Contractors battle Storm Arwen to replace rail bridge

Despite the impact of Strom Arwen Network Rail has successfully demolished and replaced the bridge over the railway at Lynebeg, south of Inverness on the Highland Mainline between Perth and Inverness.

The work was part of supporting work ahead of the dualling of the A9 between Tomatin and Moy.

In continuous working across 78 hours from last Friday night until Tuesday morning, the 1884 Victorian masonry structure was demolished and replaced with a 660 ton twin-track concrete box structure.

The construction team overseen by the BAM Nuttall, Atkins Mouchel Joint Venture used a Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) system to carry the structure from the site compound, where it was constructed offline over a 10-week period, before manoeuvring the massive 660-ton structure several hundred meters along the B1954 and sliding it to its final position.

Two 750-ton cranes then lifted seven concrete wingwalls, which were also constructed on site, into position before the railway was fully reinstated and checked ahead of re-opening to traffic early on Tuesday morning.

The new bridge will strengthen, safeguard, and futureproof the route for the long-term including dealing with the weight and volume of traffic which passes over it on a daily basis and accommodating any potential future double-tracking of the line.

During the same 78-hour possession, a 1200x800mm pre-cast box culvert and a 900mm twin wall plastic culvert under the track were also installed at two locations to accommodate the forthcoming A9 works.

 

Billy McKay, Network Rail’s Programme Manager for the Lynebeg bridge replacement works, said: “We are delighted that the work to replace the bridge at Lynebeg was completed successfully and the railway re-opened to traffic as planned – despite terrible weather conditions and the impact of Storm Arwen.

“The installation was complex due to requirement to remove the existing railway infrastructure including cabling, track and the embankment, before the concrete bridge could be pushed into its final position.  And all against the clock due to the need to reinstate and re-open the line to traffic at the end of the possession

“As well as upgrading the railway bridge, the team is delighted to have played a part in supporting the future dualling of the A9“.

Works will continue on site for several weeks to complete the new structure, including cladding the concrete wing walls with the recovered stone from the original stone arch bridge which was constructed as part of the Highland Mainline in 1884.

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Veteran pair leave Currie & Brown

Consultant Currie & Brown is undergoing major leadership change as group chairman David Broomer retires this month after 51 years at the business.

Group chief executive officer Euan McEwan is also retiring at the end of this year.

Broomer became a partner in 1980 – the youngest partner in the company’s history – and in 1999 moved into the role of group managing director. Since October 2008 he has held the position of chairman.

McEwan will be succeeded as group chief executive officer by Alan Manuel, who has been chief operating officer, Europe and UK since 2016 when Currie & Brown acquired Sweett Group.

Nick Gray joins Currie & Brown to lead the Europe and UK business. He joins from Faithful+Gould where he was regional lead for the North, Scotland and Ireland business.

 

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British Gypsum upgrades website to improve product data info

British Gypsum has launched its new website as part of its wider commitment to continue to provide better data, tools and support for its partner construction customers.

The website delivers a range of new features and is one of the steps that British Gypsum is taking following an in depth review of its approach to data and marketing integrity, to help raise building standards across the industry and facilitate better building outcomes.

In order to ensure that it provides users with access to the most accurate and up-to-date tested product and specification information, the new website is fed by a Product Information Management (PIM) system, which provides all the performance data on British Gypsum’s drylining products, systems and specifications from a single source.

This is in line with the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI), giving partner construction customers total confidence in the accuracy of product information, making it easier to specify systems and products.

The new website will automatically serve EN, rather than BS standards across the site, meaning that all product performance data provided has been tested to the more rigorous EN standards. While the White Book Specification Selector will now be prioritising EN standards going forwards, British Gypsum’s bank of BS standards data will still be available on the website for customers specifying to the latter.

As part of British Gypsum’s commitment to providing its partner construction customers with complete transparency and all the information required to support the ‘golden thread’, the new website has a dedicated project area which allows users to set up separate ‘projects’ and gain access to additional documents including test reports and BIM files.

In addition, British Gypsum’s industry-leading online White Book Specification Selector has been revamped to improve functionality and make it easier for users to find exactly what they are looking for based on their criteria. With the ability to compare up to three specifications and remove any ambiguity, users are able to easily identify the right specification for every project.

Stacey Temprell, Marketing Director at British Gypsum, said: “We are proud to have launched our new website and do our bit to provide complete transparency of our product and system data. The website has been developed to provide certainty when it comes to fire safety and technical competency, and ultimately help our partner construction customers build better.

“The construction industry has been faced with a high level of scrutiny in previous years and it is our responsibility as the UK’s leading manufacturer of high performance drylining and finishing solutions, to tackle this head on and continue to improve our own standards, whilst encouraging our partner construction customers to do the same.

“Having reviewed the way in which we manage data and marketing integrity at British Gypsum, it is clear that the only way to achieve lasting and tangible results for the business and our customer’s, is to provide clear and accurate product, system and specification information that can always be relied upon.

“The new website is just one of the measures that we have implemented to ensure that we continue to provide our partner construction customers with clear, accurate and up-to-date information, and we are proud to be doing our bit in helping the industry build better.”

Further features on the new website include the new digital training prospectus which showcases the training courses that British Gypsum provides, as well as an online chat feature, QBot, which has been built into the website to provide answers to some of British Gypsum’s most commonly asked technical questions 24/7.

A Thistle Plaster Coverage Calculator allows customers to calculate the exact amount of plaster needed for a project, and a Thermal Calculator to help measure thermal performance.