Temporary works mitigating risk for major Network Rail project on the East Coast Main Line (ECML)
The multidisciplinary design and engineering firm, Morgan Sindall Professional Services (MSPS), has successfully delivered the temporary works for the new £45 million multi span viaduct at Shaftholme in North Doncaster, giving critical assurance that the bridge has been constructed safely and within the exacting timescale required.
The new 246m long, six-span viaduct will allow slow moving freight trains to be re-routed from this high-speed section of the ECML: increasing schedule reliability; enabling greater capacity for long distance train services, reducing freight delivery times and mileage, therefore enabling a reduction in the carbon emission ‘footprint’.
The project was delivered by the North Doncaster Chord Alliance, a group of construction professionals who operate using the strapline ‘Working as One’.
MSPS worked collaboratively with the scheme’s designers and sub-contractors, including Principal Contractor, Morgan Sindall PLC’s infrastructure business unit, to complete a range of specific services including: a detailed engineering analysis of crane lifting loads; the working platforms that provide support for specialist foundation piling machines; and the temporary supports for the bridge itself. Traffic management was also key and MSPS produced drawings for the Local Highway Authority to approve an appropriate traffic solution during the construction phase for both the public and the local farming community.
Project timescales were tight because in order to reduce the impact on the railway, certain aspects of the project, such as electrical over-head cable isolations, could only be carried out during weekend, night-time periods. Innovative logistical solutions were employed to ensure night-time periods could be used for lifting the 51m section of bridge that spans cross the railway, representing a very short time-frame, the challenging use of night-time hours and a requirement for all other aspects of the project to be in place.
Martin Reader, sector director for engineering services at MSPS, says that early contractor and temporary works designer engagement, as well as a collaborative working ethos were critical to the project: “The North Doncaster Chord Shaftholme Viaduct acts as an impressive example of collaborative engineering mitigating potential risks and thus enabling the delivery of a complex and extremely large-scale project.
“We were successful in our remit to provide comprehensive assurance that the high-risk project could be completed on time, to budget and crucially safely, protecting site employees, future ECML passengers, freight containers and Network Rail’s infrastructure investment.”
This project adds to MSPS’ extensive portfolio of nationwide bridge temporary works services, that also include: Stratford City Bridge Development; A1073 Spalding to Eye Improvement scheme, Car Dyke Bridge; M74 Completion project and The Clackmannanshire Bridge, Upper Forth Crossing.
