02 REGENERATION OF KING`S CROSS

Taylor Woodrow
NEWS FROM THE CIVIL ENGINEERING DIVISION
OF VINCI CONSTURCTION UK
ISSUE 01 SPRING 2014
02
DELIVERING ESSENTIAL SERVICES
REGENERATION OF
KING’S CROSS
FOCUS PROJECT
08 NOTTINGHAM TRAM
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
01 MANAGING DIRECTOR’S
WELCOME
02 DELIVERING ESSENTIAL
INFRASTRUCTURE —
REGENERATION OF
KING’S CROSS
08 F
OCUS PROJECT —
NOTTINGHAM TRAM
14 BEYOND MUDDY BOOTS
18 EXPERTISE: MODEL BEHAVIOUR
22 BEYOND CONSTRUCTION —
THE BIG IDEA
26 AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
TO LONDON’S FUTURE
INFRASTRUCTURE
02
28 NEWS ROUND-UP
33 OUR PEOPLE
DELIVERING ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
REGENERATION OF KING’S CROSS
06
FOCUS PROJECT
NOTTINGHAM TRAM
CREDITS
Editor Rachel Jamed Group Communications, VINCI PLC
[email protected]
Copy Stratton Craig
Design VINCI Construction UK Design Team
Cover image The Karlesruhe Friendship Bridge incrementally launched over Nottingham Station
MANAGING DIRECTOR’S WELCOME
It has been widely reported that the
current economic woes have been
the worst since the post war period
of the late 1940s. The impact on
the construction industry has been
dramatic, but as with other recessionary
periods politicians look to infrastructure
construction as the sector to pull the
country out of challenging times. By
delivering enhancements to the nation’s
infrastructure, we will clear the key
economic arteries to boost growth for
the country.
As an example of this at King’s Cross we have redeveloped
arguably London’s key destination, and with continual
redevelopment radiating outwards, we can see how this
investment is driving growth for London and stimulating
the wider economy. But as you will read, working within an
intensely-used operational environment meant the engineering
challenges at King’s Cross were highly demanding. This is an
ever-increasing trend we see in all our projects driven by the
need to expand and enhance operational assets sensitively,
efficiently and above all safely.
However with strong growth predicted in the industry, the
greatest challenge we face is not innovation and technical
engineering, but the ability to inspire a new generation of
engineering talent to deliver tomorrow’s infrastructure. At
Taylor Woodrow we have developed our inspiration lecture
series and we have featured this amongst other initiatives
within this edition of our magazine.
As one of the UK’s original and best known contractors,
Taylor Woodrow has a history of delivering complex major
projects from the Mulberry harbours in the 1940s, the world’s
first nuclear power station in the 1950s, through to the
transformation of the now iconic King’s Cross Station that
we see today. But we are also part of VINCI one of the world’s
largest concession and construction companies employing
around 193,000 people in over 100 countries which provides
greater depth and breadth to our capability. Together we strive
to provide innovative solutions to deliver projects ranging from
traditional construction to the extremely complex such as
the SEA Tours to Bordeaux High Speed Line. This €8bn project
delivered directly by VINCI will construct 300km of high speed
line infrastructure within six years - a truly exceptional project.
Lastly, I would like to mention this year’s global VINCI
Innovation awards which we again feature in this edition. Every
two years, all of our 193,000 employees around the world are
invited to share their innovations with the aim of improving our
business and the wider industry through their dissemination.
We are immensely proud of this initiative and owing to its scale
we believe it is truly unique.
Graham Stanley
Managing Director, Taylor Woodrow Civil Engineering
Taylor Woodrow 01
DELIVERING ESSENTIAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
The regeneration of
King’s Cross: tackling
project complexities
King’s Cross - Roof Construction
Taylor Woodrow 03
DELIVERING ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE — REGENERATION OF KING’S CROSS
The redevelopment of King’s Cross station
and regeneration of the surrounding area has
been an evolving project since the start of
the new millennium. As a leading contractor
on this project, Taylor Woodrow has been
at the heart of the biggest engineering
challenges in this iconic London location.
King’s Cross and its sister station next door, St Pancras, combine
to form one of Europe’s busiest transport interchanges, receiving
and despatching trains to Scotland, North East England, the
East Midlands, Home Counties and the continent via Eurostar
services. The Underground station is a confluence of three deeplevel tubes, sub-surface lines and the Thameslink route. 33,000
people pass through each day at peak times, totalling a colossal
annual footfall of over 82,000,000.
With such numbers, minimising disruption to passenger
flows and traffic has been a major challenge from the outset.
Space constraints have also been a concern, resulting from the
proximity of other construction and redevelopment projects
in the area. And in addition, large parts of King’s Cross and St
Pancras stations are Grade I listed, presenting a host of complex
heritage issues.
GOING UNDERGROUND
In 2001, Taylor Woodrow embarked on its first project at King’s
Cross – to redevelop the cramped and ill-equipped Underground
station. Commissioned to implement the recommendations of the
Fennell Report following the tragic 1987 fire, the project became a
catalyst for much more. Initially, utilities were diverted from the
new underground structures, in one case using a redundant railway
tunnel as a new home for a major gas main. It was then possible
to progressively construct new ticket halls under the forecourts of
both St Pancras and King’s Cross, in the process creating a seamless
sub-surface union that hugely improved connectivity.
The team had to work in and around the daily ebb and flow of
passengers, station staff, retailers, buses, taxis and traffic. Neither
King’s Cross nor St Pancras stations closed at any point during the
redevelopment process. This approach inspired innovative thinking
during the planning process, something that Taylor Woodrow has
always taken pride in as a core skill. For instance, a new subway
was constructed to link King’s Cross to the busy south side of the
Euston Road. Originally, this was conceived as a single structure, to
be launched from the footprint of the new ticket hall and squeezed
in between the surface of the road and the top of the tunnels.
