Costain, the UK infrastructure business, has reached an important milestone in its gas distribution network upgrade programme with Cadent. Costain is replacing approximately 340km of gas main line each year in Cadent’s East of England network, the largest of Cadent’s five gas networks across the UK. Through working collaboratively with
Groundforce Shorco has supplied a bespoke support system for a major excavation in Dublin. Contractor Bennett Construction is building a new eight-storey campus building in Dublin city centre for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Two of the building’s eight storeys are below ground, which means the site
AN UNDERGROUND mapping startup has brought in more than £82m from its latest funding round to help bring artificial intelligence to the UK infrastructure industry. Exodigo – for whom former Crossrail CEO Simon Wright OBE acts as an advisor – will use the capital to invest in its UK and European
Solihull Council approved the design for the HS2 green tunnel in Burton Green to cover it with plants and new footpaths to increase biodiversity. The designs respond to community feedback, focusing on bigger and better green spaces around the railway, following public engagement events in October 2019 and March 2022.
One of Scotland’s leading engineering specialists, Akela Ground Engineering (part of Akela Group), has launched an innovative precast concrete beam system which could dramatically speed up the delivery of new homes. ‘ABeam’ from Akela, features a special mechanical pinned joint, allowing for prefabricated ground beams to be installed in a
Winvic Construction Ltd, a leading main contractor that specialises in the design and delivery of multi-sector construction and civil engineering projects has been awarded a place on another public sector framework. The company has been selected as a contractor for Lot 5 of the Warwickshire County Council (WCC) Framework Contract
HS2’s first giant tunnelling machine – which launched almost 3 years ago – broke through today at the end of her 10-mile (16km) journey under the Chilterns, excavating the longest tunnel on the ambitious new rail project. The enormous 2,000 tonne Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), named ‘Florence’, is one of
WJ Group, the leading road marking and highway safety company, has been recognised for its commitment to the environment after winning a Green World Award. The business was awarded for its Driver Behaviour Scheme, which in the first year saw a 40% reduction in road incidents involving its team members.
When your business involves sending hundreds of workers out to disconnected sites where they could be exposed to dangerous gases, safety should be a top priority. But how can real-time insights and actionable data help enable you to offer your workforce enhanced protection? This was the challenge facing Cappagh Browne
Yesterday, Perega, one of the UK’s leading structural and civil engineering consultancies, launches its innovative CO2 accounting tool: The Carbon Calculator. Affirming its commitment to sustainable construction, this evolutionary platform empowers Perega’s clients to assess the whole carbon footprint of their projects, from inception to completion. Importantly, it enables them to
Costain, the UK infrastructure business, has reached an important milestone in its gas distribution network upgrade programme with Cadent. Costain is replacing approximately 340km of gas main line each year in Cadent’s East of England network, the largest of Cadent’s five gas networks across the UK. Through working collaboratively with Cadent and supply chain partners during the design, procurement and delivery stages, the scheme is on track to see 380km replaced by the end of the financial year, 31 March 2024. Costain passed its 340km-per-year target more than a month ahead of schedule, aided by the application of agile operational processes around planning, programme management, reporting and control that have delivered to targets and have led to efficiency gains. Reaching the milestone means that around 33,000 homes have had new gas mains fitted. The upgraded pipeline will reduce the risk of supply disruption to households and businesses while also helping end-users benefit from the safety and environmental improvements being made. The project has seen more than half a million excavations to date. The programme is in the third year of a five-year contract, with the option to extend by a further five years. Cadent is the UK’s largest gas distribution network managing more than 80,000 miles of pipes and transporting gas to 11 million customers. Laura Hughes, energy director at Costain, commented: “This is a hugely fulfilling programme for our team and the whole of the supply chain. We’ve passed an important milestone and are on track to exceed our target by an additional 40km of new gas pipeline. “The UK’s gas distribution network needs to undergo significant improvements to allow us to decarbonise our energy system, comply with environmental legislation and upgrade ageing assets. Collectively with Cadent, we are improving the lives of thousands of people in the East of England by upgrading pipelines to ensure homes remain heated. I’m particularly impressed with our strong performance on safety and efficiency.” Mark Briggs, head of investment planning at Cadent, added: “We’ve been working alongside Costain for a number of years now and we are very pleased to see these sorts of results being achieved. “The work carried out by Costain is part of a big investment programme across the East of England to modernise the gas network – keeping people warm in their homes now and getting the network ready for lower-carbon gases in the future. “Of course, we won’t be resting on our laurels and as one financial year comes to an end, we’ll continue to work collaboratively with Costain to make sure that we push on with this fantastic work; looking forward to driving further efficiencies ensuring a safe, more customer focused plan.