.
PHOTO: GARETH EDWARDS
An A$8 billion project to provide 23km of new track between the Sydney suburbs of Epping and Rouse Hill, which has been postponed once before, is now back on the agenda. Concept designs are being prepared and A$314 million allocated from this year’s budget for preliminary work and land purchase. Also in Sydney, a 5.6 km extension to the existing light rail network, from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill, will be built along the disused Rozelle goods line corridor. The new route will include nine new stops and cost around A$70 million. And in 2010 the NSW government invited tenders for a detailed study into a A$500 million light rail link to serve Sydney’s central business district.
High Speed Rail The first of two studies into proposals for a high speed line between Brisbane and Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne was published on 4 August by AECOM Australia. It is looking at a double-track electrified line limited to 350 kph (200kph in urban areas). Journey times from Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane would be around 3 hours. A more detailed analysis will be ready by mid-2012 and the budget is estimated to be in the range of AUS£61-108 billion. And more… Then of course there is the usual mix of railway engineering. In NSW, O’Donnell Griffin is installing track balises as part of an 11 month project by RailCorp to introduce Automatic Train Protection (ATP) across its Network. Siemens is supplying nine narrow gauge 25kV heavy haul class 7100 locomotives to Pacific National for their coal contracts in Queensland. WestNet Rail is resleepering 370 kilometres of narrow gauge track north of Albany in Western Australia and at the same time replacing 185 kilometres of rail on the Eastern Goldfields Railway at a cost of A$95 million. The list is nearly endless. Australia has a busy programme, so look out for more reports from “down under”.
RailCorp is installing a digital communications system on its electrified network. UGL won the A$255 million contract in December 2009. Meanwhile, Alstom is installing Automatic Train Protection (ATP) on the CityRail network in a A$65 million contract with the first 50 trains due to be in service in 2013. Victoria projects The 50km Western Rail Link in Melbourne, complete with 2 new stations, has been estimated to cost A$4.3 billion. It will be dual track with a river crossing and will improve reliability across the network.
PHOTO: QR NATIONAL
Check out UGL’s latest vacancies on page 59.
Triple gauge track in the yard at Gladstone (May 1982).
(Left) NSW - A-set (Waratah) EMU at Central Station. (Below) QR National coal train (Dawson Mine).
30 | the rail engineer | november 2011
PPE Pitfalls
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outdoors means being W orking constantly exposed to changing weather conditions; fluctuating temperatures, driving wind and rain, hot sunshine, snow and ice. Exposure to the elements can be uncomfortable and a threat to health and safety. It is recognised that effective clothing protection significantly reduces this risk, thus effective Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a legal requirement within the rail industry. Hi-visibility clothing was first introduced to rail workers in the United Kingdom in 1964. It is an essential part of PPE ensuring that rail workers remain visible not only when outside conditions are good but, most importantly, when poor light or severe weather conditions reduce visibility.
British weather Network Rail Standards for PPE demand top-to-toe protection for every employee of Network Rail or their sub contractors. The changeable weather conditions which are so familiar in the UK mean that the same PPE is not appropriate 365 days per year. Therefore a layered clothing system is the best option for trackside personnel including hi-visibility polo shirts, t-shirts and base layers as they will provide comfort and safety for all conditions encountered.
w ri te r
Simon Lubacz & Gordon Burns W.L.Gore and Associates (UK) Ltd
Scientific studies show that a person’s wellbeing and mental alertness depend on their core body temperature. A change of more than one degree above or below the normal core body temperature of 37 degrees has a substantial impact on physical comfort and brain function. This increases both the risk of damage to the body and the potential for accidents. Losing body heat can be very dangerous and when workers experience cold weather coupled with high winds the danger increases rapidly. The wind chill index is a recognised mathematical formula that determines the effect of wind speed on the outside temperature which may lead to frostbite and hypothermia occurring in 20 minutes or less. It calculates the body’s heat loss during cold and windy weather. For example, a temperature of -4º C occurring with a 10 kph wind gives a wind chill factor of -8º C. Mental
alertness is critical as many workers may operate in potentially hazardous conditions perhaps working with electricity or in situations with poor visibility - so awareness of wind chill is important.
Clean visibility The human eye responds best to bright objects. Even in low light or dark conditions train drivers and operators of track-side machinery are alerted to rail workers presence by their hi-visibility clothing. Clean bright-coloured clothing ensures workers can be seen from all directions with their visibility enhanced by the contrast between the bright colours, the reflective tapes and the dark background of the working environment. However, to maintain safety it is crucial that hi-visibility PPE is kept thoroughly clean. Contaminated or dirty reflective materials will not provide acceptable levels of visibility, exposing rail workers to increased danger. Proper industrial laundering, specifically tailored for specialist hi-visibility materials, removes oil, grease and debris but doesn’t harm the fabric, reflective tape or waterproofing elements when the garment has been manufactured using GORE-TEX® laminate. As a result, quality is maintained
throughout the life cycle of the garments. The washed-out pale-orange look simply doesn’t exist. Personnel can work with confidence enjoying the benefits of premium quality, hi-visibility garments with waterproof and breathable protection wash after wash. Keeping costs to a minimum is a priority for rail industry purchasers. The combination of high performance fabrics, quality manufacturing and managed after care offers significant long term savings.
Throw-away safety The debate over disposable garments versus higher quality, re-usable garments continues due to the short term cost savings that can be made from using disposables. However, in the long run it can be more cost effective to select the most technically sophisticated products available. Durable, high quality products that meet or exceed
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 31
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the required EN Norm Standards have a longer life-span making them the most cost efficient solution. Typically low cost garments are not capable of being laundered and are thrown away as opposed to being cleaned. The primary reason for this is that the seam tape applied to the inside of all stitched seams becomes detached in the washing process and subsequently causes the garment to leak in inclement weather. Considering medium and long term investment, major cost savings can be made by purchasing garments that have a lifecycle of more than two years. A durable garment will also reduce procurement costs, significantly cutting down invoicing, handling, despatch and storage costs.
Counterfeit garments Care also needs to be taken to ensure that the garments actually conform to the standards they claim. Non-compliant and counterfeit PPE is a serious threat to user and worker safety, not only in the UK, Europe but also world-wide. This unscrupulous criminal activity seems to be on the increase and is currently a hot topic in the health and safety arena, for good reason. If counterfeit, non-compliant and illegal PPE products are sold and used in rail environments, the consequences could lead to expensive legal action for the employer and potentially prove fatal for workers.
Dave Matthews (Leader of the UK Delegation to both CEN & ISO on all Protective Clothing) comments:” The PPE trade in the UK and Europe is worth up to £17 billion and involves many companies and thousands of employees. It is surely unacceptable to put all of this at risk from those who choose not to manufacture and place on the market PPE which is compliant with the appropriate BS, EN or ISO standard.” To ensure that PPE equipment complies with the relevant standards, buyers must source from companies that have a strong heritage and reputation for quality manufacturing and who use technical fabrics and components which are tested for quality and which are designed for the specific end use. They should avoid purchasing products online from a company which offers rock bottom pricing as low costs can equal low quality and potentially no protection. Importantly, they must check that all items are classified and labelled with the required British standard (BS) and/or the relevant European Normative Standard (EN), Railway Group Standards (GO/RT) and are CE approved. As John Ruskin who once famously said: “There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper…And those people that consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.”