Realising the construction of the subway box would dominate the
cramped and constrained site while it was being assembled, Fred
Garner – Project Manager then, now Taylor Woodrow’s Director for
Transport Projects, recalls the need for a different approach:
04 Taylor Woodrow
01
“The subway was re-designed as three separate structures, spanning two
tracks and a concourse area. In this way, each could be installed separately
from above, in a discrete worksite in Euston Road. Our co-ordinated
approach to traffic management ensured our work didn’t significantly
affect traffic flows.”
This approach was also taken when looking at the problem of
how to maintain passenger flows during the reconstruction of
the Tube Ticket Hall. The original idea was to retain this area at
sub-surface level, but it became clear that a new strategy was
needed. Taylor Woodrow came up with a plan that had 13 fully
functioning interim station layouts but with one key enabler:
moving the ticket office to ground level and onto the forecourt of
King’s Cross in a temporary facility.
“This was quite an achievement,” says Fred Garner. “It required not
only buy-in from London Underground, but also Network Rail, Camden
Council and the emergency services. This emphasised how important
strong and collaborative stakeholder management is – it’s a core skill that
we have developed to enable our projects to be delivered successfully.”
A GRADE I CHALLENGE
A significant part of the development, and one that presented
its own set of complex challenges, was the refurbishment of
the Western Range building and the extension of the Western
Concourse to encompass shops and restaurants.
With work underway on this phase – worth £180 million – the
first major challenge Taylor Woodrow had to address was the
design and installation of new building services around the
heritage fabric and complex site layouts. Adhering to strict
controls put in place by English Heritage, Taylor Woodrow
meticulously planned how it would preserve the original
Victorian façade, while updating the building to comply with
modern safety standards. This could only be achieved through
close collaboration with heritage specialists, including roofers,
bricklayers, lime plaster experts and stonemasons.
02
A significant part of the development, and one that presented
its own set of complex challenges, was the refurbishment of
the Western Range building and the extension of the Western
Concourse to encompass shops and restaurants.
With work underway on this phase – worth £180 million – the
first major challenge Taylor Woodrow had to address was the
design and installation of new building services around the
heritage fabric and complex site layouts. Adhering to strict
controls put in place by English Heritage, Taylor Woodrow
meticulously planned how it would preserve the original
Victorian façade, while updating the building to comply with
modern safety standards. This could only be achieved through
close collaboration with heritage specialists, including roofers,
bricklayers, lime plaster experts and stonemasons.
The outcome was a semi-circular Western Concourse that
significantly expands King’s Cross station, restoring it to its
former glory and creating a contemporary, light space that
improves passenger circulation and connections. The innovative
glazed shell roof is undoubtedly the redevelopment’s most
distinctive feature and is one of the largest vaulted structures
in the UK. Supported by 16 perimeter tree columns and a
central funnel system, it is both completely independent of the
delicate Grade I heritage Western Range building and free from
supporting columns that might have cluttered the centre of the
concourse.
Another key challenge was constructing the concourse above a
live London Underground Ticket Hall, while maintaining access
for passengers and station staff to the mainline and suburban
trainsheds. This was further complicated by the need to maintain
construction access to the Western Range. In another example of
Taylor Woodrow’s meticulous approach to planning and delivery,
these issues were overcome with no impact on scheduling. Using
over 1,000 tonnes of temporary steelwork and scaffolding, and by
scheduling steelwork deliveries at night for the two tower cranes
to lift in, the structure was created in little over 12 months with
minimal disruption to station operations.
Keen to maintain a balance between modernisation and
restoration, Taylor Woodrow also removed heritage doors and
other key features for refurbishment. The focus at all times was
to bring sensitive materials up to date without diminishing
historical qualities.
01 Fred Garner, Taylor Woodrow’s Director for Transport Projects
02 King’s Cross Western Concourse - Installation of the half-domed
diagrid roof
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DELIVERING ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE — REGENERATION OF KING’S CROSS
LEARNING, DEVELOPMENT AND
LONGEVITY
Tackling the multiple challenges involved at King’s Cross, Taylor
Woodrow also grasped the opportunities the project presented for
career progression and skills development. For example, Taylor
Woodrow recently had to divert a mains sewer at Liverpool Street
Station – a complex job made considerably easier by the fact that
the current planner was a junior engineer on the King’s Cross
project, a large part of which involved relocating Pancras sewer
and major utilities.
The project, then, has provided lasting benefits for individuals, the
company and the UK as a whole.
BNP Paribas Real Estate by the Building Division
Another key aspect of VINCI Construction UK’s work in the
King’s Cross area involved the design and build of an office
complex for BNP Paribas Real Estates. Construction started in
February 2013 and, on completion, the building will comprise
335,000ft2 of offices and 10,000ft2 of retail space. VINCI
Construction UK was chosen both for its French connection
with BNP Paribas (parent company VINCI works closely with
the banking arm in Paris) and for its local knowledge gained
during the earlier station regeneration work.
03
06 Taylor Woodrow
And with a breathtaking station now up and running, the
regeneration of King’s Cross is a piece of work that will be hailed
as a multi-faceted success for many years. The project itself was
completed under full scrutiny of the travelling public, reaching
its crescendo in time for the 2012 London Olympics. Fred Garner
describes his proudest moment on the project:
“Seeing the Olympic torch handed over right in front
of the new concourse was amazing; it was a highprofile moment, one that helped to showcase our
achievements here. It showed to the world that Taylor
Woodrow is a company capable of re-engineering a
piece of classic railway heritage to create a transport
hub fit for the 21st century.”
