GRAHAM’s rail teams worked around the clock over the Bank Holiday weekend to deliver crucial upgrades to South East London’s rail network. The essential bridge replacements and supplementary works took place under abnormal track possessions at Bellenden Road Underbridge (Southwark) and Westdown Road Underbridge (Lewisham). Both projects involved the replacement
A former environmental consultancy from Preston has rebranded as 52M Consulting and relaunched to provide a range of stakeholder engagement services in support of ‘controversial’ yet critical infrastructure developments. Managing director, Lee Petts, said: “There were over 11,000 Town and Country planning appeals decided in England during 2016 and 2017.
R&M explains the new generation of Power over Ethernet (PoE) / Avoiding cable temperature increases / PoE calculator aids network planning / Tips for product selection and installation Wetzikon, London, September 8, 2015. R&M, the globally active Swiss developer and provider of cabling systems for high-end, powerful network infrastructures, is
GRAHAM’s rail teams worked around the clock over the Bank Holiday weekend to deliver crucial upgrades to South East London’s rail network. The essential bridge replacements and supplementary works took place under abnormal track possessions at Bellenden Road Underbridge (Southwark) and Westdown Road Underbridge (Lewisham). Both projects involved the replacement and reinstatement of two underbridges within a restricted 72-hour rail possession. The railway closures began at 01:20 on Saturday 26th May and finished at 04:00 on Tuesday 29th May. The bridges carry National Rail, London Overground and Thameslink commuter services, as well as providing a busy thoroughfare for railway freight services. The works were part of Network Rail’s overall £78m investment in key asset maintenance and upgrades to more than 600 infrastructure schemes throughout the country. Successful completion Commenting on the successful completion of the bridge projects, Leo Martin, GRAHAM’s Managing Director – Civil Engineering, stated: “Both schemes underline the technical expertise of our staff and supply chain, and their ability to deliver complex rail projects safely and to the highest standards within possession constraints. “When working in these challenging rail conditions, safe and timely project delivery is only possible through close collaboration between ourselves, Network Rail, our supply chain partners and stakeholders. This was a real team effort and everyone pulled together to ensure the successful completion of these projects.” Works As part of the Bellenden Road Underbridge upgrade, the GRAHAM team replaced the existing 12m single span deck with two new Network Rail standard U decks, which were 66t each. The Westdown Road Underbridge project also centred on the replacement of the existing 12.5m bridge with two new Network Rail standard U decks, which were 74t each. It included the replacement of new station platforms. Both projects featured propping to restrain the existing abutments from potential overturning, the removal of tracks and ballast, the demolition of the existing bridge and the installation of the new superstructure decks. New pre-cast concrete cill slabs were placed at each location. Additionally, the reinstatement and re-tamping of the tracks were completed before reopening to rail traffic. Complexity The works involved setting up heavy lift cranes, including a 350t crawler crane and a 500t mobile crane, on the roadways below each bridge location in advance of the railway closures. The complexity of the works was made even more challenging by the severe weather conditions over the bank holiday weekend, with heavy thunder and lightning hampering crane lifts at critical times, and the team having to resolve a number of unforeseen issues as the project progressed. At its peak, over 100 people were on site to deliver each respective project. Meticulous planning GRAHAM’s rail experts have been meticulously preparing for the works over recent months in conjunction with a specialist supply chain, stakeholders, TOCs / FOCs and Network Rail. GRAHAM’s Rail Director, Jonny Kerr, believes this advanced planning and teamwork was the key to the success of both projects. “These complex bridge replacements were completed by our teams through their meticulous planning and technical expertise. The team worked closely with our various supply chain partners, stakeholders and Network Rail and their partners to ensure that there was minimal disruption to the rail network,” said Jonny. “There was a tremendous amount of planning done in advance, which allowed us to progress each project smoothly even with the challenges presented. Additional factors, such as operational High Voltage and S&T cable routes, required support and protection during the works.“ “It’s a tremendous achievement and I’m very grateful to everyone who rose to the challenge. “We would like to thank the public for their patience during the closures.” Rail expertise GRAHAM has completed a broad portfolio of award-winning work within the rail sector. Examples of GRAHAM’s expertise in delivering complex construction within an operational railway include the “Live Launch” of a 55m span, 515t bridge structure over ten railways lines in South London, slope stabilisation works in South Wales and the construction of a new railway station in the Midlands.
