Reports from Cheshire Branch's meetings in 2011-2012.

Report from 2011-2012 Chair, Mark Rees

As I am drafting this article, the rain is falling and it feels more like March than June! My past year as Chairman of the Cheshire Branch Committee has been busy and time appears to have passed quickly since last June. During the year, I have been fortunate in leading an active committee who are full of enthusiasm and ideas.

During 2011-12 we delivered a busy programme of 12 technical meetings, which equates to 26 hours of CPD. We have covered a range of topics within civil engineering from bridge engineering to contract law and railways to sustainability. Our annual ‘Careers in Engineering’ event in December, aimed at schoolchildren and looking to inspire the young engineers of the future, was a success once again.

At our meetings we have had presentations from 25 speakers in total who have given us the benefit of their knowledge and experience in their particular field of expertise, and travelled from as far afield as London. On behalf of the committee, my thanks go to them for giving up their time to present at our meetings.

My thanks go to the committee for all their work during the past year arranging the meeting venues, speakers and sponsorship. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, in particular dealing with issues that arise at the last minute, such as securing an alternative speaker when the original one is no longer able to attend.

During the past year we have added more information on our webpage and created accounts on Facebook and Twitter, so now there are a number of ways that you can keep in touch with what Cheshire Branch is doing.

We have started to request that people pre-register their attendance for our technical meetings in order that we can better plan for the seating and catering at the venue. This new arrangement has so far worked well and will be in place until the ICE electronic booking system is launched in the North West.

We are always open to suggestions for topics for future meetings and feedback on our meetings. If you are interested in finding out more about the work of the committee or would like to get involved please contact us. Our contact details are listed on the webpage.

Our Branch Chairman for 2012-13 is Tom Coon and there is much to look forward to with another busy programme of meetings, including a political debate. I now handover to Tom and wish him every success for the year ahead.

Meeting Report – Sustainability at the Olympic Park (7 June 2012)

Peter Braithwaite of CH2M Hill presented a brilliant and enlightening lecture on Sustainability at the Olympic Park. 58 members of ICE Cheshire, ICE NW Sustainability Group, IEMA and CIWEM squeezed in to the Mercure Hotel at Chester to hear what Peter had to say. As Head of Sustainability for the Olympic Park, Peter was clearly a passionate, knowledgeable and a compelling advocate of putting sustainability at the heart of major construction projects. The facts, figures and examples which Peter provided were truly spectacular and conveyed to the audience what an exceptional job has been done at the Olympic Park. Highlights included the following:

• The fact that Peter’s team of 12 were able to drive sustainability to the heart of a project involving 30,000 site personnel and hundreds of contactors. This was attributed to the fact that sustainability was one of the Olympic bid's three main objectives and was therefore an integral part of the project deliverables.
• The robustness of the legacy planning. Two masterplans were completed, one for each phase of the development (Olympics and legacy) and only structures which were required permanently were built permanently. This included bridges which were demountable, stadiums with flexible seating capacities, basketball areas which could be relocated worldwide, and an athletes' village which would fit with, rather than work against the existing Stratford Town Centre.
• The staggering fact that there was more steel in the Beijing Birds Nest Roof / Facade than there is in the entire London Olympic Park. This demonstrated the importance of sustainability in design as well as construction.
• The enterprise to reuse 98% of demolition materials, be it relocating steel framed buildings Europe wide and reuse of existing structures in innovative ways. This was coupled with 80% reuse of contaminated soil – as engineering soils, not just as fill / landscaping.
• Careful and considerate planning for biodiversity, translocating the native species and including 675 discreet and integral bat/bird boxes on structures without detracting from their architectural merit. Using semi-mature planting to provide instant habitats, and creating log walls during construction to provide temporary habitats while the bulldozers moved in.
• Delivering exceptional health, safety, environment and sustainability systems which contractors embraced and adopted. Such systems resulted in staff briefings in six different languages, that the site speed limit of 15mph is enforced and that there has not been a single fatality on site. To date the accident statistics on site show that the site is safer than an office building!

