Gaskets contributed to an “exceptionally well-built” tunnel – Costain First use of new gasket designed to reduce risk of segment cracking Only gasket that met tunnel design specification No reported segment cracking arising from high corner contact pressure The construction phase of Scotland’s biggest waste water tunnel has been completed
Severfield will provide 15,900 tonnes of structural steelwork for the new 11-storey building, with the work scheduled to commence on site in June 2018. Google’s new 92,000m2 London headquarters has been designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios. It will run parallel to the platforms of King’s Cross railway
With the development of technology, more and more work is going in to exploring digital construction and what the best strategy is to implement offsite construction strategy. Explore Offsite Outlooks has been developed by BRE and Explore Offsite and looks into how best to integrate digital solutions into their business
RGB Building Supplies has thanked all of their generous customers who have donated to their 2017 Christmas Present Appeal. All of the presents that were kindly donated as a part of this Charity Appeal have already been donated to Children’s Hospice South West where they will be put to great
Deep Soil Mixing Ltd, the group remediation and soil stabilization contractor has announced that they have achieved certification of two vital international business standards. These accreditations, the ISO 9001 Standard for Quality Management and the ISO 14001 for Environmental Management. The company has managed to achieve the ISO accreditations at
Six months ago, Howarth Timber and Building Supplies officially launched the Local Music Live competition. This new contest is a 7UK-wide search with the support of the builders’ merchants to find the next big thing when it comes to live music. The Local Music Live judge’s favourite Felicia Eliza has
Leading manufacturer Furness Brick has won a prestigious award, winning the Best Public Buildings category of the recent Building Awards 2017 for its work on the Chester Storyhouse, an entertainment centre offering cinema and theatre. The award is the culmination of what has been a major project for the Cumbria-based
Date of publication: August 2016 Series code: HSG246 (second edition) Many accidents, some resulting in death and serious injury, continue to occur during the storage and handling of steel and other metal stock. They cause enormous social and economic cost over and above the human tragedy
A planning application has been submitted to Birmingham City Council for a third building at the Arena Central development. Above: Arena Central Arena Central Developments Ltd (ACDL), a joint venture led by Miller Developments, has submitted plans for the 14-storey office block, 3 Arena Central, at the centre of the
Smart meters fail to provide customers with “genuinely” useful information, and are only useful to electricity providers who can use them to cut costs, according to the Association for the Conservation of Energy. The group’s chair Andrew Warren slammed the technology for “not keeping pace” with the
Gaskets contributed to an “exceptionally well-built” tunnel – Costain First use of new gasket designed to reduce risk of segment cracking Only gasket that met tunnel design specification No reported segment cracking arising from high corner contact pressure The construction phase of Scotland’s biggest waste water tunnel has been completed with the benefit of an innovative tunnel segment sealing gasket developed by VIP-Polymers Ltd. The 3.1-mile-long Shieldhall Tunnel beneath Glasgow has been one of the first projects to make use of the rubber gaskets manufactured by VIP, which are designed to reduce the risk of segment cracking during installation. The tunnel boring machine broke through in October 2017 after spending 15 months creating the 4.7m-diameter tunnel for Scottish Water. Its journey from Craigton to Queen’s Park, across the south of Glasgow, has created the largest-diameter bored tunnel in Scotland. Global seals and gaskets manufacturer VIP, based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was commissioned to provide all the tunnel segment gaskets (TSGs) by construction joint venture Costain VINCI Construction Grands Projects. The cast-in TSGs used incorporated VIP’s new patented compliant compressible corner technology, which ensures delivery of consistent load performance along the entire perimeter of the gasket. This eliminates the risk of a build-up of pressure at one or more of the gasket’s corners during installation, which could contribute to segment cracking. Matthew Levitt, VIP Technical Business Development Manager, said: “Our new cast-in TSGs have performed very well throughout the Shieldhall Tunnel construction process, demonstrating exceptional levels of reliability. “Segment cracking is a concern for all partners in tunnel construction projects as it can result in delays and additional cost. Clients have welcomed the opportunity to make use of a new technology designed specifically to minimise these risks.” Sam Simons, Tunnel Lining Supply Manager for Costain, said: “The decision to manufacture segments with VIP gaskets for Shieldhall was taken late in the approval process when it became clear that only VIP gaskets could meet the specified requirement for compressible corners to prevent hard spots. “The steel fibre reinforced concrete segment manufacturing process was achieved within the tightest of specifications, and all manufactured rejections were less than 0.25%, including exact gasket positioning. “Overall, the VIP gaskets contributed to an exceptionally well-built tunnel, with no