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Groundforce Shorco has supplied a bespoke support system for a major excavation in Dublin. Contractor Bennett Construction is building a new eight-storey campus building in Dublin city centre for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Two of the building’s eight storeys are below ground, which means the site is currently occupied by a deep excavation more than 50m long and 30m wide. Modular hydraulic equipment supplied by Groundforce Shorco is supporting the concrete secant-piled retaining wall while Bennett Construction completes the excavation and installs the reinforced concrete basement slab. Although the excavation is roughly rectangular in plan, it includes several irregularities that complicate the engineering of the support solution. Lateral forces impose geotechnical loads varying between 215kNm and 300kN/m which are supported by Groundforce Shorco’s MP150 and MP250 hydraulic props via a waling beam comprising the company’s modular Mega Brace system. However, where the shape of the excavation does not allow the use of standard equipment, bespoke beams and props have been designed and supplied to ensure that all of the concrete secant piles remain fully supported. Five MP250 props support the middle of the excavation, spanning almost 30m. These props are fitted with 1,220mm-diameter ‘super-tube’ (twice the diameter of standard extension tubes) to increase stiffness and prevent deflection. Each of the four corners of the excavation is supported by a combination of MP150 and MP250 props in lengths ranging from just over 5m to more than 18m. These props act as knee-braces, supporting the Mega Brace beam at angles of approximately 45o. This arrangement imposes a significant shear force on the retaining wall. “At certain locations there are very short lengths of retaining wall comprising only a few piles and these are unable to resist the shear from the knee braces,” explains Groundforce Shorco major projects manager Adam Fletcher. To enable the waling beam to resist the shear at these points, Groundforce Shorco designed bespoke steelwork that was welded to the Mega Brace beam in-situ. “When the final pile layout was determined we decided to split the frame to suit two levels of propping and designed a bespoke corner brace to follow the pile line and limit the deflection where shear keys could not be used,” explains Adam. Chiara Morena, Groundforce Shorco design manager, said: “In standard procedures, the props are located against the retaining wall using gallows brackets. These not only ensure the correct positioning of the prop but also carry its unsupported weight and prevent any risk of slippage. On this project, only the hard secant piles could be used for supporting the beam via gallows brackets and that was an additional challenge. Once a partial built wall was provided, we had to verify the anchored connection of the gallows brackets for each beam extension around the excavation. “However, due to the difference in level in the RCSI excavation, one of the MP250 props is installed at a 3o angle to the horizontal which introduces an upward force at the higher end of the prop as it is braced against the waling beam. To counteract this, we installed an additional gallows bracket upside down, in non-standard fashion, above the prop at this point.” Adam added: “Groundforce Shorco became involved when the design was at a very early stage and contributed to several revisions before the design was finalised, which also gave the opportunity to have a full picture of what was happening around the design. The bespoke solutions provided where the standard kit was not suitable are one of our strengths.” Damien Watson, project manager with Bennett Construction, commented: “Groundforce Shorco provided continuous assistance after completing the design and during the installation and removal phases. They even helped with elements that fell outside their responsibility as a supplier of temporary propping equipment.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