PHOTO: FOUR BY THREE
Worker Safety And Comfort Is A Right Not A Privilege Good Reasons Why Rail Workers Should Wear GORE-TEX® Garments GORE-TEX® Garments meet and often exceed the European Norm standards such as EN471, EN343 and GO/RT 3279. They provide durable year round protection from the weather. Rail specific products engineered to be 'fit for purpose’. Advanced wearer comfort because they are Waterproof, Windproof and Breathable. Outstanding Safety as these hi-visibility robust fabrics don't fade after numerous industrial washes. And it that's not enough to convince you then remember this: Durable GORE-TEX® garments = lower replacement levels = cost savings
GORE-TEX® garments and footwear – for complete protection and advanced wearer comfort. For further information about GORE-TEX® Garments and Footwear please visit www.gore-workwear.co.uk
32 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
More ballast bashing the Swiss manufacturer of track M atisa, maintenance machines that was established in 1945, has supplied equipment all over the world. The company has been active in the UK since 1964 and is currently based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. In that time, it has delivered many machines since the early LRC03 Tampers and R7 Ballast Regulators. Last year, the rail engineer (issue 69, July 2010) looked at two new types of machines being developed for Balfour Beatty. These have now been delivered, so it is time to look at them in a bit more detail and see what else Matisa has been up to.
B41UE tampers Whilst the new B41UE Tampers recently delivered to Balfour Beatty Rail are similar to those that are already in operation in the UK, a number of detailed improvements have been made to the machines. Health and Safety has been reviewed in accordance with both the latest legislation and Balfour Beatty’s internal policies. This has led to small but important modifications to tools handling, access ladder design and the floor structure to reduce the risk of injury during both operation and maintenance. The CATT Guiding system has been developed for both known and unknown track geometries, enhancing the user interface through a better visual appearance and additional tools such as reverse measuring. These enhancements can reduce possession times by taking fewer passes.
B66UC tampers The new B66UC universal tamping machine is a major innovation for the UK market as it is the first high performance plain line and switches and crossings tamping machine which is fully compliant with third rail electrification. Based on the proven technology of the B41UE, the B66UC is fitted with a shuttle that has a higher tamping output. It uses the same efficient highfrequency eccentric tamping technology but within a continuous
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 33
plant & equipment
Removal of old sleepers is a continuous operation, completely automatic after a manual start up.
Laying new sleepers.
MATISA Track Renewals Trains are capable of positioning new track in the trace of the old one, with the same cant, level and lateral position.
action arrangement that delivers excellent output when in plain line operation. In points and crossings mode, output will be as good as the B41UE, but on plain track it is a lot quicker. Especially designed for Balfour Beatty Rail, the B66UC is ďŹ tted with a brush box to clear the tops of sleepers in the four foot and the clips on both sides of the rail. Two additional brushes clear both sleeper ends but will automatically de-select in the presence of a conductor rail.
P95 Track Renewal Train High-output Track Renewal Systems, known in the industry as TRS, have been used on the UK rail network for many years. Currently there are 4 different systems, all owned by Network Rail and operated by AmeyColas, and all slightly different for differing applications. The latest system, TRS4, includes the second P95 Track Renewal Train (TRT) in the country. Pretty similar to the ďŹ rst one, delivered in
2005 and currently working in TRS2, this new version has some improvements. Based on experience operating the earlier unit, equipment such as rail guards, rail pullers, fastening brushes and rail transfer clamps have been added or improved. The core of the train is 6 different wagons with a total length of 140m, all interconnected but each carrying out different processes with the end result of removing old rails and sleepers and relaying new units in a continuous action.
34 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
(Right) Balfour Beatty Rail’s new B66UC tamper (below) P95 Track Renewal Train.
to be laid at a higher level than the original which can cause clearance issues, particularly where overhead electrified lines are present. Additionally, that excess of ballast can create large ballast shoulders which can cause other problems when laying the new track. With the reduction of possession times becoming ever more desirable, a quick and effective solution to the problem of excess ballast had to be found. So for the new P95 track renewal train, Matisa, working together with Network Rail, developed the D75, an additional ballast transfer unit.
D75 Ballast Transfer Unit
The new rail transfer clamps have been included at the request of Network Rail. They transfer the old rail, previously left in either the six- or four- foot, to the cess. This allows for easier collection later.
Equipped with two Deutz 2015 400 kW engines powering 16 axles, the normal working speed is an average of 350 m/h. New sleepers are passed forward from the wagons towards the rear of the train by three gantry cranes of two different types. Two PMP cranes transfer 24 sleepers at a time along the length of the machine at an astonishing 18 kph (11mph), while one P2RL gantry rotates two sets of six sleepers simultaneously. One problem when removing and replacing track simultaneously is that of excess ballast. This can cause the new track
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The new D75 is based on an existing integrated system currently used on the Matisa C75 and operating in Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain, although it had to be redesigned to W6A gauge for the UK. It has been developed to be coupled to the Track Renewal Train and can lower the track down to an excavation level of 270mm below sleeper bottom, after relaying. The D75 can also be used independently. Equipped with two Deutz 2015 400kW engines, the new D75 ballast transfer unit has an output of 500m³/h. The whole track renewals train, including a D75 and D93, is 160 metres long with a total weight of nearly 600 tons. Add to this up to 20 sleeper wagons and this moving factory can reach an overall length of almost 600 metres.
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Total Rail Solutions: The Right Plant For The Right Job Total Rail Solutions is an independent rail consultancy and safety services provider. Infinitely flexible, TRS works under a ‘One Team One Objective’ philosophy, offering the highest levels of personal and professional service to all our clients. Our services include: • RRV & RMMM Plant hire inc provision of Plant Operators Licence. • Vortok Rigid Barrier: Short and standard telescopic sizes available for dry hire or installed and removed. • Site Lighting: VT1 or Link lights. • Holdfast RRAPs: Dry hire only or installed and maintained. • Off Track Works: Drainage, Track access steps & temporary roads. • Cable Route works: Supply, Clearance, Installation, refurbish. • Labour Hire: Including Crane & machine controller. • Package works including UTX installation, Signal bases, Platforms and PWay.
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36 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
Clever thinking where service delivery, trust I nanda world safe practice define success, the demands placed on rail plant hire companies have always been challenging. Add to this the pressure both to reduce costs and deliver efficiency savings and the net result is that plant suppliers need to innovate, think outside of the box, and work more closely with clients than ever before. Hydrex is the largest UK supplier of roadrail plant with over 300 on-track machines, 1000 attachments and around 500 fully trained and experienced operators. It is taking these challenges seriously and is encouraging its entire team to work more cleverly, focus on safety and use new processes to enhance production. Earlier this year the company outlined their plans for 2011 with “safety, reliable delivery and investment” the cornerstones of the company’s strategy. So has this been achieved? It seems so as the Hydrex management team has helped set new production records on two recent projects, the Charlbury to Worcester redoubling programme and the Boston to Skegness track renewals project.
Charlbury-Worcester The £67 million Network Rail-backed Charlbury to Worcester project for AmeyColas was to double 21 miles of single track during mid-week night possessions and a single 9-day blockade in August. Hydrex operatives used tracked and wheeled excavators to great effect to lay 1500 sleepers in one night’s possession at a rate of 22 chains per hour.
Hydrex was tasked with creating a new formation with new bottom ballast, unloading sleepers, spacing them out and then placing them in their final position, before thimbling and stressing the rail.