Peter attributed all these successes and more to a few simple points. Client Demand – Sustainability was at the heart of this project and the client demanded that the challenging sustainability targets were met. Early Engagement – Sustainability started with design, continued through procurement and was enforced during construction. Adequate and competent resources – the small sustainability team were expert, and had the weight of the client behind them, therefore they were empowered to make the changes happen.

Overall this presentation showed just what the UK construction industry can achieve when we set out with a clear aim and are ruthless in pursuing that aim. The Olympics will be a fantastic event for the UK, and all engineers should be proud of our contribution. Furthermore we should publicise our achievement – many would have expected us to deliver late, over budget and not to meet the targets we originally set. This presentation has shown we have actually exceeded expectations in every way, and should be held up as an example of planning for sustainability and planning for legacy.

The event was kindly sponsored by Salix.

Meeting Report – Anderton Boat Lift and the River Weaver (24 May 2012) 

On a stunning May evening, 56 members of ICE Cheshire Branch arrived at the Anderton Boat Lift near Northwich for a very special and extremely enlightening evening. After taking in the size and scale of the Anderton Boat Lift from the new visitor centre, members boarded the viewing barge and descended the lift itself, while the boat master shared his wealth of knowledge about the structure. The boat then continued up the River Weaver as far as Northwich while members were told the rich engineering history of the area, and how it has been literally shaped by the salt and brine industry.

After travelling back downstream members then alighted and rested in the centre’s marquee where Colin Edmondson entertained members further with his stunning knowledge and obvious passion for the River Weaver Navigation, and all of the cuts, locks, sluices, paddles and structures which made the stretch “The Finest Navigation in England”.

The evening raised many serious questions about legacy of engineering works, and its links to the economy and wealth of the environment. Particular points of note were:

• Comparison of planning and execution durations when the navigation was being built, compared with modern timescales. Conception to opening of a bridge in under a month was one record. However the health and safety systems also appeared to be quite contrasting.
• The public and political will to straighten and improve the navigation constantly, an effort which resulted in 10 miles of river length being cut off the navigation, and which resulted in the journey to Liverpool being cut from 20 to 13 days.
• The legacy of the brine industry, including the dramatic subsidence over the entire area, the transport links which caused industry to locate in this area of Cheshire, and how the area has dealt with turning brownfield sites into green parks.
• How the area's structures, some of which were instructed by none other than Thomas Telford himself, were designed to accommodate both the river and road traffic. The swing bridges in this region are of particular note, especially given the majority could still be manoeuvred by a single person.
• How canal locks are actually major engineering structures, especially when they are designed to accommodate steam boats towing four barges, together carrying up to 1000 tonnes of material at a time.

Such was the knowledge of Colin Edmondson, that he could only skim the surface of his in depth knowledge. More information from Colin can be found at http://www.rwns.co.uk/talks/. For members who were unlucky enough not to get a place on the trip, the centre is well worth a visit. More information about the Anderton Boat Lift can be found at http://www.andertonboatlift.co.uk/

Special thanks must go to the staff at the Anderton Boat Lift who made the branch extremely welcome, and to Colin Edmondson for taking the time to share his enthusiasm with us. This event was kindly sponsored by Clark Drain.  

Meeting Report – Construction Risk Management: “We Were Not Expecting That!” (17 April 2012)

On Tuesday 17th April, 60 engineers and safety professionals heard a very informative presentation by Graham Leech on his career in civil engineering spanning nearly 40 years, with particular reference to construction risk management.

Graham’s presentation highlighted the experience he had gained, and the lessons he had learnt, from a range of projects in the UK and overseas.

He started his career investigating box girder bridge failures in the early 1970s, following bridge collapses in Milford Haven and Australia. He witnessed the impact of flooding during the construction of what is now the M60 motorway between Sale and Northenden, when site cabins were washed away and bailey bridges were moved by the floodwater.