However, the close proximity of other contractors on site meant
that this project was laden with complexities. Kiers is working
just 10 metres away, with BAM flanking VINCI Construction UK
on the other side. During the entire planning phase (2012), the
teams held weekly meetings to address safety concerns, and
precautions were put in place ahead of construction work. These
included demarcating areas for each contractor, the use of anticollision devices and a combined access delivery gate managed
by a third party. Now, in the later stages, monthly coordination
meetings are held to keep things firmly on track.
DELIVERING ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE — REGENERATION OF KINGS CROSS
04
03 CGI of 6 Pancras Square for BNP Paribas Real Estate
04 Western Concourse
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NOTTINGHAM TRAM
Nottingham – the Year of the Tram
08 Taylor Woodrow
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FOCUS PROJECT — NOTTINGHAM - THE YEAR OF THE TRAM
ON TRACK FOR
SUCCESS
Since the beginning of 2012, Taylor Woodrow
has been working together with Alstom in
a high-profile collaboration (the TWA joint
venture) to design and construct a major
extension to Nottingham’s central tram
system. On track to finish in December
2014, the Nottingham Express Transit (NET)
development has been a resounding success,
showcasing Taylor Woodrow’s expertise
in managing a complex and extensive
programme of works over 17 kilometres of
new Tramlink developments.
In 2011, the Tramlink Nottingham Consortium, of which
Taylor Woodrow’s parent company VINCI Construction UK is a
shareholder, won a £570 million1 PFI contract to extend the city’s
tram network and create a world-class central transportation
hub. As part of this deal, Taylor Woodrow Alstom secured the
£432 million contract for the NET2 design and construction
project, which includes installing a new ticket-vending system
and increasing the capacity of the existing Line 1. Alstom were
also appointed to oversee the 22-year maintenance programme
under a separate contract.
When construction reaches completion, the existing tram service
(line one) will have been expanded and upgraded and two new
tram lines constructed. Line one will benefit from new trams
provided by Alstom, a depot double the size of the old one, and a
new ticket-vending system that will enable ticketless travel from
spring 2014. Line two will run to Clifton (7.6km of track and 13
stops) and line three to Toton (9.8km of track and 15 stops). Each
line will terminate at a new park-and-ride facility.
With a fixed date and set period for project completion (36
months from start to finish), time has been of the essence – as
Paul Harris, Project Lead for the TWA joint venture, explains:
“We’ve had to undertake a huge amount of work in a relatively short
amount of time, including diversions of gas, water and electricity services
and extensive work on existing highways. But by working closely with key
stakeholders, we’ve been able to make good progress and we’re on track to
meet our December 2014 deadline.”
1 This is the net present value over the full 30-year period
010 Taylor Woodrow
ROAD AND RAIL
Among the major challenges the project team have faced, there
was one that stands out as perhaps the most surprising, as Paul
Harris explains:
“For a project that’s all about rails and trams, it’s been dominated from day
one by services diversions and complex traffic management.”
With extensive excavation work being carried out on
Nottingham’s roads overall several months, the principal task
has been to develop the new tram lines without causing mass
gridlock and interrupting the city’s traffic flows. As always, Taylor
Woodrow’s response to this challenge has centred on innovation
and collaboration. In particular, the company has called upon the
specialist skills of its VINCI Group partner Freyssinet to deliver
a range of complex retaining structure and bridge solutions. To
date, the team has constructed no fewer than 11 major structures,
including one major bridge over Nottingham City Station called
the Karlsruhe Friendship Bridge; another steel bridge known as
the Lenton Lane Bridge, and a viaduct through Queens Medical
Centre (QMC) leading to a bowstring arch bridge over the A52.
These structures form part of an extensive traffic management
scheme to divert vehicles and allow for uninterrupted
construction of tram lines, tram stops, the Wilkinson Street
depot, and station facilities. During these developments, the
team constructed the structural steel bridge structures ‘offline’,
complete with concrete decks, and then manoeuvred them
into position using multi-wheeled, hydraulic guided vehicles,
thereby keeping the existing routes clear during the bulk of the
construction phase. Additionally, all bridges were installed during
weekend road closures or rail possessions to help keep disruption
to an absolute minimum.
While all of the programme’s bridge structures have been
technically demanding, the design and build of the elevated
tramway through the QMC – Nottingham’s biggest hospital
and home to one of the UK’s busiest A&E units – was especially
challenging. Here, the team had to build major structures
through the campus while minimising impact on the hospital’s
operations. As Paul Harris explains:
“Traffic management was a constant issue. But it was the extension of the
tram lines directly to Nottingham’s main hospital that sticks out as the most
difficult.
“We had to take into account that emergency vehicles need 24-hour,
undisrupted access to A&E; blocking routes or even creating long diversions
just wasn’t an option. We had to put our heads together and find a way that
didn’t hold up hospital traffic or the development schedule. Drawing on our
own experience and that of our partner Freyssinet meant we could build a
modular bridge over the main road in question to keep route lengths short
and free from diversions.”
In addition to Freyssinet’s expertise, Taylor Woodrow enlisted
Group partners Bachy Soletanche, expert contractors in
foundation and underground engineering, to provide groundimprovement works. These aspects of the project were crucial
to minimising vibrations and therefore disturbance to local
residents and retailers.
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FOCUS PROJECT — NOTTINGHAM - THE YEAR OF THE TRAM
PLEASING EVERYONE, ALL OF THE
TIME
With the NET development now in its third year, one final
challenge remains as acute now as it was at the outset – namely,
managing multiple stakeholders. The public nature and central
location of the development has meant engaging with not only
rail users and station staff, but also local residents, councillors,
retailers. Likewise, working closely with Alstom, Nottingham
City Council, the Tramlink Nottingham Consortium, and
the Highways and Local Authorities has been crucial to the
programme’s success.