reported segment cracking arising from high corner contact pressure, or segment ram loading transfer, cracks or leakage, meeting the tunnel lining specification without compromise.” Conventional shot-joining of TSGs can result in the compression cavities within the extruded profile filling with rubber. This greatly limits compression, increasing the risk of corner point loading, and cracking. VIP’s new corner joint, which has a UK patent, with international patents pending, maintains the TSG compression cavity profile right to the corner edge. Extensive testing has shown this eliminates the risk of a build-up of pressure at one or more of the gasket’s corners during installation, which could contribute to segment cracking. Prior to manufacturing any gaskets, members of the Costain waterproofing team witnessed corner loading (T and Cruciform) and pressure testing of the gaskets in VIP’s testing facilities in Huntingdon. Over the last 18 months, VIP has manufactured more than 19,500 individual TSGs for the project. These have been cast into each tunnel segment at FP McCann’s site in Drakelow, Derbyshire, England. Dave Derbyshire, Operations Manager for Underground Products at FP McCann, said: “For this contract we used cast-in gaskets supplied by VIP for the first time. “The geometry of the segments meant that the gaskets required intricately formed corners to fit the steel moulds correctly and provide a draft angle to the sealing face of the key and adjacent segments along the Z axis. “Technical representatives from VIP visited our facility at Drakelow prior to segment production, to ensure the correct fit was achieved on all six segment types. Once they, and ourselves, were satisfied with the gasket fit, they went into production. “During the segment manufacturing programme VIP delivered gaskets on time, and to a consistent quality. Their technical back-up team was always on hand, but rarely needed.” The £100-million Shieldhall Tunnel is one of the most important wastewater infrastructure projects in Glasgow since Victorian times. It will help tackle flooding and improve river water quality across the city. The 1,000-tonne tunnel boring machine, longer than 14 buses and named Daisy the Driller by a Glasgow schoolboy, began the process of creating the tunnel in July 2016, and completed it on 13 October 2017, when it emerged at the bottom of a 16-metre-deep shaft. The giant sewer will provide 90,000 cubic metres of extra storm water storage, equivalent to 66 Olympic swimming pools.
Severfield will provide 15,900 tonnes of structural steelwork for the new 11-storey building, with the work scheduled to commence on site in June 2018. Google’s new 92,000m2 London headquarters has been designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios. It will run parallel to the platforms of King’s Cross railway station, with a length of 330 metres. Lendlease was selected as main contractor for the project in February 2017. Alan Dunsmore, Severfield’s acting chief executive, said: “We are delighted to announce that Severfield has been awarded this Google contract and are looking forward to working with Lendlease on such a high profile, iconic development at King’s Cross. “This contract win adds to our recently announced strong order book of £245m and supports Severfield’s position as the market leader with unrivalled design, fabrication and construction capabilities. “The group has already worked on a number of key buildings in the King’s Cross area, including 3 and 4 Pancras Square, King’s Cross R1 and S2, and the new retail quarter Coal Drops Yard, which is currently under construction.”
With the development of technology, more and more work is going in to exploring digital construction and what the best strategy is to implement offsite construction strategy. Explore Offsite Outlooks has been developed by BRE and Explore Offsite and looks into how best to integrate digital solutions into their business operations. The pace of which technological change it taking place shows no signs of letting up. Because of this it is though that the introduction of technology needs to be embraced. A range of other industries have taken the digital step earlier, however the construction digital revolution is thought to be now well underway. With the more widespread adoption of BIM as well as a range of other technological solutions, the combination of offsite manufacturing and digital construction technology offers a powerful new prospect for the industry. On the 28th February 2018 at BRE in Watford, Explore Offsite Solutions will be looking at the road ahead as the roles and disciplines begin to merge and a new role is created with the creation of a new generation of digital natives who feel BIM is simply business as usual and fully understand the reals meaning of integration, interoperability and design for the manufacture and assembly of construction projects. At this event in February next year, guests will also hear from John Eynon, who is the Engagement Lead at BIM Alliance and who will give a presentation on the topic of ’Digital procurement, standardisation and transformation’. Duri9ng this presentation, John will discuss digital transformation and standardisation as well as drivers for change, a range of case study examples, the place for the UK BIM alliance and the upcoming implementation of BIM Level 2 in industry. Explore Offsite Outlooks is a one-day conference and exhibition that will work to create a space for clients and their professional advisers, contractors, project managers and offsite technology suppliers to network while also discuss with industry experts the latest developments in the digital construction and offsite sector.