AN UNDERGROUND mapping startup has brought in more than £82m from its latest funding round to help bring artificial intelligence to the UK infrastructure industry. Exodigo – for whom former Crossrail CEO Simon Wright OBE acts as an advisor – will use the capital to invest in its UK and European team and expand its range of scanning products, which accurately identify and categorise underground hazards and assets. The geospatial specialist uses sensors and AI technology to identify utilities and other underground assets, and has been used successfully on major projects across the UK. Most recently, the technology was deployed by Colas Rail on its Birmingham Midland Metro Extension project, which extends the current light rail network and will also connect to the Curzon Street HS2 station currently under construction. With this announcement of the additional round – which takes the overall total of funding past £93m – Exodigo will now expand its teams on the ground in the UK, allowing it to better support some of the nation’s biggest infrastructure projects. Aurelia Setton, Chief Business Officer of Exodigo, said: “This new round of funding will fuel more strategic investments in the UK and in Europe. Our partners are already seeing the benefits of working with Exodigo, particularly on their ability to deliver projects at scale, on time, within budget, and safely. “Utility strikes are an issue around the globe, leading to unnecessary emissions, risks, delays and budget overspend, but our solutions locate up to 30% more utility lines than other services, and reduce preliminary digging and trial holes by up to 90%. This funding will open up even more opportunities to scale across new verticals in the UK and in Europe.” Jointly headquartered in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, Israel, Exodigo runs its UK operations out of its London office in Farringdon. The funding round has been co-led by Greenfield Partners and existing investor Zeev Ventures, and is further backed by existing investors SquarePeg, 10D VC, JIBE and National Grid Partners. Raz Mangel, partner at Greenfield Partners said: “Exodigo is one of those rare companies that has managed to revolutionize a large market that is difficult to innovate in, by combining breakthroughs on both the software and hardware side in order to create unparalleled technology for non-intrusive underground mapping. The company operates with a unique intensity, leading to incredible market and product velocity. “The company operates with a unique intensity, leading to incredible market and product velocity. We’re thrilled to partner with Jeremy and the entire Exodigo team to play a part in the next phase of their global expansion as the company makes underground mapping and exploration a reality for the mass market.” Jeremy Suard, co-founder and CEO, Exodigo, said: “We want to transform the entire built environment and are committed to making underground exploration safer, faster, and more sustainable so our customers can design, dig and build safely with confidence. As the only subsurface imaging company to put AI-interpreted signal processing into practice, Exodigo solves a massive, longstanding problem for industries where what lies underground matters.” For more information about Exodigo, visit www.exodigo.com. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Solihull Council approved the design for the HS2 green tunnel in Burton Green to cover it with plants and new footpaths to increase biodiversity. The designs respond to community feedback, focusing on bigger and better green spaces around the railway, following public engagement events in October 2019 and March 2022. The plans for the southern end of the structure have already been approved by Warwickshire District Council, where the railway will travel in a 400-metre green tunnel. The railway will be hidden, and the roof will be covered with landscape planting and new footpaths to sensitively integrate the railway into the surrounding landscape and enhance local biodiversity. Solihull Council’s approval of the northern section of the structure, where the railway exits the tunnel north portal in a 1.4-kilometre cutting with retained walls, completes the planning approvals for this stretch of HS2. A key feature for this area is the realignment of the Kenilworth Greenway, which provides a link from Balsall Common to Kenilworth via Burton Green for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. The new Greenway will cross under Cromwell Lane and then cross the roof of the green tunnel and run alongside the railway cutting, with noise barriers further minimising impacts on the local community. Large-scale planting of native trees and shrubs will provide biodiverse habitats for wildlife, shield the Greenway visibly from the new railway, and re-establish vegetated connections to Black Waste Wood and Little Poors Wood, both areas of ancient woodland. Alan Payne, HS2’s Senior Project Manager said: “We’re delighted to receive Schedule 17 planning consent for the northern section of the green tunnel from Solihull Council. We’re committed to maximising green space around the new high-speed railway and have worked with residents and authorities to ensure our tunnel design conserves, enhances and transforms the landscape in this area. “The design for the permanent realignment for the Kenilworth Greenway and the landscape infrastructure created over the green tunnel is central to how we deliver this, linking the local community and railway with the wider landscape.” The green tunnel in Burton Green was designed by the Mott MacDonald SYSTRA Design Joint Venture working for HS2’s main works contractor for the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), who are constructing 90km of HS2 between Long Itchington in Warwickshire to the centre of Birmingham and on to Staffordshire. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