Strong relations with all stakeholders continue to be achieved
via a core team of project liaison officers. Through this team,
Taylor Woodrow has worked closely with the council to achieve
approval for the design-and-build approach, develop the tram
website and weekly newsletters, and held regular briefings
with local residents and businesses. And today Taylor Woodrow
continues to be a vital part of the council’s vision of a modern,
connected city.
02
Local connections
Providing benefits to local people and businesses was a key
consideration in Nottingham City Council’s plans from the outset.
It had a vision to make use of local suppliers and workers as far
as possible, creating employment opportunities in the short- and
long-term. And to date, the project team has spent approximately
£47 million of its allocated budget with local suppliers.
Providing opportunities, stimulating the local economy and
delivering an extended, state-of-the-art tram system, Taylor
Woodrow’s work on this redevelopment has had a major, lasting
impact on the people of Nottingham.
Indeed, the project is a milestone in Nottingham’s journey
towards becoming a truly modern city.
01
012 Taylor Woodrow
03
04
03
05
Line 1
(Existing)
Line 3
Chilwell /
Beeston
9.8 km
01 Lenton Lane bridge installation
02 Paul Harris, Taylor Woodrow Alstom joint
Line 2
Clifton 7.6 km
venture Programme Director
03 The incremental launch of the Station Road
Bridge
04 Delivery of the first Alstom tram
05 Positioning beams for QMC bridge deck
NET PHASE 2 - THE KEY STATS
- £570m PFI
- 17.5km new tramway
- £432m design and construction
- 8 new bridge structures
- 22 year maintenance
- 3 year programme
- 22 new trams
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BEYOND MUDDY BOOTS
HOW TO ATTRACT ENGINEERS
CHALLENGES — HOW TO ATTRACT ENGINEERS
In a long-running bid to beat tough economic
times, skills shortages and outdated views of
the construction industry, Taylor Woodrow
is focused on inspiring the next generation
of engineers. As the construction sector as
a whole grapples with the impact of the
recession, university fees, four-year degree
courses, and the misalignment between
education and industry needs, Taylor
Woodrow is tackling these issues headon. And its approach, as ever, centres on
innovation, inspiration, and action.
Despite the challenges facing the industry today, there are
very positive signs for the future of construction and the next
generation of engineers. A commitment to high-profile rail
projects such as High Speed 2, and exciting developments with
Crossrail and Network Rail, demonstrates the Government’s
focus on mobility and connectivity as essential factors for
economic growth; a view reinforced by recent announcements
from the Highways Agency. Engineers are playing a vital role in
developing the national infrastructure and connecting urban
centres. In this way, they’re helping to make the UK more
competitive and providing a hotbed of opportunity for business.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
To capitalise on the renewed push towards a more sophisticated
national infrastructure, Taylor Woodrow recognises the need
to challenge the traditional view of construction. Dispelling
the clichéd image of muddy boots on site is essential if the
industry is to attract the brightest and best engineers, planners,
designers and surveyors. Of course, muddy boots are one aspect
of a career in construction, but as John Lucas, Mobilisation and
Resources Manager at Taylor Woodrow, explains, the company is
committed to promoting the breadth and depth of opportunities
to be found for aspiring professionals within the industry:
“Our focus must be on diversity and depth of opportunity if we’re to
move construction forward,” says John. “It’s already represented in
the VINCI Group logo. This depicts wooden connectors used in medieval
stonemasonry, which in turn symbolise strength, unity and a diverse
range of businesses working together, of which Taylor Woodrow is one.
My view is that for our business to continue to be successful, we need this
same diversity within our staff.”
As part of its work in this area, Taylor Woodrow recently attended
the Paris Expo-Forum Trium. The event, organised by ParisTech
engineering schools, attracted top-performers from L’Ecole des
Mines ParisTech, L’Ecole des Ponts ParisTech and L’ENSTA &
ENSAE ParisTech – Paris’s top engineering schools. In a show of
solidarity, 12 separate VINCI companies attended to help promote
global opportunities within construction. Four of the students
who attended were invited for interview in the UK and given a
guided tour of the Victoria station upgrade (VSU) development.
They each demonstrated such potential that Taylor Woodrow
offered all four internships, with the French and Spanish students
commencing internships in the UK in March 2014.
Interestingly, one of the four students is majoring in mechanical
and electrical engineering, not just civil – illustrating the
emphasis Taylor Woodrow is currently placing on understanding
the interface between civil engineering and other engineering
disciplines. Taylor Woodrow is also promoting a four-year
rotational graduate training programme, in which trainees work
in commercial, estimating and planning functions. The idea is to
broaden and diversify the skills and knowledge of the company’s
future leaders while also addressing the shortage of planning,
commercial and project control skills within the industry. John
Lucas believes this is the key to success. In particular, he’s
proactively supporting a drive to encourage more women to
join the industry, and increase student mobility and exchange
programmes across Europe.
He explains: “Diversity is vital to the industry’s success. We need to
break the traditional mould of just pure civil engineering and expose our
trainees to all areas of the business, from design to planning. By doing
this, they will understand how all the disciplines have to be integrated to
run a successful project.”
In recognition of the increasing importance of environmental
and community considerations, Taylor Woodrow has recently
recruited its very first dedicated environmental scientist onto
a rotational graduate programme. Hannah Starr, a first class
honours environmental science graduate from York University
recently joined the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) project.