Boston-Skegness On Babcock’s Boston to Skegness project, 1,002 yards of track renewals were delivered in nine hours and 36 minutes. This project was the largest conventionally-delivered track renewals programme (by volume) in 2011 and involved Network Rail, Balfour Beatty, DB Schenker, Hydrex, SES and Volker Rail working in partnership. In collaboration with Babcock’s LNE Track Renewals team, the task for Hydrex involved the removal of the old track using two Terex Gigarailers in a tandem-lift operation followed by the levelling of the ballast using
rail-road dozers and Kobelco SK135s. Once the site was fully prepared, the new track was laid in place using Balfour Beatty’s NTC train. Hydrex appointed a dedicated team of machines, engineers, machine operators and planners to provide a seamless and consistent approach to the plant operations for this project. At any one time, they were controlling up to 7 different machines undertaking delivery, loading and site preparation activities, and finishing with follow-up works including brushing and cleaning the site. As Peter Baverstock, Rail Services Director at Hydrex, commented afterwards, “These production records symbolise our ‘working in partnership’ philosophy at Hydrex. We place great importance on this and are keen to continue to work with clients, efficiently and safely, to help achieve the required targets.”
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 37
plant & equipment
PRE-EMPT In order to combat some of the traditional pressures of managing assets in the plant industry, Hydrex has invested in PDA devices with GPS technology for the company’s team of service engineers. This initiative, known as PRE-EMPT, has been designed to ensure accurate and transparent reporting of maintenance and service jobs, with the added bonus of reducing paperwork and administrative duties. For the customer, this will lead to increased confidence in effective maintenance through prescribed and timed checks on all assets, in other words carrying out the right checks at the right times - without deviation. It also means there is increased visibility at the audit stage as, at any point in time, a full asset file can be accessed by an auditor with no hidden elements, no lost files and no misfiled papers. PRE-EMPT also provides a footprint of activity with everything date stamped and traceable. Jobs can be communicated quickly to the field engineer, a programme of work can be changed and, within minutes, a work schedule can accommodate urgent events. The hidden benefit to the customer is the ability to gain access to flexible reporting, which in turn can be used by Hydrex to drive efficiencies through management information. At any point in time Hydrex will be able to see the locations of the engineering work force through their acceptance of tasks on their PDAs and through the GPS capability in the handset. The devices will also be able to take good quality photographs and add relevant documentation to the asset file on the management system. Bob Tonks, Hydrex’s National Engineering Manager, commented on the new system. “PRE-EMPT will revolutionise the way our Engineering team carry out their work. This is not a ‘Big Brother’ type exercise, far from it. Instead, it helps us to gather solid data,
expel paperwork and plan our scheduled maintenance activities effectively.” PRE-EMPT underlines the company’s commitment to working in partnership with its clients by providing accurate, transparent reporting.
Safely Home Hydrex also remains firmly committed to the company’s “Safely Home” programme, which continues to gather pace. One area of focus has been to reduce the risk of working at height with the development of prototype platforms to prevent falls. The current design comes in two parts which can be locked together into an ‘L’ shape (for fitting around machines), inline (for working on two machines parked nose-to-tail), and individually (to gain access to one machine). The platform is long enough to allow an engineer to both work on the superstructure in safety and to gain access to the cab with tools while avoiding violating the three points of contact rule. The platforms are easy to manoeuvre and the wheels each have brakes to lock them securely into position. Safely Home also now has a stand alone committee made up from staff in Operations, Compliance, Human Resources and Marketing. This is helping to keep the programme fresh and maximise the impact of internal and external campaigns. Carl D’Ammassa, Chief Executive, is proud of what has been achieved. “At Hydrex, we are committed to building strong, trusting relationships with our client base. Our recent production achievements, our multi-million pound fleet investment programme, our focus on safe practices and our development of PRE-EMPT underline our efforts and will help drive our business forward. We believe that these important relationships are key to delivering value on the infrastructure and are a pre-requisite for the modern-day supply chain”.
Working in partnership with UK Rail With a network of depots across the UK, Hydrex is uniquely placed to offer a combination of national coverage, consistency, local knowledge and expertise. Our passion for customer satisfaction, together with our focus on compliance and delivery excellence, ensures that Hydrex can offer repeatable and reliable services for customers. Our Rail Solutions: •
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For further information about how Hydrex can help you:
Telephone: 01275 399400 Email: enquiries@hydrex.co.uk www.hydrex.co.uk
38 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
Winter
wonderplant plough is perfect for clearing wet snow, powdery snow and even snow drifts. Two pivoting cylinders control the blade’s turn, allowing movement up to 32° to the left or right so that the operator can roll the snow away on either side.. The cutting edge of the plough blade is a durable, abrasion resistant plastic which gives long life in service while minimising damage to the underlying road surface.
Giletta Spreader Attachments espite an unseasonably warm October, cold weather is on its way. And if the past two years are anything to go by, the UK is ontrack to expect another extreme winter. After last year’s winter chaos the rail sector has a lot of making up to do, with passengers remembering service disruptions, cancellations and a general sense of bad organisation. However, forewarned is forearmed, and it is fair to say that the industry seems more prepared to deal with whatever the weather can throw at us this year and maintain a good service. However, what good is it if the trains are running, but winter maintenance does not extend beyond the track? If passengers can’t get onto the platform safely, is there going to be anyone there to get on the trains? As well as access roads, it is also important to ensure that the winter maintenance of car parks and pavements is taken care of as these will not usually fall under the remit of the local authority. Train and station operators find it more cost-effective to hire in specialist equipment from companies such as the Quattro Group, rather than have their own plant. Usually, this consists of a base carrier vehicle which can be fitted with various attachments.
D
Multicar Fumo carrier vehicles In compact areas such as station approaches it is vital that the carrier vehicle is small enough to manoeuvre into tight spots, but powerful enough to get the job done. The Multicar Fumo ticks all the boxes and, as their advertising claims, is a good combination of FUnction and MObility. It is very compact, only 2.20 metres high and 1.62 metres wide, but still packs quite a punch with a gross pulling capacity of up to 7.5 tons and a braked trailer load of up to 3.5 tons. Despite this, it has a turning radius of less than 5.5 metres, making it ideal for operation in tight spaces. When it comes to attachments there is plenty of choice. A Multicar Fumo fitted with snow plough and gritter attachments is an ideal addition to the winter maintenance fleet.
Fiedler snow ploughs Fiedler snow plough attachments are able to handle quite severe snowfall, helping minimise disruption and maximise safety. Because of its unique rounded-off shape, the
One of the major concerns in winter months is icy conditions, which can send both vehicles and pedestrians on a slippery slope to disaster. Gritting is the answer, and Giletta spreader attachments ensure that swift and comprehensive gritting is possible in even the harshest conditions. Grit is fed out on a rubber belt running across a stainless steel base which ensures uniform coverage. A rotating blade acts as a grinder, crushing any large lumps of material and ensuring that the flow of grit remains constant.