One of Scotland’s leading engineering specialists, Akela Ground Engineering (part of Akela Group), has launched an innovative precast concrete beam system which could dramatically speed up the delivery of new homes. ‘ABeam’ from Akela, features a special mechanical pinned joint, allowing for prefabricated ground beams to be installed in a matter of hours. By combining precise off site fabrication, alignment, interlocking sections with secure fastening, this joint design ensures a robust, reliable and efficient way to connect precast ground beams. Officially launched at the National House Building Council (NHBC) Construction roadshow in Glasgow last week, ABeam offers housebuilders an exciting new and sustainable alternative to ground beam installation. Officially approved and signed off on “live” projects by the NHBC, ABeam could help housebuilders lay foundations for up to three plots per day. Following significant investment, including the creation of a state-of-the-art fabrication facility at Akela’s headquarters near Glasgow, ABeam has been specifically designed to offer housebuilders greater efficiencies in delivery of new homes. Will Payne, General Manager, Akela Ground Engineering, said: “After reviewing the precast ground beam options available on the market, we found many still had considerable downsides, the use of pile caps, insitu concrete and tie bars were common, this requires sequencing of works and could also be impacted by weather conditions, all of this leads to considerably longer installation times. “Akela’s new ABeam precast system eliminates all of these issues and offers significant advantages in terms of construction install, performance and overall project quality.” Akela’s purpose-built facility at Thornliebank has the capability to fabricate the Abeams in a controlled environment to ensure quality and production output. The company has also invested in renewable ground source heating for curing the concrete to lower the carbon impact on the environment. Will Payne continues: “In addition to the significant time savings and efficiencies, our new ABeam system can be delivered using the same plant equipment for full the installation process, with lighter bearing pressures from our JCB JX driven piling rigs. “Using sustainable methods of production at our purpose-built facility and existing equipment for installation, we’re able to reduce our carbon footprint and offer developers a more modern and energy efficient alternative to existing ground beam options. For example, with ABeam, clients will no longer need to install crane platforms or hard standings at their sites.”Andy Borland, Construction Director at Bellway Homes, said: “Akela’s ABeam system has meant we were able to release plots to our wider teams a lot faster compared to other precast ground systems we have previously used. Our bricklayers were working on multiple plots within three days of pile installations at this development, rather than taking over a week and relying on the weather. We also didn’t need to install any crane platforms as Akela used the same excavated plant for the entire installation process, saving us money on preparatory works that other precast ground beams systems require.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Winvic Construction Ltd, a leading main contractor that specialises in the design and delivery of multi-sector construction and civil engineering projects has been awarded a place on another public sector framework. The company has been selected as a contractor for Lot 5 of the Warwickshire County Council (WCC) Framework Contract for the Provision of Engineering and Construction Works. Work under Lot 5 of the Framework will typically involve the construction – or the design and construction – of major highway, structural and other civil engineering works, including agricultural buildings and waste management site works. As well as operational competences, Health and Safety (H&S) and design credentials will be a key focus. Winvic’s exemplary safety record for its highways works delivery, it’s robust H&S cultural change programme – Doing It Right – as well as its tried and tested digital design and Net Zero construction capabilities are all substantial merits which helped the company to secure the Framework place. Winvic’s team will initially spend time detailing compliance and operation processes and preparing for future projects. Winvic’s Social Value team will also be strategising and planning to deliver activities against the Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) set out by WCC. Rob Cook, Director of Civils and Infrastructure at Winvic, said: “As always, the Winvic team worked exceptionally hard to demonstrate our credentials in the tender for Lot 5 of Warwickshire County Council’s Highways Framework and we’re delighted to be working with another county council. We have collaborated with the local authority previously when delivering projects within their boundaries and we’ll now build on that already strong relationship.” “We’re delighted that WCC share our vision of putting the safety of the public and our workforce first, while balancing the speed of operations with budgets, and we aim to maintain our highways works zero per cent accident rate. Plus, with our long-standing commitments to social value, sustainability and innovation, we’re well placed to drive forward-thinking programmes, environmentally focused and Net Zero schemes that really make a difference to local people. The whole team is looking forward to delivering their first project under the highways Framework in Warwickshire.” For more information on Winvic, the company’s latest project news and job vacancies please visit www.winvic.co.uk. Join Winvic on social media – visit X (formerly Twitter) @WinvicLtd – and LinkedIn. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