While her first twelve months will be within the environmental
team she will subsequently rotate on the graduate programme,
gaining experience in Health and Safety, Environment and
Quality (HSEQ). It is becoming increasingly clear that clients
expect to see an HSEQ manager on major projects, which is why
Hannah will be joined by two new graduate recruits in this
area, every year with respective interests in H&S and quality/
business improvement.
Fred Garner, Sector Director for Transportation at Taylor
Woodrow, agrees: “It’s about promoting the broad church of civil
engineering, and the range of skills – such as BIM, 3D, 4D – that will
appeal to those who have only known the digital age.”
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CHALLENGES — HOW TO ATTRACT ENGINEERS
And in an industry in which it is increasingly important
to have a workforce with a blend of leadership, people and
communications skills, the company is using a multitude of
methods and channels to get its message out there. As Fred
Garner explains:
“We can’t rely on any one route to bring about the big cultural shifts the
construction industry needs. Instead, just as we’re proactive about sharing
successes, we’re taking the lead in getting ourselves in front of the next
generation of designers, planners, engineers.”
TAKING THE LEAD
In 2013, Taylor Woodrow ran the first in a series of Inspiration
Lectures at the Institution of Civil Engineers, hosted by Fred
Garner. It was designed to be a thought-provoking assessment
of how today’s successes and innovation can be used to inspire
the next generation of engineering professionals. Invitations
were extended to colleagues, organisations working with Taylor
Woodrow and sixth formers from Sir Henry Floyd Grammar
School in Aylesbury. More than 200 people attended – a success
in itself, and one that bodes well for the future in terms of interest
and engagement with the subject
Lucy Ellis, a pupil at the school, said of the event: “Wow, what
an evening. [I was given] many tips on how to get a scholarship and
what universities look for in a student when you apply. I was treated
very professionally tonight, in an adult conference, surrounded by many
inspirational people with incredible backgrounds.
“It made me wish I could be of working age, working alongside these people
right now; although I won’t wish away my teenage years away that easily!”
01
016 Taylor Woodrow
DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS
With its strong focus on developing talent, Taylor Woodrow has
created a dedicated leadership group. Its function is to identify
cohorts of aspirational leaders and give them direct access to
the expertise and guidance of senior management, as well as to
big projects. In addition, each year Taylor Woodrow invests in
QUEST – the Queen’s Jubilee Scholarship Trust – which provides
scholarships and awards to civil engineering students. The
company also offers 10 weeks’ work experience during each
summer in a journey to build relationships with prospective
employees of the future. This is Taylor Woodrow’s talent
pipeline and, in September 2013, the company secured its most
successful QUEST intake to date, attracting five top recruits, four
of whom were women.
But it doesn’t stop there; Taylor Woodrow also partners with key
universities and charitable organisations for young people. It
currently sponsors undergraduates on three degree programmes:
Civil Engineering, Commercial Management and Quantity
Surveying (CMQS) and Construction Engineering Management
(CEM). It has a representative on the industrial liaison group
at Loughborough and Durham Universities, to align course
material and criteria with the future needs of the construction
industry. Through its long-term partnership agreement with
The Construction Youth Trust, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
and The Prince’s Trust, Taylor Woodrow creates chances for
young people to enter the industry and provides employees with
rewarding personal development opportunities.
CHALLENGES — HOW TO ATTRACT ENGINEERS
02
CAREER APPS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Quite clearly, getting out into the communities it serves and
engaging with young people is a priority for Taylor Woodrow.
But the company also knows that getting noticed means
choosing your channels carefully. That’s why it worked with the
Association of Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), along with
other bodies involved in the redevelopment of King’s Cross, to
develop the King’s Cross Engineering Trail. This downloadable
app for Smartphones, aimed at young people who are curious
about the world around them, and for those considering a
career in engineering, interactively tells the stories behind the
engineering. It features Ella Secker and Peter Walsh, two of
Taylor Woodrow’s brightest stars, who worked on both phases
of the King’s Cross projects before going on to play significant
roles elsewhere. Ella now leads the Design Consents team on
the Nottingham tram project, and Peter is Project Director at
Whitechapel Station for Crossrail.
The idea is simple; by downloading the app,* anybody can be
taken on a guided tour of the regenerated King’s Cross area.
By following the trail, the app highlights the world-class
construction projects that have been delivered in the area by a
range of leading contractors: from St Pancras Station, the Western
Concourse and Platform 9¾, to Five Pancras Square and German
Gymnasium, the new Google office and the Granary Building. It
shows how engineers have used innovative solutions to breathe
new life into heritage sites, and built some of the country’s
greenest buildings.
The app includes videos of engineers talking about the challenges
and thrills of the job, as well as photographs, drawings and
computer-generated imagery that transforms old to new on
the screen. All in all, this clever technology brings the results
of innovative construction to life in a way that’s relevant and
engaging for young people.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The theme for this year’s initiatives is leadership, with the
next in the series of Inspiration Lectures is taking place at The
Institution of Civil Engineering in the autumn. Graduate
recruitment and further dissemination of innovation is on the
cards too. After all, sharing successes to change the traditional
view of construction and inspire young people is and will be at
the heart of Taylor Woodrow’s business for many years to come.
01 International engineering students attend a selection and
presentation day at Victoria Station Upgrade
02 Ella Secker and Fred Garner
*The Kings Cross Engineering Trail app is available for download from iTunes and
Google Play stores.
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EXPERTISE — MODEL BEHAVIOUR
EXPERTISE: MODEL BEHAVIOUR
“What BIM provides is a rich 3D experience,
which means digital rehearsals of all stages
of the design, build and operating process.
Within the model, the information facilitates
well-informed decision-making that leads
to better business outcomes, improved
communication, lower risks and improved
efficiency. But while new skills and tools are
vital, it’s the collaborative, behavioural shift
that will be crucial to the adoption of BIM.