Tracmaster As well as areas surrounding the station, it is also vital to consider the safety of passengers when they get inside the building. Many stations have outside platforms that will have been exposed to the elements, potentially leaving them covered in snow and ice and very treacherous. In most cases there is no way for large machines to access the platform itself, so the job often falls to a member of station staff with a thick pair of gloves, a shovel, a broom and the promise of a hot cup of tea afterwards. This is heavy work, and can lead to concerns over the health and safety of the individuals involved. In these conditions, pedestrian-operated snow clearance equipment comes into its own! The Tracmaster unit, when used by an
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 39
plant & equipment
experienced operator, is the simple way to clear snow from a platform quickly, effectively and, above all, safely. The compact machine is able to operate with three snow clearing implements, all of which are easily switchable depending on which is most suitable for the task. The snow blower can clear snow up to 30cm deep, blowing it a distance of up to 15cm away in either direction. The snow plough is more effective at cutting a path through snow up to 20cm deep. Able to be angled to either side, the plough directs the snow away, leaving a clear pathway which can then be gritted for extra safety. The snow brush is most effective at removing snow up to 10cm deep - leaving a clear and safe pathway for pedestrians to walk on immediately. As well as the health and safety aspects that have to be considered when dealing with platform areas, it is also important to consider the potential damage that can be done to such areas by wintery weather when left untreated. Snow and ice can cause structural damage to buildings and floor coverings. Areas such as exposed outside platforms are at risk of experiencing the ‘pothole’ effect that can be seen on roads after severe weather, when melted snow has
HELPING YOU KEEP YOUR JOB ON TRACK
leaked into small cracks and frozen, forcing them open and enlarging them into pits and craters. Repair costs can run into thousands of pounds. Clearing snow promptly, whilst not a complete answer to this problem, certainly helps minimise danger to the public and reduces the cost of such damage. The Quattro Group’s Winter Maintenance division operates a large fleet of municipal equipment that is perfectly designed to handle all essential winter maintenance requirements. A nationwide presence in 13 depots across the UK allows regional teams to manage requirements locally, helping to keep reaction time to a minimum and ensuring that both the financial and environmental impact is kept as low as possible. Now all we need is some snow!
With over 265 RRV machines, the Quattro Group’s dedicated rail division provides an estimated 30% of the UK operated RRV Market across all aspects of the rail sector. The huge fleet is able to handle any type of planned works, including light maintenance, heavy maintenance, renewal, S&C and OLE, and makes the Quattro Group the first choice for many of the leading industry contractors. As well as being able to provide the perfect machine for the job, the Quattro Group pride themselves on a comprehensive rolling maintenance programme that not only ensures that all machines are in perfect working order when they arrive on site, but also that promises ongoing reliability, helping make sure all jobs can progress with no disruptions.
Call us today on 0845 900 2999 or visit www.quattroplant.co.uk
40 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
One stop
to a brighter future Hire is a splendid example of O netheStop phrase “does what it says on the tin”. The family-owned firm, formed in 2009 from SJS Hire Tools and PSL Hire, is now the largest independent hirer of power tools, access systems & small plant in the North West of England. Branches throughout the region ensure a fast response to customers’ requests, whatever and wherever they may be. With over 7500 items of equipment in the hire fleet, covering equipment for the DIY market through to the largest contractor’s requirements, there are not many items of plant that One Stop cannot supply. So, when there were several occasions during the winter of 2010 that specialist equipment had to be cross hired from elsewhere, management was quick to take note.
Lack of light The items in question were temporary lighting towers. One Stop had a small fleet, but ran out from time to time and had to hire-in additional examples. Then, in early 2011, the Warrington depot of major civil engineering contractor Murphy expressed the need for versatile lighting towers to be used on some of the biggest rail projects in the North West. Steve Hitchen, Managing Director of One Stop Hire, takes up the story: “Although we had got through the past couple of years cross hiring our lighting towers, when Murphy voiced a demand for constant access to our range for their rail projects, we realised that we needed to invest. “After working at a very high profile crane hire company for a number of years, on huge Network Rail projects, I know the rail industry intimately and recognised the calibre of machinery required for these projects as I understand the unique hurdles that rail work can pose.” As a result, One Stop Hire chose to invest in a small, powerful and reliable lighting tower fleet for use on such projects.
Reliable light Steve Hitchen again: “Whilst we wanted the machines to be with us for winter, when there is clearly a greater demand for them, Murphy will use them all year round as many rail projects are carried out in the hours of darkness. Taking this in to account, we needed robust, reliable and versatile machines that were able to offer uninterrupted operation and withstand near constant use all year round.” Although other leading brand names were considered, One Stop Hire eventually chose to purchase ten Network Rail-approved SMC TL-90 mobile lighting towers from ArcGen Hilta, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of onsite power equipment. The SMC TL-90
lighting tower is ideal for all temporary lighting tower applications and is used by many leading plant and rail rental companies. Crucial safety features include an emergency stop that disconnects all electrical circuits and shuts down instantly, as well as a mast deployment alarm and a safety system that ensured that the mast descends automatically when the handbrake is released to ensure that it does not clash with electrified overhead rail cables.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 41
plant & equipment
British light
Lightweight and compact
All SMC TL-90s are designed, developed and manufactured at SMC’s headquarters in Gosberton, Lincolnshire. Phil Winnington, Commercial Director at ArcGen Hilta, said: “We certainly designed the TL-90 with the rail industry in mind. The well thought out design process and execution allowed us to create a lightweight, stable, and easily transportable lighting tower, with all of the necessary safety features that are so integral to these machines. “This meant that when we applied for Network Rail approval in 2006, it was granted without the need for any modifications. Features such as fork lift pockets, single lift eye, emergency stop button, auto engine shutdown and rapidly deployable mast were all included by our engineers to sidestep some of the complications that rail projects can throw up. “It is testament to its functionality that the TL-90 is in constant use on rail projects around the UK - from frequent work on the London Overground to these future projects with Murphy in the North West.”
The units are designed to give operators easy access for routine maintenance. They are also lightweight and compact, and can be transported to the site in bulk if needed, then moved around the site as easily as possible. Working trackside, often with limited access to sites, doesn’t always offer a lot of room for manoeuvre, so this is often a key decision-making factor in purchasing and hiring a lighting tower for rail projects. As Steve Hitchen concluded, “I had every confidence in the purchase of the TL-90 - the size and power of the product, as well as their brand awareness in the industry convinced me that I was making the right purchase. “Yes, they are ideal for use in the rail industry, and I did buy them with that market in mind, but they are also widely used in construction, events and petrochemical industries, so I am positive that I will never struggle to hire them out.” The SMC TL-90 lighting tower is ideal for all temporary lighting applications.
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42 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
QTS Value Engineering had an extremely successful Q TSyearhave operating both as a sub-contractor on many large rail projects and increasingly as a Network Rail Principal Contractor. This success is demonstrated by the award of the Network Rail BCDP (Building and Civil Delivery Partnership) for the Northern region and recently also being successful in securing the Network Rail Out of Use Assets Framework. However, well known throughout the rail industry for their investment and innovation in rail plant and equipment, QTS continue to lead the way with some exciting new developments…
Tactile Indicators Working in partnership with the Australian company Austact, QTS has been developing the use of individual tactile indicators - the raised dots on platform edges and at the top and bottom of stairs to convey important information to visually impaired pedestrians about their environment. For example, hazard warning and directional guidance, that help to prevent the visually impaired from putting themselves in danger.
Traditionally, platform-edge tactile indicators come in the form of 400mm by 400mm slabs which are laid between the coping stone and platform surfacing. This approach to platform construction is labour intensive as it requires three separate build stages, each individual stage requiring completion prior to the next commencing. The QTS/Austact system is fitted once the surfacing is complete. Individual studs are set into holes drilled directly into the platform surface so they have operational advantages as well as being simple to install. The studs are manufactured from a crosslinked, co-polymer material that can be produced in any colour, including fluorescent types for underground use. A carborundum insert on the top of each stud increases slip resistance and reduces wear and the patented “tooth” form on the shaft prevents pull-out, even in asphalt. One of the attractions of the studs to Network Rail is that they are not affected by frost heave and with Network Rail incurring significant costs every year repairing and maintaining station platforms, this is a significant benefit. The first pilot installation at Perth Station has been successfully completed as part of a
major repairs project. Around 1400 metres of tactile indicators were installed, which produced substantial cost and time savings. Following the success of the Perth Station project, QTS has installed tactile indicators at Fauldhouse Station where they are the main contractor for the design and build of the new footbridge. The tactile indicators were fitted at the bottom of both sets of stairs in place of traditional slabs.