He worked on an irrigation scheme in the Sudan, where the remote location, lack of infrastructure and the risk of disease in the workforce were key problems to be overcome. Graham and his colleagues found that the humble Citroen 2CV was a better vehicle at dealing with the rough terrain than a Land Rover, so 20 were purchased!

Whilst working in Saudi Arabia, a colleague had a 3 day taxi journey to reach site, as the team back in UK did not appreciate the distances involved!

In Hong Kong he worked on a large land reclamation scheme, that required the material to be won from a nearby island. The geotechnical properties of the silt that was being used for the reclamation soon became apparent, when the reclaimed area moved one lunchtime!

The above notes only give a brief glimpse of Graham’s career, but he summarised the key aspects of risk management from his experiences as follows:

• Communications
• Information
• Adequacy of design
• Resources
• Plant & equipment
• Temporary works
• Quality assurance & control
• Method of measurement
• Programme
• Insurance
• Safety in use & maintenance
• Workplace conditions
• Legislation
• Local controls
• Human factors
• Experience

Meeting Report – Railway Electrification and the Northern Hub (22 March 2012)

Stephen Clark of Transport for Greater Manchester (TGM) and Graham Botham of Network Rail presented a interesting presentation to members of ICE Cheshire branch about the future of railways in the North. The venue for this event was the Queens Hotel adjacent to Chester railway station.
 
As Rail Programme Director for TGM Stephen starting the talk, describing the changes in governance which was giving the Manchester Authority greater control over development and growth. He showed some interesting slides which showed change in transport use, how new transport corridors open up commuting choice and related growth, and how the type of work carried out in Manchester was changing from manufacturing on the outskirts to finance in the city centre. This was followed by more general comments about the poor location of stations around Manchester and a description of schemes to rectify this (including High Speed 2, Northern Hub, Guided Bus Ways, Cycle Schemes and a potential Oyster card style ticketing system).
 
With this meeting occurring the day after the budget confirmed £560m funding for the Northern Hub project, Stephen and Graham both focused on the proven benefits of these projects which secured this funding, but also for the need for more support of the projects in order to ensure that an extra £130m is awarded so that the benefits of the scheme could be fully realised.
 
Graham explained the detail of Network Rail’s proposals as part of the Northern Hub scheme. This included the Ordsall Chord, redevelopment of Manchester Victoria Station and electrification of various routes in the North. The points which were emphasised were Network Rails desire to implement this scheme to improve northern economies; increases in efficiency by changing to electric powered trains; providing higher capacity, more regular and faster trains; providing better value for customers; and delivering the whole project in a timely but sensitive manner. In particular Graham mentioned how Network Rail had achieved 20% cost base savings over the last 5 years, and it was these savings which were allowing the investment in the Network. However Graham also appreciated that there were many savings yet to make and that Network Rail were committed to reducing their cost base by a further 20% and to providing better value for customers.
 
In summary this presentation demonstrated that investment in the North’s infrastructure is required in order to address the North South divide, but that this investment is being considered, planned and is ready for delivery by engineers and other construction professionals. Both speakers stated how vocal support from the engineering community would be welcomed in pushing these plans through government and ensuring the benefits of these schemes are realised.

Meeting Report - Crossrail: The design of Whitechapel Station (16 February 2012)

    
Nigel Hayward of Hyder Consulting presented a fascinating lecture on the design of Whitechapel Station to ICE and RIBA members at Statham Lodge in Lymm. Unfortunately major delays on the motorway network prevented many members from attending, but the 30 members who did attend gained an insight to the challenges of working on the UK’s largest construction project. For those who missed out, a copy of the presentation is available for download.