A former environmental consultancy from Preston has rebranded as 52M Consulting and relaunched to provide a range of stakeholder engagement services in support of ‘controversial’ yet critical infrastructure developments. Managing director, Lee Petts, said: “There were over 11,000 Town and Country planning appeals decided in England during 2016 and 2017. That’s a lot of development being rejected at a local level, and amounts to a huge amount of additional expense for the companies bringing forward those plans, not to mention the public purse. “Developers can avoid some of the risks of local authority refusal by better engaging with potentially affected stakeholders and improving community relations. This is particularly important in the case of contentious infrastructure. “We’re taking the skills and lessons learnt in our sustainability and corporate responsibility practice, and repurposing them to help get more critical infrastructure built for everybody’s benefit.” The company is no stranger to controversial developments. Since 2012, it’s worked closely with the fracking company Cuadrilla, and has previously worked with companies seeking to build recycling facilities and landfill extensions. 52M Consulting says it will focus on five key sectors in which developments are often labelled as controversial. These include large-scale renewables, new road and rail, onshore oil and gas, housing and waste. In a recent online poll of over 1,200 respondents, it found that waste sites and oil and gas extraction sites jointly proved to be the least popular forms of development nationally, followed by new housing, road and rail, and, lastly, wind and solar farms. John Kersey, Non-Executive Chairman and a former Fairness Commissioner for Lancashire County Council, added: “People living in communities that are being asked to host new infrastructure want to feel as if they have a genuine say. It’s only fair. But, sometimes, even if it’s not something they want on their doorstep, it will still have to proceed because there’s a pressing need. “If we’re to meet our climate change commitments, for instance, we need to build-out more large-scale renewables developments. If we want to boost energy security by weaning ourselves off imported gas, we need to develop our shale gas resources. And if we want to avoid landfill for our waste, we need greater recycling and waste-to-energy capacity. We have to put this infrastructure somewhere. In part, our job is to help build acceptance by helping otherwise reluctant communities to see things differently and by involving them more.”
R&M explains the new generation of Power over Ethernet (PoE) / Avoiding cable temperature increases / PoE calculator aids network planning / Tips for product selection and installation Wetzikon, London, September 8, 2015. R&M, the globally active Swiss developer and provider of cabling systems for high-end, powerful network infrastructures, is preparing planners and installers for the introduction of 4-pair Power over Ethernet (4PPoE). The new generation of power supply via local data networks (remote powering) should enable a supply of up to 100 watts, which is four to five times greater than the current rate. The corresponding standard IEEE 802.3bt is currently in progress. 4P PoE allows more powerful terminal equipment to be supplied with energy via network cables. Parallel power cabling is therefore no longer required. However, the twisted-pair copper cables heat up during the supply process, leading to an increase in attenuation. This must be taken into account from the very beginning of a cabling project, which in turn poses new challenges when installing data networks. In a recently published White Paper, R&M provides information on the physical backgrounds. The document contains practical information for network planners and installers on how to prevent the cables from suffering critical temperature increases, thereby avoiding the resulting loss of power in the structural cabling when using 4-pair Power over Ethernet. The document explains the standardized formulas for calculating the temperature increase in cable bundles: http://www.rdm.com/en/co/service/downloads/white-paper.aspx At the same time, R&M is introducing a specially developed PoE calculator, which takes into account all relevant factors, such as cable types and ambient air temperature. The maximum link length of the cabling and the appropriate cable categories can be determined by entering just a few values into the spreadsheet: http://www.rdm.com/en/co/service/planungshilfsmittel/power-over-ethernet-calculator.aspx Background: Developmental step forward with Power over Ethernet For Power over Ethernet (PoE), which was introduced 15 years ago, IEEE 802.3bt represents another step forward: Terminal equipment will be supplied with at least 55 watts, and potentially up to 100 watts, rather than 13 or 22 watts. In future, PoE will need to use all four twisted pairs in the network cabling for this transfer of energy, which is the reason for the name 4-pair Power over Ethernet (4PPoE). The structured cabling systems are therefore not only used to transport data at an Ethernet speed of 10 Gigabits, but numerous powerful IP terminal devices, such as cameras, monitors, wireless access points, and point-of-sale terminals, can also be supplied with energy via the local data network. The trend for an increased use of Power over Ethernet would also support the Internet of Things. Many small sensors and control systems could be run from remote locations in buildings without additional power cabling. A consequence of using 4PPoE is that every twisted pair in the network cabling has a current of between 650 and 1100 mA, depending on its power. This is a significant increase in load compared to pure data transfer. Due to physical losses, the cables and cable bundles heat up as a result of the energy transfer. According to R&M, a long-term temperature increase of 10ºC can halve the expected service life of the cable, due to the increased aging of the material. This temperature increase must also be limited for fire and occupational safety reasons. Higher temperatures increase the copper resistance and the attenuation of the signal transmission, which reduces the potential length of a link. The cable temperature increases resulting from the energy transfer can increase the attenuation of a cable to such an extent that data transmission becomes impossible. It is therefore important to factor in these temperature increases when planning a cabling project. R&M advises that thick cable bundles and heat build-up in cable channels be avoided. It is recommended that larger conductor cross sections and/or shielded cables be used for longer cabling links, as they do not suffer such significant temperature increases. Alternatively, the distances (link lengths) can be reduced. R&M also advises the use of modules and plugs with insulation displacement technology; this technology creates stable connections between the cables and connecting contacts that are similar to soldering joints. The widely distributed piercing technology penetrates only the insulation of the copper cables and creates a loose contact, which with live connections may in the worst case cause a fire. Another problem may arise when using Power over Ethernet if contacts are damaged by small arcs when disconnecting while live. When the contact breaks, a spark is created that at high transmission powers can destroy part of the contact. If this happens in the contact area of the connection, the transmission properties may be permanently impaired. R&M recommends the use of plug connectors and connection modules that are designed to ensure a sufficient distance between the breaking point and the nominal contact area. http://www.rdm.com/en/co/products/power-over-ethernet.aspx