Lightweight Platform Extensions QTS are currently developing a Lightweight Platform System. With a combination of value engineering, existing methods and cutting edge innovation, QTS aim to maximise the efficiencies of the lightweight design philosophy and to provide Network Rail and industry partners with a full design and installation package. The engineering philosophy behind the system is that the weight of the platform is equal or less than the excavated material removed, therefore no large foundations are required and by default the heavy plant element is removed. The benefit of this is two-fold; it can be used on sites with settlement issues; time on site and foundation requirements are significantly reduced therefore saving time and cost. As the system is weight-neutral there is no requirement for large complex foundation designs. The system reduces bearing pressures on the surface and can be used on embankments or on underbridges. Minimal plant is required to install the system which offers significant cost and programme savings with the quick installation time and no requirement for wet trades.
44 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment
Euro-drill Rig
(Above right) The TFI rail wheel tread braking system in close up.
The Euro-drill rig in operation.
RRV High Speed Braking System QTS have just received approval for the use of an industry first high speed braking system for high ride RRVs. TFI were sponsored to undertake the design and build of a rail wheel tread braking system to a Gallmac access platform, which is currently on permanent hire with Network Rail OHLE. The system incorporates four brake assemblies which are bolted to an axle frame and operate on each rail wheel. Each brake assembly has a combined springapplied, air-release, parking and air service braking canister. The brake application is applied to a tread brake shoe onto the rail wheel running surface. Vehicle parking and rail-wheel parking brakes are combined to operate through the same cab control switch. Service braking is progressive. Vehicle service hydraulic braking and rail wheel, air service braking are linked to operate from the same vehicle brake pedal. This is achieved by a hydraulic-to-air proportional control valve operating from the vehicle hydraulic brake
signal. The system is designed so that, during the initial brake pedal travel, the rail wheel brakes apply before the road wheels. The brake application ratio of rail wheel to vehicle braking is set from vehicle type brake trials. Braking effect is relayed via a gauge to the cab. The gauge range is colour coded green and red with red indicating over-braking to show the operator he is going into a possible wheel-lock condition. The new braking system has been applied to the Gallmac WMW115 and as a result of this it is now suitable for use on gradients greater than 1 in 75. It is the first successful system that has been certified by the Vehicle Acceptance Body (VAB) and Network Rail to both the RIS 1530 PLT Issue 2 and the Network Rail Remit for Rail Wheel Braking. It has been operating virtually continuously for the last three months without any issues and is currently the subject of patent applications.
The most recent addition to the QTS plant fleet is the Euro-drill Rig supplied by Casagrande UK, well known for their first class drilling and mini piling fleet. The unit is lighter than much of the competition and provides significant power/torque advantages - thus improving drilling time. The unit was supplied with 2 different mast sizes, which means that for restricted sites such as tunnels/cuttings a shorter stroke can be used and on open ground the larger mast can be applied to achieve higher output. Either way, the unit is compact and manoeuvrable, allowing works to be carried out easily in the usual ‘tricky’ railway scenario. The unit is primarily used for the installation of soil nails on our earthworks sites, but can also drill rock anchors, minipiles and wells if required. The rig has successfully completed its first soil nailing project at Ellestree for BAM Nuttall, installing soil nails, and will move on to complete projects at Arkleston (Balfour Beatty) then Lochawe (Network Rail). QTS are leading the way in providing unique and innovative cost-effective solutions to the Rail industry.
e enquiries@qtsgroup.com w www.qtsgroup.com
46 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment writer
Nigel
Wordsworth
Maintaining maintenance, the every-day I nfrastructure job of keeping the railways safe and in good repair, has changed beyond all recognition over the last eight years. the rail engineer met with Network Rail’s Director of Infrastructure Maintenance, Steve Featherstone, to find out how that came about.
Project Glasgow After the Hatfield derailment, it became clear that, in putting the work of track maintenance in the hand of subcontractors, Railtrack had lost most of its in-house engineering expertise and had inadequate maintenance records. On taking over in late 2002, Network Rail management looked at the problems that Railtrack had created and concluded that it needed to bring maintenance back in house. Project Glasgow, as this initiative was named, started with the Thames Valley area on 28 November 2003 and was completed nine months later on 24 July 2004.
The effort that this took is startling. 15,884 people were transferred into Network Rail employment, bringing with them 77 different sets of terms and conditions. 3,979 road vehicles and 524 properties also came to the new organisation, along with 7,995 different processes and procedures documents. In return, Network Rail issued 41,628 items of clothing and equipment to its new employees and management held almost 400 face-to-face staff briefings lasting a total of over 1,000 hours, equivalent to 42 days of non-stop briefings. 4,771 new desktop computers and laptops were installed and staff trained to use them, and over 1,000 new contracts were placed with direct suppliers.
Quick results It was an immense undertaking, but quickly showed results. By the end of March 2006, £213 million had been saved on the maintenance budget. Points failures had been reduced by 40% and there had been a
similar reduction in track circuit failures. Workforce safety was improving, the accident frequency rate (AFR) was down by 21%. More full-time workers had been taken on, the vacancy gap was cut from 19% to 6%, and the reliance on agency staff had been slashed by almost 70%. And above all, more trains were running on time. Management structures were being refined at the same time. The initial structure had been to divide the country up into five territories, and then those five into 16 areas. Actually doing the work were 46 delivery units. This was soon revised, with territories and areas disappearing, and 40 delivery units reporting directly to a top maintenance team. A number of section managers, working for those delivery units, were responsible for carrying out maintenance, but the new streamlined structure made the whole organisation more efficient.
Ongoing process Work continued to improve the organisation still further. The 77 different sets of terms and conditions were tackled with staff and unions. New standardised conditions were proposed which matched work rosters and addressed a number of issues including pay, hours and working practices. Negotiations were tough and lasted over three years during which there was some industrial action although this didn’t affect passengers. However, agreement was finally reached and the benefits of that are now flowing through. In control period 3 (CP3), from 2004 to 2009, maintenance costs were reduced by 35%. CP4 (2009-2014) requires another 23% reduction - equivalent to over £200 million a year. However, Steve Featherstone is confident it can be done. “73% of our costs are manpower-related,” he commented. “However, we now need fewer people because we’ve caught up on the British Rail/Railtrack backlog. The railway is in better condition and our move to reliabilitycentred maintenance has changed our maintenance frequencies. We are also much
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 47
plant & equipment
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48 | the rail engineer | november 2011
plant & equipment The future
Network Rail apprentices Vicki Fox, Natalie Burton, Andy Wheeler and Andy Fox training at HMS Sultan.
more productive in what we do, so I am confident that, though they are tough, we will meet our CP4 targets.” The new working practices, phase 2bc of the improvement programme, went live on 1 April 2011. They include a new safety culture, improved rostering arrangements, alterations to team sizes to reflect the tasks they are required to perform, a reduction in the number of individual job descriptions (down from 350 to just 95) and a productivity incentive agreement. It was the biggest change in living memory for any railway company and affected the terms and conditions of some 13,000 people. Since 2009, Network Rail has reduced its directly-employed workforce by over 2,000 to 16,000. Over 1,300 people have left through a voluntary severance scheme, which remains open. However, over 200 apprentices are still recruited each year and an agreement with trade unions on no compulsory redundancies remains in force.