Nigel first gave an overview of the scheme in which it was made clear that programme was key, and that nothing would be allowed to delay the progress of the tunnel boring machines running under London. After this primary constraint he explained how all value engineering proposals were carefully considered to ensure 1) there was no detrimental effect of the tunnelling programme, 2) The proposals could be delivered within the original design programme  and 3) they achieved best value for the public purse.

These findings were best demonstrated by Hyder’s development of the Whitechapel Station design. This is the only Crossrail underground station in which the whole station was being rebuilt as opposed to only building the additional Crossrail platforms and interchange connections. As a result the works affected London Underground platforms, the London Overground platforms running on the old East London Line and numerous other public stakeholders on adjacent property.

A £30m cost saving was achieved by changing the axis of the station to make use of the existing Whitechapel High Street entrance, and as a result also reducing the amount of excavation works required. This also provided better public access to the station and even provided a new un-paid walking link across the station.Other points of note covered during the presentation were the complex interface management procedures required to coordinate the design between the myriad of Crossrail contracts, the detailed logistics planning required to ensure the scheme was buildable in the available weekend closures, the co-ordination of settlement modelling between station and tunnelling contracts to ensure that existing track settlements were within acceptable levels, and how regular meetings were held on safety, design progress, stakeholders and co-ordination to ensure the smooth running of the project. All in all this presentation conveyed the complexity of delivering a project on this scale, but reassuringly demonstrated that British consultants are more than up to the challenge! 

Meeting Report - Water industry: future & challenges (12 January 2012)

Over 100 water engineers heard 3 informative and passionate presentations relating to the future challenges for the water industry. This event was attended by members of ICE Cheshire and CIWEM, and was held at the Mereside Conference Centre, Lingley Mere.

Michael Norton’s presentation focused on the water white paper that was issued by DEFRA in December 2011. Michael explained the challenges of understanding the role that water plays in our lives, the extent of our water consumption, the impacts of climate change on water resources, and the implications that global water scarcity could have on us in the UK. The value of water must be understood, not just customer bills but the wider value to society. On average it costs an individual only £3 per week for one cubic metre of water for drinking, cooking, washing and disposal of wastewater.

Chris Matthew’s presentation highlighted the challenge facing United Utilities to reduce its operational carbon footprint. In 2010/11, the gross carbon footprint for United Utilities was 570,963 tonnes of carbon. The company is aiming to reduce gross emissions by 21% by 2015 (relative to a baseline of 2006), and halve emissions by 2035. Chris explained that plans are being developed to meet this goal as part of a carbon strategy. He also pointed out that innovation and behavioural change were 2 key factors in reducing carbon emissions.

Phil Clisham’s presentation described the skills shortage of civil engineers in the water industry, and how this situation had become worse over the last 20 years or so. In particular there is currently a shortage of engineers with good technical skills. Phil described the changes that were happening to the water industry and how companies needed to respond in order to ensure that their staff had the necessary engineering skills. The possible boom in work for the energy sector may attract engineers from the water industry, putting further pressure on the skills shortage. Phil concluded that skills underpinned everything in the water industry and would impact on the delivery of projects.
 

Meeting Report - Careers in Engineering (8 December 2011)

For the third year in a row ICE Cheshire branch teamed up with the G&S to deliver a fantastic education event to 45 pupils and their parents from schools across Cheshire. 

This year the event was extended to become truly inclusive of a wide range of engineering careers.  Speakers from the IMechE, IStructE and IChemE and the ICE all delivered inspiring and informative presentations about their field of engineering as well as sharing some of their own experiences from their careers to date.

Topics ranged from routes in to engineering, what you can expect to study, life as an engineer, opportunities as an engineer and even a brilliant insight in to an engineer's contributions to manufacturing a tin of beans!

The feedback was very positive from the pupils, parents and teachers alike, with a lively and encouraging Q&A session over pizza and refreshments following the presentations.  Everyone seemed to come away with a much better understanding of the different types of engineering and the diversity a career as an Engineer can offer.