HS2’s first giant tunnelling machine – which launched almost 3 years ago – broke through today at the end of her 10-mile (16km) journey under the Chilterns, excavating the longest tunnel on the ambitious new rail project. The enormous 2,000 tonne Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), named ‘Florence’, is one of 10 machines excavating the 32 miles of tunnel on the new railway linking London Euston with Birmingham and was the first to launch, in May 2021. The breakthrough is a major milestone for the HS2 project, which will almost halve journey times between Britain’s two largest cities, while freeing up space for more local services on the most crowded part of the existing West Coast Main Line. Two identical TBMs were used to create the twin-bore Chiltern tunnel, which stretches from the South Portal near the M25 to South Heath in Buckinghamshire. Parallel tunnels will carry north and south bound trains with a second TBM, named ‘Cecilia’, due to breakthrough in the coming weeks. Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: “This ground-breaking moment for HS2 demonstrates significant progress on the country’s largest infrastructure project, with ‘Florence’ paving the way for faster, greener journeys between London and Birmingham while supporting hundreds of jobs and apprenticeships along the way. “Today’s breakthrough of HS2’s longest tunnel highlights the momentum behind the project and the achievement is testament to the hard work and dedication of the 450-strong team helping deliver the line that will transform rail travel for generations to come.” Designed specifically for the geology under the Chilterns, each TBM is an underground factory – excavating the tunnel, lining it with 56,000 pre-cast concrete segments and grouting them into place as it moves forward at an average speed of 16m per day. Four similar TBMs are being used for the London approach tunnels, while another two will work on Birmingham’s Bromford tunnel. Preparations are also underway for the launch of two more machines to excavate the Euston tunnels. The breakthrough comes a week after HS2 published new research which shows how the impending arrival of high speed rail will drive a £10 billion economic boost for the West Midlands during the next 10 years, with a huge increase in new development around the two station sites. HS2 Ltd Executive Chairman, Sir Jon Thompson, said: “Today is an incredible day of HS2 and I’d like to thank the hundreds of people who’ve worked so hard over many years to make it happen. Once complete, HS2 will dramatically improve journeys between our two largest cities and also free up space on the existing mainline for more local trains. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but historic moments like today really underline the huge amount of progress that’s been made and the fantastic engineering skills we have on the project.” Both machines launched from the South Portal and are operated by HS2’s main works contractor, Align – a joint venture formed of three international infrastructure companies: Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick. The machines are made by TBM specialists Herrenknecht, in Germany. Each TBM is operated by a crew of around 17 people, working in shifts to keep the machines running 24/7. They are supported by over 100 people on the surface, managing the logistics and maintaining the smooth progress of the tunnelling operation. In total, more than 450 people have worked on the tunnels and in support teams on the surface over the last 3 years. This includes a dedicated team which produced 112,000 precision-engineered, fibre-reinforced concrete tunnel wall segments at a purpose build temporary factory at the South Portal who completed their work just before Christmas – and a team processing the spoil from the tunnels. Align’s Project Director, Daniel Altier said: “The typical drive for a TBM is 5-6km and therefore the challenges in completing at 16km drive should not be underestimated. “Florence and her sister TBM Cecilia were designed in partnership with Herrenknecht. They incorporate a number of innovations and technologies that have been introduced on TBMs in the UK for the first time, to enhance performance and safety. This includes ‘semi-continuous boring’, allowing our TBMs to build the rings that line the tunnels without pausing. “The mining of the tunnel is a fantastic achievement for not only the Align tunnelling team but also the earthworks team who have managed chalk excavated from the tunnels and placed on site, along with many other supporting functions. I would also like to acknowledge our supply chain partners, including TGT that provided the teams to operate the TBMs and MS with whom we designed and operated the slurry treatment plant, with 24 filter presses it is the largest in the world.’” The 3 million cubic metres of chalk and other material removed during the tunnelling is being used to create an ambitious grassland restoration project at the south portal, which will include 127 hectares of new landscaping, wildlife habitat and biodiverse chalk grassland. The chalk, which is pumped back through the tunnel in a slurry mixed with water, is processed