Devolution Moving more authority out to the regions is an important part of current and future planning. Ten new route Managing Directors will report to network operations director Robin Gisby. The first two routes, Scotland and Wessex, went live in May and all ten will be fully functional by 14 November 2011. By June 2011, the new network operations function had completely replaced operations and customer services with all existing teams moving over. Infrastructure maintenance and all its organisation will transfer in November. Robin Gisby commented on the changes; “We have to make sure that we support the changes and opportunities that will emerge in our devolved routes with a centre that is able to match the pace of delivery they will demand. With maintenance and operations working so closely in our new route structure to meet our customer needs, it makes a lot of sense to do the same centrally.”
As Network Rail continues to strive for savings, it needs to save money on infrastructure maintenance as well as everything else. The savings already made over the past few years point the way to more cost-reduction opportunities in the future. The new network operations organisation, once it beds in, will improve efficiency still further, as will devolving some responsibilities to the ten new route managements. Reliability centred maintenance, and remote condition monitoring, both subjects reported on previously in the rail engineer, will result in more cost savings. New ways of working, and clever equipment will also bring their benefits. Video and aerial inspection, standardised maintenance tasks and increased mechanisation using high-output machinery will all play their part. Long cherished ideas and techniques are coming through; mobile flash-butt welding, mechanised tree cutting, motorised inspections on small “buggies”, mechanical rail clipping and unclipping, and many more. With all these new ideas, and new equipment, it seems certain that infrastructure maintenance will be a topic we return to frequently over the next few years.
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50 | the rail engineer | november 2011
feature
L e n g t h DOES matter writer
Nigel
Wordsworth in the north east corner of L orraine, France just south of Luxembourg, is an area in industrial decline. Local iron ore deposits encouraged the early development of an iron and steel industry and by the end of the nineteenth century almost every town in the north of the region had a steelworks or iron foundry at its centre. However, things change. The local iron ore wasn’t of great quality, so new works were built close to the coast to take advantage of supplies coming from overseas, and then even they hit trouble with the downturn of the global industry. Today, many towns in northern Lorraine have empty spaces in the middle of them, where their steel works and foundries used to be. Coal, iron and steel are no longer the big employers, and local government is doing what it can to help the employers that remain. For instance, the factory that makes Smart cars was built on a 67 hectare site at Hambach. But steel still exists. Driving down the Fensch River valley from the surrounding hills, there are still blast furnaces on the skyline over Hayange. This is a town built on iron and steel, developed by the Wendel family from a small forge in 1704 to become the largest iron enterprise in Lorraine in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But
New investment Drive on a little further, under a railway bridge, and another steel mill comes into view. This one, though, has just had €35 million invested in it to improve capacity. It is the Hayange plant of Tata Steel, and it makes rails for SNCF, other European railway companies, and even customers as far away as Canada, USA, Brazil and Asia. Steel rails have been made in the area for a long time. This particular plant was purchased by British Steel eight days before it became Corus Steel, and now it is owned by the Indian group Tata. Previously, the plant was capable of rolling rails from various types of steel and to various specifications up to 80 metres long. Now, the new facilities have extended that range to include lengths of up to 108 metres.
The process
today even those blast furnaces are cold. The last one closed on 3 October and the associated flat products steel mill now brings the basic steel slabs in from Dunkerque.
Tata Hayange is a rolling mill, not a steel works. The steel is brought in as blooms, rectangular-sectioned lengths of roughlyrolled raw steel each weighing between 6 and 7 tonnes, from the sister works at Scunthorpe. Each bloom is produced to a specific order for rail so it has both the correct composition and contains the exact volume of material needed to produce the length and section of rail required. Blooms arrive from Scunthorpe by train through the channel tunnel, and are stored outside in piles. When required, they are picked up by overhead cranes fitted with electro-magnets and placed onto tracks
which lead into a large reheating furnace. Several hours later, glowing bright orange and now at 1200°C, the bloom emerges from the furnace and passes along a set of rollers to the main mill. The cogging mill starts the process of reducing the bloom in size. The bloom passes back and forth between hardened steel rollers, growing in length as is reduces in section. A thinner web starts to be visible as shaped rollers begin to force the section into its finished shape. Finally the rail, now around 77 metres long, passes through a highpressure-water descaling station in a cloud of steam and emerges from the final rollers the correct shape and length, and bent! It is rolled onto a cooling rack with a distinct curve but, as it cools down, it actually straightens itself. The different amounts of material in the top and the bottom of the rail section means that they cool and contract at different rates, and that is all calculated in to the rolling process so the rail is self-straightening. However, it is still not completely straight so when cool the rail is put through one final set of rollers that straighten it completely. The rough ends are cropped and the finished product, correct and ready to ship, is placed on racks ready for loading onto wagons and departure by rail. Markings which show the specification have been rolled into the web as part of the process and the whole operation is controlled to ensure that material batches are kept separate and traceability is maintained.
Longer is better Modern continuously welded rail (CWR) is made up of individual lengths welded together. The longer the original piece, the fewer the welds, the lower the cost, and the less chance of future failures due to cracking at weld interfaces. Infrastructure companies therefore have, in recent times, increased the lengths of rail they purchase. On the continent, lengths increased from 36 metres to 72 metres, then 80, and now the accepted standard is 108.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 51
feature
Scunthorpe has been able to roll 108 metre lengths for some time. However, Hayange was limited to 80 metres maximum. SNCF (French Railways) wished to move to 108 metre lengths, and an order worth €350 million over 4 years gave Tata the confidence to invest in new plant. Moving from 80 to 108 metres takes up quite a bit of extra space. The finishing mill has to be 28 metres longer, the cooling racks have to be 28 metres longer, the straightening mill has to be 28 metres longer, and so do the storage bins. Even the part finished blooms emerging from the cogging mill are 15 metres longer. It all adds up.
Upheaval Planning started in September 2009. At the end of the finishing mill was a large ‘extension’ to the main building, mainly containing electrical plant. Over the next 18 months that was all cleared out and new wings added to make it the same width as the rest of the shop. Internally, everything was repositioned and reworked - even the cranes had to be able to handle weights 25% higher. 400 people at the peak of the work moved 7,000m³ of rubble from the site, and poured 4,200m³ of new concrete. 300 km of cable were needed in total for all the rewiring. All without stopping production. The revised mill started rolling on 27 June 2011 and, after a few tests to produce the familiar 80m lengths, the first 108 metre rail was produced two days later. By the start of July, the first trainload of new 108 metre rails was despatched to SNCF and was welded ready for track-laying at its plant in Saulon the following week. Further deliveries have already been made to France, Luxembourg and Austria, and Belgium has taken a batch of 100 metre rails.