RGB Building Supplies has thanked all of their generous customers who have donated to their 2017 Christmas Present Appeal. All of the presents that were kindly donated as a part of this Charity Appeal have already been donated to Children’s Hospice South West where they will be put to great use and handed out to the children and families that are supported by the centre. The Building Supplies company put a call out inviting customers and the communities that are located near to RGB’s branches in order to donate any gifts that were suitable for a child of any age, and their parents. As a part of RGB’s Christmas Presents Appeal, the managed to collect more than 300 presents were placed under the Christmas trees at the different RGB branches. The Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser at the Children’s Hospice South West, Naomi Dymond has said that they are overwhelmed by the number of gifts that have been donated by RGB staff and customers. It is great that the hospice has seen such a show of support from the building supplies provider and their customers. For all of the families and children that use the services on offer at the Hospice, Christmas is a special time of year. The Hospice is able to offer the help that they do only with the support of the community, helping them to make a difference to families across the South West. The Human Resources Director for RGB, Jenny Naylor has said that this is the second year that they have run their Christmas Appeal and they have been amazed again at how generous their customers and businesses operating in the local community have been. RGB Building Supplies would like to thank all of those who donated, with all of the presents going towards helping families at the Hospice during the Christmas period have a magical time.
Deep Soil Mixing Ltd, the group remediation and soil stabilization contractor has announced that they have achieved certification of two vital international business standards. These accreditations, the ISO 9001 Standard for Quality Management and the ISO 14001 for Environmental Management. The company has managed to achieve the ISO accreditations at the end of an already fantastic year that has been filled with exciting contracts for the company. These new projects include slope stabilisation works in West Yorkshire as well as a mass mixing soil stabilisation project that has been carried out in Carlisle. An independent assessment that has been carried out for the ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditations has shown that Deep Soil Mixing Ltd’s commitment to customer service and quality as well as ensuring environmental management is at the top of the company’s agenda. The ISO 9001 certification has demonstrated that the company is committed to quality, customers and a willingness to work toward improving their efficiency. The ISO 14001 standard specifies the requirements that have been put in place for an environmental management system that is used in order to enhance company’s environmental performance. The accreditation has allowed Deep Soil Mixing Ltd to recognise and understand their environmental impacts in order to manage their responsibilities as a part of a more organised system, which can therefore contribute to environmental sustainability. The company has expressed their commitment to delivering an excellent service while also focusing on their impact as a company and as individuals. Deep Soil Mixing Ltd uses soil stabilisation and ground remediation solutions for soil mixing which are environmentally friendly and work to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and improve sustainability for all projects that are carried out by the business. The two ISO certifications also help to support Deep Soil Mixing Ltd’s corporate objectives and reinforces a culture for excellence in the business. As the company continues to grow the quality framework that has been put in place will support the company’s growth ambitions while also offering assurance to customers that they will continue to receive the highest quality products and a consistent level of customer service.
Six months ago, Howarth Timber and Building Supplies officially launched the Local Music Live competition. This new contest is a 7UK-wide search with the support of the builders’ merchants to find the next big thing when it comes to live music. The Local Music Live judge’s favourite Felicia Eliza has officially released her new single, called ‘Head Over Heels’. This track is being played across all Local Music Live radio stations. Felicia was selected as the next big thing by the Local Music Live and Howarth Timber panel of judges, which then allowed her the opportunity to record her new track at Redwell Studios which can be found in Greater Manchester. The Leeds-based creative agency Harris has also support this competition by helping to produce the video for the track. The music video for Head Over Heels was filmed on location against the dramatic backdrop of nearby Flamborough Head. Local Music Live has also worked to bring together commercial and community radio stations including Rock FM in Lancashire, the Lincs FM group, Fix Radio in London and Revolution 96.2 in Greater Manchester. These radio stations have come together in order to encourage and support local singers and bands. Howarth Timber, the building supplies company is the major sponsor for the initiative. Local Music Live is brainchild of John Dash and Dave Stankler. The intention behind this contest is to find new talent and put them on the radio, helping to create a hub where singer/songwriters and bands will be able to submit their songs for a chance to be played by local radio DJs operating across the UK. The marketing and product development manager at Howarth Timber, Neale Brewster feels that Felicia was a standout act amongst her competition and it is great to see Local Music Live searching for and helping to promote new talent. The initiative that has been supported by the Builders’ Merchants and supplies providers has allowed Felicia to record and release her song and will hopefully act as a springboard for her career while also helping to get radio stations playing local music.
