Align JV
Wall Gantry for Wall Construction
Used in the construction of the portal walls and similar to the slipforming concept, this initiative consists of a gantry crane attached to four shutters which allow the casting of two parallel walls simultaneously and the striking of the panels using the gantry instead of other lifting means. This is run by hydraulic cylinders and rams at the top which...
Steel Fixing Wall Stabilisation Sockets
Used to stabilise prefabricated cages for the walls or in situ steel fixing, the contractor designed a steel socket which is cast into the kicker of the wall (kicker height varies from 120mm to 420mm) where they insert a steel column that holds the cage in place until the wall shutters are placed and it is supported by the wall...
Long Reach Excavator Adaptation
The Colne Valley viaduct, is designed to sit low in the landscape. Where it crosses lakes, jetties were constructed to support its build and to provide an internal haul road. However, to remove these without damaging the viaduct would have meant costly, complicated, lengthy and impactful works. The contractor used a novel approach to remove these. Looking across the world...
Water Treatment and Monitoring
Water monitoring for suspended solids and basic chemistry is common practice across construction but due to sensitivity of the environment (working above source protection zone 1), this contractor implemented a detailed water monitoring plan to analyse a larger suite of physical and chemical parameters (>50 individual parameters per sample) than required by environmental consents. Almost 8000 samples have been collected...
Hazard and Rehearsal Academy
To support the launch of their 5 Major Risks and Life Saving Rules this contractor have set a dedicated educational and learning area at the project. This is a physical demonstration of the 5 major risks that have been effecting the whole global civil engineering industry. The facility immerses personnel into their hazards with physical exhibits including overturned plant from...
Dobydo Robotic Arm
This contractor is the first in the county to use a robotic arm to perform work in the high-risk environments around the segment stacks and lift. A robotic arm performs two tasks when preparing the segments for ring building. Dobydo is the name given to the part of the robot that screws in the segment dowels and fittings. Krokodyl is...
Plasma Cutter
A plasma cutter was designed, fabricated and commissioned to sit on top of the permanent casing with a retractable arm to directing the cutting face to the inside of the casing. The down arm of the cutter was designed to be telescopic via control of an electric winch in order to suit the requirements of each cut, trimming of the...
School’s Play Area Built with Soil from Project’s Tunnel
A new artist-designed play area created from soil excavated from the high speed railway’s Chilterns Tunnel was commissioned by the contractor and opened at Rickmansworth’s Maple Cross JMI school late last year. The initiative was sparked after a Year Six pupil wrote to the contractor asking whether soil from the nearby project works could be donated to create a new...
Use of Drone Mounted Camera and Thermal Imaging to Detect Skylark Nests
This project is situated on a large greenfield site with surrounding woodland and is an ideal site for ground nesting birds. There is a need to locate and protect these nest sites and provide advice to the construction team. One of the contributing factors that influenced decisions to find alternate methods to ecological surveying and mitigation was the onset of...