Excellent result Plant manager Paul Hodgson is English, while coincidentally the plant manager of Scunthorpe is French! He was pleased with the final result. “I have to admit that when the first snow of last winter arrived earlier than normal in December, with much civils work still to do, the objective did at times appear hard to achieve. We had to resort to Plan B, Plan C and
sometimes Plan D in order to keep to the timeline. However, after a difficult start, the winter from January onwards was kinder than most Lorraine winters can be, and from around mid-March I ceased to consult the Meteo France weather-forecasting website two or three times per day! Our project team has accomplished a spectacular mission and I’d also like to thank all the other employees for adapting their work patterns which was extremely important for the success of the project.” All the hard work has already borne fruit. As well as supplying the SNCF renewals programme which started the whole exercise, Tata Steel has recently secured a major order to supply railway lines for a new high-speed track between the French cities of Bordeaux and Tours. The 430 employees at Hayange will manufacture 84,000 tonnes of high quality rail for the new 302km (188 miles) TGV South-EuropeAtlantique route for delivery from 2014. The company will also supply switches and crossings to the construction consortium COSEA. The total value of the steel supplied will be around €80 million (about £70m). Without the confidence of Tata’s management to invest in the new plant, this order would have gone elsewhere. As it is, there is a bright future for this steel mill at least, one of the survivors of Lorraine’s “rust valley”.
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PHOTO: STORY RAIL
52 | the rail engineer | november 2011
concrete
More passengers = Moore concrete Installing the new deck at Garriongill.
year may well see rail passenger N ext numbers in Northern Ireland increasing by 50%. As part of its ongoing £114 million investment in rail infrastructure, the Department for Regional Development has purchased 20 new Class 4000 trains. Each will have six carriages as opposed to the current three that are used for commuter service trains. In addition, each of the new carriages will have the capacity to hold significantly more passengers than those now in use so there will be plenty of capacity once the new trains come on line. This investment in new rolling stock comes at a time when rail travel is back in vogue. Translink has confirmed that a record 10.4 million passenger journeys were made during 2010/11 - the highest level since the 1960s. All of the new rolling stock will be commissioned over the coming months, giving passengers a faster and more comfortable option when it comes to getting from A to B. However, there is one snag…
Longer platforms
A BEBO Arch system manufactured for Asset International.
The new trains are considerably longer than those currently in use, so Translink Northern Ireland Railways is investing £8.0 million in platform extensions at 20 stations across the province: Balmoral, Jordanstown, Whiteabbey, Hilden, Moira, Lisburn,
Sydenham, Yorkgate, Lambeg, Dunmurry, Downshire, Finaghy, Carrickfergus, Bridge End, Whitehead, Larne Town, Larne Harbour, Lurgan, Adelaide and Derriaghy. The project to extend the station platforms, christened the “New Trains Two Platform Extension”, is now well underway. McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd has been commissioned to carry out this significant engineering project, which will continue through until mid 2012. Ballymena-based Moore Concrete was appointed as the sole manufacturer and supplier of the precast platform components. These include Platform Wall Units, L-Walls, Edging Units, Slabs and Copings. “The project entailed the design of precise moulds and the ensuing manufacture of the individual units to a very high specification,” explained Moore Concrete’s John Parkinson. “We have worked closely with McLaughlin & Harvey in the past and were committed to delivering the units on time to each required location. The overall objective is to ensure that the required extension work is carried out in a way that causes the least degree of disruption to the travelling public.” McLaughlin & Harvey’s Graeme Pollock confirmed the strong working relationship
that exists between his company and Moore Concrete. “On a project such as the ‘New Trains Two Platform Extension’, timing is everything,” he stressed. “We want to ensure that the inconvenience caused to the travelling public is kept to a minimum. It is, therefore, crucially important for all our suppliers to meet the design and engineering specifications agreed and to deliver on time. Moore Concrete has consistently ticked all of these boxes.”
Well established Moore Concrete is not a new name in this field. It was founded in the late 1970s by the Managing Director Wilbert Moore, who lists his company values as Health & Safety, Quality, Resoluteness, Efficiency and Respect for All. A strong emphasis is placed on staff training and the company is a committed participant in the Investors in People scheme. All of the casting shops at the Ballymena factory are served by a state-of the-art Skako mixer and the on-site cranes can handle individual items weighing up to 50 tonnes. Heavy investment over recent years has introduced a range of new products such as Bridge Arches, Box Culverts, Post Tensioned Tanks and Retaining Wall Systems with the result that Moore Concrete is now well established in the Agricultural, Construction and Civil
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 53
concrete
Engineering sectors. Raw materials are sourced locally and the company takes pains to ensure that its manufacturing processes meet the highest environmental standards.
Garriongill Rail projects throughout the UK make up a significant part of Moore Concrete’s activities. A recent example was the replacement of the Garriongill Intersection Bridge at Uddington Junction near Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. The existing bridge had been in place since 1842 and was life-expired. Story Rail, the main contractor on the project, had the job of replacing it with a new structure over a single weekend blockade. The design of the new bridge deck called for 12 bespoke precast concrete sections. Story Rail recognised that delivery of the deck units would be crucial to the success of the project. Northern Ireland-based Moore Concrete was selected as the manufacturer with the facilities and track record to meet the specifications laid down and to have the units delivered on time.
“The new bridge deck comprised of twelve individual sections, each weighing twenty four tons and having an extensive amount of protruding steel to allow it to be connected to the abutment walls,” John Parkinson explained. “The biggest constraint of the project was the tight timeframe. Due to the size and complexity of each beam, extensive mould work was required to accommodate the projecting steel. “Critically the spacing of the steel had to be exact in order to match perfectly with adjacent beams as well as the existing abutment walls on site. Before the units could be despatched, we had to prove that the units could fit together by performing a trial erection. “Once all the components arrived on site they were assembled and stitched together on a multi-wheeled transporter before Story Rail took possession of the bridge.” He further commented: “The new deck fitted perfectly with its protruding steel meshing exactly with those on the walls of
the existing abutments. The success of the project is a tribute to the skills of our structural precast production team.”
Other sectors
Constructing platforms for Translink in Northern Ireland.
In addition to its rail work, Moore Concrete has recently been involved in manufacturing a range of bespoke products, including box culverts and crib walls, for a number of Ireland’s most prestigious road development projects. The company has also recently delivered a very large order of precast units to Tulloch Developments Ltd for a new pier at Lerwick Harbour, Shetland. “Moore Concrete’s production facilities have been developed specifically to manufacture custom-made precast products to the highest specification,” John Parkinson concluded. “We have invested heavily to allow us to undertake projects of this kind and, very importantly, we are also concrete enthusiasts! We want to build on this potential for the future.”
STRUCTURAL PRECAST FOR RAILWAYS • Bridge Deck Construction • Station Platforms • Bespoke Units MOORE CONCRETE PRODUCTS LTD Caherty House, 41 Woodside Rd, Ballymena BT42 4QH T. 028 2565 2566 F. 028 2565 8480 E. info@moore-concrete.com
www.moore-concrete.com
QUALITYPRECASTSOLUTIONS
54 | the rail engineer | november 2011
concrete
writer
Bernard Berge Product Specialist Engineer, Maccaferri Ltd
a
Steel fibres about the size and shape of a paperclip are mixed with the concrete.
infrastructure projects worldwide M ajor consume huge quantities of concrete, much of it reinforced. As consumption has grown over recent years, so has the use of steel fibres as an alternative to conventional rebar reinforcement. Growth has occurred both in the sheer volume of concrete consumed as well in the variety of applications in which fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) is employed. In the early years of its development, steel fibre reinforced concrete was principally used in two major areas of application: reinforcement in temporary spray concrete tunnel linings and in industrial paving in port, airport and factory flooring etc. With more recent advancements in fibre reinforcement technology, the use of FRC has spread rapidly into new, innovative applications such as in precast segmental tunnel linings and other structural concrete uses.
What is FRC? FRC is a compound consisting of a cementitious concrete mix into which reinforcement fibres - in this case, small steel filaments about the size of a paperclip, are mixed.