at a slurry treatment plant at the south portal site where the flint is removed and water extracted before it can be reused in landscaping. Chalk grassland – a type of calcareous grassland – is habitat of international conservation importance mainly found on limestone and chalk valleys of south-east England and the Isle of Wight. Lime-rich, but low in nutrients, the thin soil holds little water and heats up quickly. These conditions encourage a huge variety of smaller herbs and wildflowers and over 40 species can be found in one square metre of grassland, including some of the UK’s rarest orchids and invertebrates. Only 700 hectares of chalk grassland exist across the whole of the Chilterns AONB. At its deepest point, the tunnel is 80m beneath the Chilterns and passes under the M25, local railway lines and twice under the River Misbourne. Extensive water quality, groundwater level and surface water flow monitoring was put in place prior to the start of construction, and
WJ Group, the leading road marking and highway safety company, has been recognised for its commitment to the environment after winning a Green World Award. The business was awarded for its Driver Behaviour Scheme, which in the first year saw a 40% reduction in road incidents involving its team members. The scheme uses WJ’s vehicle telematics system to accurately review each driver’s performance, encouraging consistently high standards of driving. The company analyses team members’ acceleration, speed, braking, driving style and fuel consumption, with rewards for the safest and most improved drivers. Upon introduction, the average WJ driver performance increased from 87.58% to 95.15%. Notably, WJ recorded a 40% drop in road incidents, as well as a 7.75% reduction in emissions in these early stages. Even more significantly, they have seen a continued increase in MPG, with a yearly average improvement of 21.91%. Competing against more than 500 other nominations, WJ will discover which level of award they have won following the ceremony in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on 25 March. The company’s winning paper will then be published in The Green Book. The awards are organised by The Green Organisation – an international, independent, non-political, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding, and promoting environmental best practice around the world. They are supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, and other independent bodies. Scott Logan, WJ Group Fleet and Engineering Director at WJ Group said: “At WJ, we are always looking for ways to be more sustainable, whether through the services we provide or our collaboration with the wider supply chain. The team continues to push boundaries when it comes to thinking about our impact on the environment, so it is fantastic to be recognised by the Green World Awards. “Our Driver Behaviour Scheme is one of the many innovative programmes we have introduced to reduce our emissions. Being successful in the Green World Awards makes us hungrier to continue to find new ways for the UK’s highways industry to become more sustainable.” For more information, please visit www.wj.uk/sustainability. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
When your business involves sending hundreds of workers out to disconnected sites where they could be exposed to dangerous gases, safety should be a top priority. But how can real-time insights and actionable data help enable you to offer your workforce enhanced protection? This was the challenge facing Cappagh Browne Utilities Limited, a company specialising in repairing and maintaining wastewater networks across the southeast of England. Learn more about their experience. As managing director of Cappagh Browne, Jeff Birtwhistle plays a key role in helping to keep the sewers of south-east England flowing. With over 30 years’ experience in heavy civil construction, nuclear energy, and utilities, he’s always looking for innovative solutions to help the company improve the service it offers customers – and protect its workforce. So when we introduced our latest generation connected gas connector, the ALTAIR io™ 4 Connected Gas Detector, Jeff was keen for Cappagh Browne to be able to reap the benefits. “When it comes to innovation and new technology, MSA Safety is one of our key and invaluable partners,” he says. The gas detector that is redefining safety management Cappagh Browne was already using a previous generation connected gas detector from MSA Safety that provided certain data for remote monitoring to help protect workers and respond to emergencies. After experiencing those benefits, he wanted to enhance them even further with real-time data. The ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector does this, helping to give Cappagh Browne the chance to leverage new MSA Safety technology, improve overall business efficiency and response times, and significantly improve safety for workers. Offering immediate, on-site connectivity The power of the ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector lies in its combination of built-in cutting-edge, CAT-M LTE cellular connectivity and integration with the MSA Grid. Part of MSA Safety’s Connected Work Platform, the ALTAIR io4 Connected Gas Detector can be deployed in seconds, right out of the box. What’s more, no IT is required for updates because they are delivered securely from our cloud