It’s the culture of information sharing and
handover at key junctures that will drive
success. In this respect, it’s all about people.”
01
Business Information Modelling, or BIM, is fast
becoming one of the most important technological and
cultural developments within the UK construction
industry. In 2012, the Government launched a fouryear sector modernisation programme, the objectives
of which are to reduce capital cost and ‘carbon
burden’ in the built environment by 20%. Central to
these ambitions is the widespread adoption of BIM
technologies, processes and behaviours to unlock new
and more efficient ways of working across all stages of
the project life-cycle.
By 2016, any supplier wanting to be involved in public sector
construction will need to be proficient in BIM. This Government
mandate is intended to help achieve significant improvements in
cost, value and low-carbon performance through the use of open
and shareable asset information. And as ever, Taylor Woodrow is
at the forefront of these developments. With a core BIM team and
leading specialists in this area, the company is playing a key role in
supporting the UK Construction Strategy and implementing BIM on
major building, rail and aviation projects.
BIM is the process of managing building data and demonstrating
digitally the entire life cycle of an asset – from site scoping to
construction through to facility management. It involves valueenhancing collaboration underpinned by the creation, collation
and exchange of 3D models and structured data. By linking these
018 Taylor Woodrow
models to planning programme software and providing interactive
simulations, BIM enables clients and engineers to ‘walk around’
virtual sites and review project designs from any perspective. The
modelling technology can also be time-synched in 4D, showing
stakeholders what a project will look like in a few months or a year’s
time, which adds real value at tender stage, not to mention during
planning and sequencing.
BIM, however, is as much about new ways of working as it is about
the use and application of sophisticated technology. As Jeff Stephens,
BIM Strategy Manager at Taylor Woodrow’s parent company, VINCI
Construction UK, explains:
“What BIM provides is a rich 3D experience, which means digital rehearsals
of all stages of the design, build and operating process. Within the model, the
information facilitates well-informed decision-making that leads to better
business outcomes, improved communication, lower risks and improved
efficiency. But while new skills and tools are vital, it’s the collaborative,
behavioural shift that will be crucial to the adoption of BIM. It’s the culture of
information sharing and handover at key junctures that will drive success. In
this respect, it’s all about people.”
EXPERTISE — MODEL BEHAVIOUR
UKCG AND BUILDINGSMART
02
Currently, the adoption of BIM is broken down into three
levels. Level 1 involves the use of 2D or 3D information for
all component items within a project. At level 2, all project
and asset information, documentation and data must be
electronic, while level 3 requires complete transparency of
data for each component. The Government’s 2016 mandate
focuses on the adoption of fully collaborative BIM level 2; a
process which Jeff Stephens is helping to facilitate:
“In addition to my work with VINCI Construction UK, I’m also
Chairman of the UK Contractors Group (UKCG)’s BIM Task Group
and the buildingSMART User Group. In these roles, I form part of
the interface between government and industry. I’m responsible
for assessing BIM protocols and standards around how best to
incorporate BIM into construction projects, and how to ensure the
application of BIM Level 2 can be achieved.”
At UKCG, one of Jeff’s priorities is to oversee the process
of engagement with the industry supply chain. While
the organisation does not have the capacity to support
suppliers directly in the implementation of BIM, it puts
a lot of time and effort into sharing information and
ensuring consistency of approach.
03
“We need to ensure everyone is informed and engaged,” says Jeff.
“To this end, we’re currently looking at how best to inform facilities
managers and asset owners about how they can derive value from
BIM. We’re constantly looking at how we can take asset information
out of the federated BIM models, aggregate it, and then pass it on for
future facilities management systems.”
To enable progress in this area, the Government, UKCG
and buildingSMART are also promoting the use of
Construction Operation Building Information Exchange
– or COBie, as it’s known. Comprising a series of data
spreadsheets, COBie helps teams to ensure they’re
delivering the right level of information at project
handover. “Even those not yet well-versed in BIM can
input into COBie,” says Jeff. Interfacing with FM databases
and BIM models, COBie provides an excellent steppingstone for early BIM practitioners, helping to smooth the
transition to BIM Level 2 and 2016.
04
GATWICK, WHITECHAPEL AND
LONDON UNDERGROUND: BIM
IN ACTION
01
Jeff Stephens, BIM Strategy Manager
02
Gatwick Pier 1
03
Tottenham Court Road-programme week two
04
Tottenham Court Road-programme week three
As well as supporting the national BIM strategy, VINCI
Construction UK are involved in several high-level BIM
projects in the aviation and rail sectors. At London’s
Gatwick Airport, for example, they are currently using
BIM to model a new baggage facility as part of the Pier 1
replacement.
“It’s the first project at Gatwick to fully utilise BIM,” says Project
Director Howard Pyle. “We’re pioneering BIM to integrate
the baggage system and get it fully designed. The idea is to use
modelling techniques to create a robust baggage handling system to
support a seamless passenger journey.”
Taylor Woodrow 019
EXPERTISE — MODEL BEHAVIOUR
By presenting the BIM model at weekly meetings, the team has
been able to walk operational stakeholders through the designs
and achieve ‘soft sign-off’. This process has been vital to ironing
out technical complexities and ruling out nasty surprises
further down the line. As Howard observes:
“By using BIM in 3D, we can address security, building and baggage
interfaces and airport operational challenges. We’ve had to go through
two design gateways to demonstrate the robustness of the design,
qualifying the interfaces with the existing building and its baggage
infrastructure, so BIM has been crucial to resolving these ‘clash issues’ in
the pre-construction phase of the project.”
