Case study
Station to station
delivering the Luton DART How structural BIM software helped streamline the modelling of the permanent and temporary works for the new stations for Luton Airport’s fully-automated light rail link
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esigned to provide travellers with a speedier, greener and more efficient journey to the UK’s fifth busiest airport, the Luton DART marks a significant investment in the town’s civil infrastructure by Luton Council’s airport company London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL). The £243 million Luton DART is a new fully-automated light rail link, designed to transport travellers from the Luton Airport Parkway railway station to the terminal of London Luton Airport in well under four minutes. Currently, passengers making the journey use a shuttle bus service, which can be unreliable, especially in heavy traffic. This project, being constructed by main contractors VolkerFitzpatrick-Kier joint venture and Doppelmayr, will solve that problem. The DART supports sustainable growth of the airport and employs an energy-efficient cable-pulled system. As part of the project, two new stations are being constructed. Parkway Station – designed to provide connectivity between www.AECmag.com
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the DART and mainline rail services, including a direct link to the existing railway station at high level – and the Central Terminal Station, located underground within the airport terminal. Hewson Consulting Engineers was appointed as structural designers for the two new stations, tasked with modelling both permanent structures, including all concrete, reinforcement and steelwork, and some temporary works elements. Hewson worked closely with RPS, who were architects for both stations, and with Tony Gee and Partners who were the overarching scheme-wide design lead. Prior to the detailed design phase, concept designs were developed for the client by Arup and Knight Architects. Richard Scantlebury, director of major projects at Hewson Consulting Engineers, said, “As specialists in civil, structural and geotechnical, we’re perhaps best known in the industry for our bridge work, which, in turn, has recently translated into largescale metro and station projects, such as Luton DART. We’re a technologically
advanced company, enabling us to offer extra services to our contractor customers and deliver added value. “Initially, we had searched for a long time to find the right BIM tools for the business, looking for a software that would bring value, as opposed to just ticking a ‘BIM box’. When we discovered Tekla Structures, it was just what we needed. The majority of our workload is design and build projects for contractors and Tekla Structures is ideal for this, able to be used for both permanent and temporary works. Luton DART is definitely one of the biggest projects we’ve worked on with BIM, with approximately 42,000 tonnes of structural concrete, 1,660 tonnes of structural steel and 2,400 tonnes of reinforcement to be modelled.”
Overcoming site constraints Unsurprisingly, a construction project of this size was not without its challenges, with Hewson Consulting Engineers presented with numerous site and space restrictions. Perhaps the biggest challenge May / June 2021
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