Our sincere thanks must be extended to all the speakers on the day – Jen Horrocks and Ehab Alsayagh from the IMechE, Tom Hough and Peter Connell from the IStructE and James Leech from the IChemE. Thanks also to our hosts at Penketh High School, Warrington, in particular Sandra Wright. This is the second year that the school have hosted the event and their fantastic facilities and helpful staff have made running these events possible.

These events are essential in allowing us to engage with and inform young people about careers in engineering and ICE Cheshire branch plan to continue to run events like this for years to come.
 

Meeting Report - Limerick Immersed Tube Tunnel (7 December 2011)

30 members of ICE Cheshire Branch and the North West Geotechnical Group attended a fascinating lecture at the Stobart Stadium about the construction of Limerick Tunnel.
 
Dr Andrew Smith from Coffey Geotechnics gave a very informative presentation on the temporary works that were implemented to enable a 500m long immersed tube tunnel to be laid across the River Shannon, at Limerick in Ireland. The tunnel forms an integral part of a ring road that is being constructed around Limerick to ease traffic congestion. 

Andrew described the ground conditions at the site, which includes the presence of highly sensitive clays, and the site investigation methods employed. The clays turn to liquid when disturbed which presented a significant challenge to Andrew and his team both when they were undertaking the site investigation tests and when  designing the temporary cofferdams on both banks of the river.

The River Shannon has a 6.5 metre tidal range, so twice a day the cofferdam would be subject to variable loading from the tide. Additional ground anchors were installed with high tensile loads to resist movement in the cofferdam due to the variable loading, minimising the movement to 5mm between high and low tide.
 

Meeting Report – Rebuilding of Llwyn Onn Water Treatment Works (17 November 2011)
 

Last Thursday, 46 civil engineers from Cheshire and North Wales met at the Kinmel Manor Hotel near Abergele, to listen to a presentation by Allan Reef of Dee Valley Water on a challenging £16.65m project to rebuild the Llwyn Onn Water Treatment Works near Wrexham.

Allan explained how Dee Valley Water are a relatively small water company serving a population of 259,000.  The water treatment works was built in 1951; however more recent foundation failures led the company to submit a business case to OFWAT to rebuild the works.

Allan described the procurement and competitive tendering processes, as well as the contract management.  Black & Veatch were awarded the ‘Design and Build’ contract for the works, under ECC Option C. Dee Valley Water staff have been co-located with those from Black & Veatch in order to input their experience and knowledge to provide a positive influence on the design.

Allan went on to describe the process of water treatment, and the improvements that will be made as part of the rebuilding of the works. The water treatment process requires a series of filters and weirs to remove manganese and other impurities.

Construction works have recently commenced on site, and the project, which provides for the renewal of supply mains, is due to be completed by April 2013.

Meeting Report -  Contract law - the future of the NEC (3 November 2011)
 

On Thursday 3rd November, the Chester College of Law hosted an exceptional event about Construction Contract Law. 83 members of ICE and ICES gathered to hear our speakers' views regarding the NEC and how it does or does not aid modern construction contracts. Peter Higgins, one of the original authors, explained the ideas on which the contract was based. Daniel Jude, a construction lawyer, pointed out the issues he had with the contract and made recommendations in its future use. Finally Ian Cowling of BAM Nuttall described his experience of using the contract, and where he believed problems arose.

A surprising conclusion from the evening was that all agreed that the NEC was a good contract in encouraging good project management and a collaborative working environment for each of the contracted parties. This was the form in which it was originally envisioned - in which disputes were dealt with at the time rather than being left until the final account. This increased cost certainty and helped move away from the adversarial relationships of the 70s and 80s.