Meanwhile, in the East End of London, Taylor Woodrow are
using 4D simulation models as part of the design and build of
the new Crossrail Whitechapel station. According to Li Yazhe,
Building Information Modeller, the team first brought in the 4D
modelling to plan time-critical possession work, but has since
applied it to all areas of the project:
“If possessions overrun we incur huge fines from London Underground,
so we’ve used 4D BIM to plot and sequence this work very precisely. But
given the general complexities of the job, we’ve also used it to visualise
where our work interacts with other people and structures.”
04
Whitechapel Programme
020 Taylor Woodrow
ON BOARD WITH BIM
With Taylor Woodrow engaged in other complex projects
involving high-level information modelling – such as the
upgrade of Victoria and Tottenham Court Road stations – the
company looks set to be a driving force in the development and
application of BIM in the UK.
“Our people certainly receive excellent training,” say Li Yazhe. “All my
training, theoretical and practical, has come through VINCI Construction
UK – we’ve been taught how to get up close, and how to collaborate with
others using the same set of rules and names for assets.”
And while more learning and development is required in all
areas, VINCI Construction UK are in a strong position to support
the industry during this crucial transition period. As Kenny
Robson, Engineering Director, confirms, “clients have to get on board
with BIM from the very start of each project, because this is the way
things are going – we’re starting to see tenders being issued digitally in a
BIM model. It’s the future, and we’re well placed to meet it.”
FLEET OPERATOR RECOGNITION SCHEME
ROAD SAFETY STEPS UP A GEAR
Congestion on the UK’s road network has never
been higher. With pressure on infrastructure
unlikely to ease any time soon, the urban
environment is, at the very least, a challenging
place for vulnerable road users. Group Health,
Safety and Environment Director, Andy Sneddon,
is exploring ways to address the issue.
In July, VINCI Construction UK became one of the first
major UK contractors to join the Fleet Operators Recognition
Scheme (FORS), a voluntary certification initiative designed
to improve the safety and efficiency of freight delivery in
London and throughout the UK.
“Any real change has to be led by the industry itself,” said Andy. “It
is our responsibility, as an industry, to do all we can for the safety
of other road users. We’re taking hard action because we recognise
that, along with our partner organisations, we have a duty to protect
both the public and our own employees on the roads.”
Under the FORS scheme, subcontractors and suppliers will
need to ensure large vehicles provide enhanced safety for
cyclists, including rear signage, side guards and proximity
sensors. Drivers will be required to complete FORS approved
safe urban driver training, followed by an e-learning
refresher every three years.
The company has also launched a driver safety e-learning
package for all drivers as part of revised arrangements for
managing occupational road risk. He said: “If we want to apply
our risk management principles with integrity, then we are duty
bound to address the risks that our operations may pose to other
road users. We have adopted these standards across all construction
and facilities operations.”
Ben Plowden, Transport for London’s planning director,
praised the company’s eagerness to be involved. He said:
“It’s great news that VINCI Construction UK has recognised the
responsibility that the construction industry has to help make
our roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. I fully endorse their
approach which mirrors those adopted and promoted by Transport
for London and will work with them to ensure that all vehicles and
drivers can operate as safely and efficiently as possible.”
Andy said: “These measures are clearly a huge step in the right
direction. Hopefully over the next year we can gain commitment
from the rest of the industry by proving that these schemes will
bring tangible benefits.”
Taylor Woodrow 021
BEYOND CONSTRUCTION — INNOVATION FEATURE
THE BIG IDEA
£
As part of VINCI Construction UK and the wider
VINCI Group, Taylor Woodrow is committed to
embedding innovation across its business and
operations. Through innovation, the company
maintains its drive to improve efficiency to
maintain the highest standards and value for
money for its clients. And in line with a Group-wide
initiative to share best practice in this area, Taylor
Woodrow is supporting efforts to disseminate
innovation as far and wide as possible.
INNOVATION AT
VINCI CONSTRUCTION UK
Alongside excellence, collaboration, discipline and integrity,
innovation is one of VINCI Construction UK’s five core values.
In fact, the company is unique among its peers in its relentless
focus on and investment in innovation at all levels.
to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the East. The model allows for a
physical preview of the station environment. It informed safety,
comfort and design decisions, from CCTV and heating, to seating
and signage. The model played such a key part in the success
of the project that Crossrail still take people to the Technology
Centre to show it off.
“Real success is the success you share”
Take its dedicated Technology Centre, for example – one of the
largest of its kind in Europe and unmatched in the UK. Across
5.5 hectares, it employs 75 people dedicated to being the best
across three areas: testing and understanding, foresight and
innovation and technical services. By harnessing the expertise
and capabilities of the Technology Centre, Taylor Woodrow can
offer clients cutting edge construction from the outset of every
development.
By pairing innovation with collaboration and excellence, the
VINCI Group places great importance on the need to share good
ideas and successes, as Xavier Huillard, Chairman and CEO of
the VINCI Group, explains:
Its work on Crossrail is a case in point; as part of the
development work for this project, the Technology Centre created
something totally unique for the UK construction industry – a
full-scale station platform model, standing eight metres high
and 20 metres long. It was commissioned by Crossrail ahead of
construction of the high capacity rail link running 118km from
Maidenhead to Heathrow in the West, through central London,
It is why, in the Group-wide Innovation Awards, there is a
category dedicated to dissemination. Not only are good ideas
recognised and rewarded, the sharing of these idea is also
seen to be critical. Andrew Ridley Barker, Managing Director of
VINCI Construction UK, is spearheading a cultural shift towards
building innovation and dissemination into every employee’s
job description. His ultimate vision is for people working on-site
022 Taylor Woodrow
“Innovation alone will not win the day, [it’s] the capture and dissemination
of these lessons which will ultimately make the VINCI Group stronger and
more successful.”