Purpose built fibre dosing equipment was supplied by Maccaferri.
Magical Mixture
The multiple steel fibres redistribute the forces within the concrete, restraining the mechanism of formation and extension of cracks. The result is a more ductile concrete which is able to maintain a residual capacity in the post cracking phase. The steel fibres within the concrete literally ‘stitch’ the sides of a forming crack together.
Origin of the species The principles of fibre reinforced composites are far from new and history shows the concept was established well over 2000 years ago in ancient Egypt with mud bricks reinforced with straw fibres. Fastforward to more recent times and it developed through the application of asbestos fibre cement, widely used during the 20th Century, and continued with the highly sophisticated carbon-fibre type materials of the aerospace and specialist automotive industries. In the 1960s, studies by American industrial scientists Romualdi, Mandel and others, established theoretical and experimental foundations for the development of steel fibre as a medium to reinforced concrete. In 1973, Battelle Development Corporation of Columbus, Ohio (USA) patented the principles of steel fibre-reinforced concrete, creating what was essentially a completely new material for civil engineers. Battelle lodged patents all over the world and also registered WIRAND as a trademark for steel-wire concrete reinforcement fibres. Through one of its subsidiary companies, the Maccaferri Group became licensee of the patents and acquired the right to use the WIRAND trademark.
Subsequent research within the Italian cement industry and the University of Bologna led to further improvements in concrete performance, using fibres with an improved shape which gave better mechanical strength and/or workability. Later, in the 1980s, an automated process was developed which allowed the sprayedon application of premixed and site-mixed FRC. Alongside this, the use of fibres in the manufacture of pre-cast concrete products progressed, particularly for components such as tunnel lining segments.
Steel vs. polymer fibres Polymer fibres, thinner than a human hair, are also suitable as a reinforcement medium for concrete and are often used in conjunction with steel fibres to provide greatly enhanced fire resistance. These polymer fibres melt when exposed to great heat, leaving multiple microscopic ‘tubes’ within the concrete into which latent moisture can evaporate. This moisture would otherwise cause explosive spalling of the concrete as it would have nowhere to expand to within the concrete matrix. The non-metallic composition of polymer fibre-reinforced concrete also has benefits in applications for which the use of ferrous materials would be inappropriate due to their electromagnetic properties.
FRC in the real world In Spain, construction of the 43km long extension to the Barcelona Metro has made extensive use of precast tunnel liningsegments incorporating steel reinforcement fibres. A joint venture construction consortium of, UTE Gorg, UTE Linea and UTE Aeroport used an earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine (TBM) to excavate tunnels. The precast lining segments were placed, ring by ring, behind the machine using a robotic arm.
november 2011 | the rail engineer | 55
concrete
FRC tunnel ring segments were cast off-site. The original design for the precast units required 120kg of traditional, fabricated steel cage reinforcement per cubic metre of concrete, to provide the required structural strength. No fibre reinforcement was considered at this time. Subsequently, a proposal was made to use 30kg/m³ of Maccaferri Wirand steel reinforcement fibres in an attempt to reduce the amount of steel bar within the segments. Through ongoing testing, the amount of steel rebar was gradually reduced and a final optimised combination of 25kg/m³ of Wirand fibres and 60kg/m³ of steel rebar gave the required structural performance. This design specification produced the necessary strength to provide adequate performance both during the placement of the segments and during the early service life of the tunnel. An early age compressive strength was also required to ensure sufficient crack resistance during the de-moulding, stacking and on-site handling phases. Reinforcement fibres were added to the concrete mix via purpose made dosing equipment to ensure controlled introduction and consistent dispersion of the fibres.
Fibre-only reinforcement Some months into the tunnel construction programme, contractors proposed another alternative method of casting lining segments, this time without the inclusion of any steel cage reinforcement and relying solely on steel fibre reinforcement for the structural integrity of the unit. The high cost of steel cage reinforcement
and the need to reduce casting time and increase mould utilisation were the principal motivations for this proposal. Despite successful trials, it was ultimately decided that the use of fibre-only reinforced concrete segments was a technological step too far for the project team, having already reduced rebar content from 120kg/m³ to 60kg/m³ through the use of fibres.
Fire protection legislation Recently introduced Spanish legislation concerning fire protection in tunnels has obliged contractors to incorporate polymer reinforcement fibres into precast lining segments. Along with its steel materials, Maccaferri also supplied Fibromac FR polymer fibres to the project. At the conclusion of the works it is anticipated that the company will have supplied approximately 20,000 tonnes of steel and polymer reinforcement fibres to the Barcelona Metro construction project which saved a total of 40,000 tonnes of conventional rebar. The implications of the Barcelona Metro trials may be a portent of the future design and construction of tunnels. Through a willing project team comprising contractors, designers, material suppliers and research, cost savings and performance enhancements were made possible. With London’s Crossrail, Europe’s next huge tunnelling infrastructure project on the immediate horizon, the question is: will the project team be even more innovative than the one in Spain and embrace the use of an all-steel fibre reinforced concrete segment?
The 43Km long Barcelona Metro line extension used precast tunnel linings manufactured with Maccaferri fibre-reinforced concrete.
56 | the rail engineer | november 2011
Modular
concrete
walls
enlarging a station in a limited W hen area, the resulting excavation often
Glasshoughton Station.
results in a retaining wall being speciďŹ ed. These walls can sometimes be quite high, and as they are in public areas have to be decorative as well. Cast in-situ walls are sometimes not the best solution, a modular system such as Keystone may be better. Keystone retaining wall units are manufactured from high strength, durable concrete which are laid dry and can be used in conjunction with a geogrid to provide tall walls or to accommodate high surcharges. Keystoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to connect positively with
Abutment on Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
proprietary geogrid systems has enabled it to be built to heights of over 15 metres worldwide - making it ideal for rail and bridge applications and its simple, dry build construction enables it to handle the most challenging site design.
Fixing pins It can also be used with or without a concrete backing to create a gravity wall. It uses a unique high strength ďŹ xing system which securely locks the component parts in place. At the centre of the system are pultruded G.R.P. pins which offer a high sheer strength that will last the lifetime of the wall. A combination of Keystone modular units, positive pin and comb connections and soil reinforcing geogrids delivers â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rock solidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; stability and performance. Its enhanced connection between grid and block is critical to ensure economic designs and is available on a design and supply basis.
New solutions There are two recent additions to the Keystone family of retaining wall products. Slope-Loc is intended for similar applications
SLOPELOC
to Keystone but it offers a sloped face ďŹ nish which in certain situations is more preferable to the traditional vertical face. Stepoc is designed as a direct replacement for shuttered concrete and is ideal for use in a wide variety of retaining wall applications, including retaining walls, sheer walls, laterally-loaded panels and blast walls. So next time you need a â&#x20AC;&#x153;simpleâ&#x20AC;? wall, there may be more choice than you think.
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THE No.1 MODULAR REINFORCED EARTH RETAINING WALL SYSTEM ON THE MARKET TODAY.
Offers a characteristic sloped face finish which in certain situations is more preferable to the traditional vertical face. (designed to BS 8006 and HA 68/94). s !VAILABLE IN A RANGE OF COLOURS
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Truly Functional and elegant. Replacing gabion, crib and cast-in-situ walls. Radiused or straight build, ideal for rail, roadside and bridge locations. (Meets HA requirements for durability.) s !VAILABLE IN A RANGE OF COLOURS
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58 | the rail engineer | november 2011
Point your device at www.rail.co
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