It was revealing that most of the problems identified from a lawyer's and a contractor's perspective arose from the NEC contracts not being implemented properly, either via significant modification using Z-clauses, administration overload due to under-resourcing on both sides, or via a reluctance on the client side of the project manager to make decisions. It was found that in these circumstances, the NEC became difficult to deal with as it is not written in specific legal terminology, and did not cover all eventualities in which disputes occurred. As a result it was shown that it is this uncertainty and lack of precedence which may have led to so few disputes going to court, with increasingly costly mediation being the preferred option. However the information presented by BAM showed that the NEC was increasingly the preferred form of contract, so these issues will be increasingly relevant for all practising engineers to understand and mitigate.

Despite contrasting views during the later discussion, all the speakers agreed that for the NEC to be a successful tool in delivering construction projects, it was vital that the contracted parties understood the rationale behinds it’s clauses. On large collaborative infrastructure projects (many of which have been highlighted in recent ICE Cheshire meetings), the NEC  contracts are a valuable tool in building trust and understanding between parties, however there must be the right level of resource and skill to manage it effectively. As one speaker commented: “If you want to bury your head in the sand, don’t use this contract.”
 

Meeting Report – 50 Years of the Silver Jubilee Bridge (6 October 2012)

64 members of ICE Cheshire Branch and the Historical Engineering Group packed out the Stobart  Stadium to hear Mike Bennett’s presentation on the long and distinguished history of the Silver Jubilee Bridge.

Mike’s talk swept the audience back to the post war days when the famous steel arch bridge was first conceived as a feasible solution to connect Runcorn and Widnes via road. Videos and images of the works conveyed the sense of wonder as the two arch spans approached each other, the sense of achievement when the bridge was briefly the longest span in the UK, and the sense of danger with the “alternative” approach to health and safety at the time.

The presentation continued with a discussion on the swift requirement to widen the popular bridge due to design capacity of 30,000 vehicles per day being reached in only 10 years. This involved significant changes to the footway support steelwork and approach structures. Other repetitive problems such as pigeon attack, paint system breakdown and starling infestation were also discussed.

More recent times were then explained, with the current maintenance contract being examined in detail, with flexibility of working, and minimisation of user disruption the key points. As with the Bidston Moss project, partnership between the client and the designer/contractor was being used successfully to achieve award winning results.

Finally Mike finished with a discussion of the future of the bridge, with the impact that the new Mersey Gateway Project will have. This included reduction in funding allocation, greater availability of the structure for significant maintenance works, and the significant change in traffic requirements.

Overall this meeting gave a fantastic overview of how a bridge’s purpose can change over time, and how construction, maintenance and enhancement projects maximise the value of such key infrastructure, ensuring they are the treasured asset of the whole community. This is surely what the Silver Jubilee Bridge has achieved over the last 50 years, and what it will continue to do long into the future.

Meeting Report – Bidston Moss Viaduct (22 September 2011)

60 members of ICE Cheshire and CIHT were lucky enough to receive a presentation from four knowledgeable speakers about the construction of strengthening and repair works to the Bidston Moss M53 Viaduct. Graham Dakin (HA Project Manager), Richard Heaps (Costain Senior Agent), Darren Bearwish (Amey Project Manager) and Adam Bennett (Costain Performance Manager) gave a fascinating overview of an outstanding project.

Key lessons learnt about the scheme were the collaborative working environment, the bespoke contract required to manage project risk between three client organisations, and the use of lean construction techniques to maximise value. By spending money on thorough investigation and surveying works at the start of the project, the team were able to make multi-million pound savings during the construction phase, despite the extent of strengthening works being increased.

The lecture also covered the exemplary safety and monitoring procedures implemented on the scheme, which resulted in over 1.1 million man hours worked without a reportable incident. A great achievement considering this was a site with extreme confined spaces working, a busy branch railway, and over 63,000 vehicles passing over every day.

Numerous other facts and figures were presented, which demonstrated the immense challenge of delivering this scheme within the 100 week programme, but which in turn proved the value of delivering project in a strong trusting collaborative environment. It was certainly a job which everybody involved can be proud of.