to your fleet. When the device is in its dock, it knows when it needs a bump test or calibration to be compliant and immediately starts to run the relevant test. And with industry-leading XCELL® sensors it can stand up to tough use in challenging conditions, resistance to extreme temperatures, the ability to withstand a 25-foot drop and a dust and waterproof IP68 rating. Real-time insights Matt Reid, Head of Fleet for Cappagh Browne, says they are already experiencing the benefits of upgrading to the ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector. “We have over 350 employees working across various remote sites in potentially hazardous environments. So real-time safety monitoring is important,” he explains. “Now, with the ALTAIR io 4, we’re able to use real-time data to establish who to use on a particular job because we can see what exposure they’ve had over the last week.” “We can send one person out to a job and then, if they need help, we can send another person out with an ID tag to ‘fob on’ to the same device. We can then track both people safely within the seven-day period to make sure they don’t exceed their exposure limit.” Keeping workers safe throughout the day Managing Director Jeff Birtwhistle adds that it’s the ability to get immediate feedback when a worker’s exposure limit to dangerous gases has been reached that is taking the company’s safety management to new levels. “Being able to intervene on a worker’s behalf and pull them out of a job to protect them is fantastic. It means we can keep our most valuable asset –our people – safe,” he says. Improving compliance The real-time data and actionable insights offered by the ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector are also helping to simplify regulatory compliance for Cappagh Browne and enabling supervisors to identify behaviors that don’t meet safety standards, which can help make workers more accountable. Since introducing the solution, the company has experienced zero safety alarms. However, as Matt Reid explains, a worker was able to use the inbuilt alarm to call for help in an unusual situation. “We had an instance where a guy became physically locked out of his vehicle and didn’t have his phone on him. He pushed the alarm button to call for help and we were able to get a second set of keys over to him to unlock the vehicle and get him on the road again.” The partnership with MSA Safety continues Both Jeff and Matt know that at some point in the future they will inevitably be looking for new safety enhancements that they cannot envisage right now. But they are confident that when that time comes, MSA Safety will be there, just as it has been for real-time gas detection monitoring. For now, they are enjoying the enhanced safety that the ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector offers their workforce. Fleet manager Matt Reid sums up the benefits. “Using ALTAIR io 4 means we can send our employees home safely to their families every night and that Cappagh Browne can see them again every morning when they turn up for another day’s work.” Keen to see what this technology can do for safety management at your business too? Watch our case study video and find out more about how the ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector is redefining safety. Watch the video to find out more about Cappa Browne’s experience using MSA Safety’s ALTAIR io 4 Connected Gas Detector. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Yesterday, Perega, one of the UK’s leading structural and civil engineering consultancies, launches its innovative CO2 accounting tool: The Carbon Calculator. Affirming its commitment to sustainable construction, this evolutionary platform empowers Perega’s clients to assess the whole carbon footprint of their projects, from inception to completion. Importantly, it enables them to make greener material choices to faster, and better, achieve a more sustainable built environment. The calculator has been developed by the firm’s dedicated, in-house Net Zero Carbon Group and uses a sophisticated algorithmic framework, analysing material emissions data to achieve lower-carbon outcomes. Harnessing the power of the latest digital technology, the calculator seamlessly integrates within the Revit model, offering a comprehensive carbon impact assessment. Key features of the Perega Carbon Calculator include: Commenting on the impact and efficacy of the tool, Perega’s Digital Engineering Lead, James Washbourne, says, “With the built environment responsible for 40% of global emissions, the imperative for lower-emission practices has shifted from optional to essential. Our Carbon Calculator makes another step towards achieving more sustainable projects. Moving away from manually crunching static spreadsheets to a predominantly automated process means better pinpointing of carbon hotspots and empowering our clients to make correct material substitutions during the design phase, without compromising on quality. “Ensuring user-friendliness was crucial, our clients are incredibly busy and need to be able to read and understand the data quickly to make informed decisions. As such, we developed the calculator to deliver clear and simple comparisons for effective decision-making”. For further information about Perega and its groundbreaking carbon accounting tool, please click here. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