Leading manufacturer Furness Brick has won a prestigious award, winning the Best Public Buildings category of the recent Building Awards 2017 for its work on the Chester Storyhouse, an entertainment centre offering cinema and theatre. The award is the culmination of what has been a major project for the Cumbria-based brick company, which worked with the building’s architects to create a bespoke brick for the new structure. Housed in a formerly redundant shell of a 1930s Odeon cinema in the centre of Chester, the Storyhouse was designed so as not to compromise the significant street presence of the former building, while being a substantial addition to the area. “To achieve this the brick for the new building was chosen to match the colour and texture of the original ones – a challenge as the old Jacobean bricks were originally made in North Wales and no longer available,” explains Stephen Blagbrough, Furness Brick Regional Manager. “Following a long brick matching process, a bespoke blend, created by Furness Brick Constructed using a very unusual bond pattern, was chosen as the best compliment to the original cinema building.” The new structure comprises approx. 123,800 ‘Theatre Blend’ Furness bricks, all of which are standard bricks rather than feature bricks, creating a flow between the original building and the extension externally. Recognising the building’s merits, the Brick Awards judging panel remarked on how the new brickwork alongside the old ‘fundamentally creates an iconic building which complements not only the surrounding architecture but also the city of Chester itself’. Simon Erridge, Director at architects Bennetts Associates, concludes: “The brickwork plays an integral part of the exterior of the new building, just as it has always done. The bespoke option supplied by Furness brings the whole project together from the street view, enabling the new art and entertainment venue to settle straight into its surroundings.” For more details on Furness Brick telephone 01229 462411 or visit www.furnessbrick.co.uk
Date of publication: August 2016 Series code: HSG246 (second edition) Many accidents, some resulting in death and serious injury, continue to occur during the storage and handling of steel and other metal stock. They cause enormous social and economic cost over and above the human tragedy involved. It is in everyone’s interest that they are reduced. Accident investigations often show that these injuries could have been avoided. This revised guidance is aimed at directors, owners, managers and supervisors and pays particular attention to the most common hazards, including (un)loading of delivery vehicles, storage systems, workplace transport, mechanical lifting and injuries from sharp edges. New sections compare the use of single- versus double-hoist cranes and give additional information on the safe use of pendant and remote controllers, suitable lifting accessories, working at height and providing better access arrangements with stock products. There are now specific requirements which effectively prohibit the stacking of ‘U’ frame racking and ‘barring-off’. This revised guidance was produced in consultation with the National Associationof Steel Services Centres (also known as NASS) and the City of WolverhamptonCouncil working as partners with HSE in the Steel Stockholders Lead AuthorityPartnership (SSLAP). Source link
A planning application has been submitted to Birmingham City Council for a third building at the Arena Central development. Above: Arena Central Arena Central Developments Ltd (ACDL), a joint venture led by Miller Developments, has submitted plans for the 14-storey office block, 3 Arena Central, at the centre of the 9.2 acre development site. 3 Arena Central has been designed by architect Make Architects with the exterior of the building clad in a geometric pattern of hexagonal metallic panels. The Arena Central development is next to Centenary Square and the Library of Birmingham and fronting Broad Street. Altogether, there is outline consent for more than a million square feet of commercial space, including the 135,000 sq ft 1 Arena Central and 210,000 sq ft 2 Arena Central, which will be the new headquarters of HSBC’s banking division on completion in 2017. ACDL said that “with the right occupier interest” 3 Arena Central could be delivered by the first quarter of 2019. Make Architects founder partner Ken Shuttleworth said: “As a Birmingham native, I’m delighted that Make is able to contribute in such a big way to the emerging Arena Central masterplan. 3 Arena Central, Make’s third office building in the masterplan which we also designed, is at the forefront of placemaking and will be a new destination at the heart of Arena Central.” This article was published on 23 Sep 2016 (last updated on 23 Sep 2016). Source link
Smart meters fail to provide customers with “genuinely” useful information, and are only useful to electricity providers who can use them to cut costs, according to the Association for the Conservation of Energy. The group’s chair Andrew Warren slammed the technology for “not keeping pace” with the market, and failing to provide “genuinely interesting information”. “It is very useful for people running electricity companies that need to be able to get to know their customers’ usage patterns better and to have more time of use arrangements,” he said. “I think the main motivation for electricity companies, as they can make very substantial savings, is that they don’t have to employ or sub-contract meter readers.” He added that the electricity and gas providers would be able to reduce the “enormous number” of people in phone banks run, as estimated billing is ended. The government’s smart meter roll-out is due to begin fully in August but has recently been criticised by the Institute of Directors for being “flawed” and “well behind schedule.” “It is a very expensive IT programme and there is a long litany of IT failures with which government has been involved,” said Warren. “One of the greatest difficulties does appear to be trying to set rules on technologies to be installed in a marketplace in which the technologies are changing so fast, so that information is no greater than a meter that was installed 50 years ago.” Warren said countries such as Germany “took one look” at smart meters and decided that “the costs were far too high”. “It is a very substantial amount of money for the consumer and adds to fuel bills…it is perfectly reasonable to ask the question, are we actually delivering the best bang for their buck?” Source link