BEYOND CONSTRUCTION — INNOVATION FEATURE
to be able to share a problem and find a quick solution from
within the business.
In response to this vision, in late 2013, VINCI Construction UK
launched VINFO, a new intranet platform. It is designed as a
place to share ideas and challenges that will save time and
money on the complex projects undertaken by Taylor Woodrow
and all other businesses within VINCI Construction UK.
Kenny Robson, Engineering Director at Taylor Woodrow,
believes platforms like this are critical to future success on
complex projects. “Getting the right innovation onto the right project at
the right time is key to progression – this is why dissemination is crucial.”
In addition to this, the Innovation Working Group and Ideas
Jam workshops have been established to generate and share
good ideas. The challenge is making the importance of these
dissemination methods clear, something Russell Matthews,
Director of VINCI UK’s Technology Centre, is focusing on this year.
Focus on innovation for 2014
2014 is an exciting year for innovation dissemination. Entries
for the next Innovation Awards (2015) open in November; until
then the focus is on sharing the great ideas that have already
been recognised. As Russell Matthews, Director of VINCI UK’s
Technology Centre, explains:
“I’m excited to announce that after much planning, my Innovation
Roadshow is underway. As of February this year, I vowed to visit all of
VINCI Construction UK’s offices and major construction sites to share the
great ideas I hear from within the business every day.”
“I’ll be giving a quick overview of the 2013 Innovation Awards winners
and chatting with anyone who’s interested in finding ways to solve
complex problems, time and money on client projects. Everyone is
welcome and more information can be found on VINFO.”
REWARDING INNOVATION
In an effort to entrench and reward innovation, the biannual
VINCI Innovation Awards began in 2001. Since then, the number
of entries has exceeded 8,000, with 2,075 projects entered in
2013, the most recent competition. In the UK there were 231
entries, more than three times the number in 2011. Such growth
is testament to the work being done by Taylor Woodrow and the
Group as a whole to build innovation into daily routine.
TOGETHER PRIZE
In the Marketing and Services Category of the 2013 awards,
Taylor Woodrow, in partnership with other VINCI Group
companies, scooped the Together Prize, which rewards
innovations which help to facilitate collaboration. The awardwinning project is summarised here:
Adopting Best Practices with Design &
Engineering Offices
When responding to calls for design-build tenders, Taylor
Woodrow is used to forming consortiums with external design
and engineering offices. In 2010, dysfunctions were noted
between the engineering and works teams during project
implementation. In response, Taylor Woodrow suggested
formalising rules of best practice with its main design and
engineering office partners to govern their relations in the
future. This work, conducted with six such offices over a year,
led in 2011 to the publication of a best practices manual and
code of cooperative conduct. This valuable reference document
is also a practical commercial tool which clarifies the roles of
key players and encourages a cooperative and positive mind-set.
It has already been successfully used on a number of projects
requiring civil engineering tenders.
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Taylor Woodrow 023
The innovation Working Group is also focussing on
dissemination of previous entries. Each company and division
has its own innovation champion – Taylor Woodrow’s is Derek
Childs, Contracts Director, who explains:
“My role is to support any entries for the Innovation Awards made by
my team. But more than this, it’s to take the ideas that win awards
and disseminate them across my area of Taylor Woodrow. It’s no good
rewarding innovation if nothing ever gets done with the ideas we have;
that’s why I see this role as critical to future business success.
A small part of dissemination is distributing the book of winners. They’ve
been so popular, I understand the business is printing more to meet
demand!”
LIFE-SIZE INNOVATION
It is not just the winning ideas that are shared across Taylor
Woodrow, but those that have the potential to save time and
money, and improve safety too. Take, for example, a recent idea
to increase public engagement with important safety signs. At
the Victoria Station upgrade project in London, Taylor Woodrow
found the public were ignoring or simply not seeing signs
asking them to ‘wait for the green man’ and ‘use pedestrian
crossing’. With 100,000 people passing through the area at any
one time during peak hours, the potential for pedestrian/vehicle
conflict was high.
Craig Prangley, Senior Project Manager at Taylor Woodrow,
and his team designed life size cut outs of the company’s
construction workers holding safety signs. This simple step
significantly improved pedestrian compliance by making safety
human, engaging and highly visible. In a fantastic example of
dissemination, fellow VINCI Group company, Grands Projets,
has heard about the effect of cut outs at Victoria Station and is
using them on projects in Hong Kong.
And while embedding innovation and dissemination across
the business is a challenge, it is one that everyone at Taylor
Woodrow and VINCI Construction UK is ready to engage with.
If done correctly, it is a cultural shift that will underpin the
company’s success and development for many years to come.
024 Taylor Woodrow
“The way in which this initiative spread is truly
impressive. Dissemination is central to great
innovation; it ensures the business benefits
from the thousands of excellent ideas submitted
across the company.”
Dr Russell Matthews,
Director of the VINCI Technology Centre UK
TOGETHER,
LET’S BUILD ON
OUR INNOVATIONS
TO IMPROVE
THE GROUP’S
PERFORMANCE!
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Taylor Woodrow 025
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
TO LONDON’S FUTURE
INFRASTRUCTURE
London has been a world-leader
in technology and innovation
since the Victorian era. Built on
the pioneering strengths and
endeavours of the 19th century,
it has continued to pull people,
investment and culture towards
it. But the need to modernise is
urgent as a population continues
to grow and rely on ageing
infrastructure. Here, Andrew RidleyBarker, Managing Director of Taylor
Woodrow’s parent company VINCI
Construction UK, discusses how
to establish a long-term resourceplanning initiative for the generations
of today and tomorrow.
Future-proofing London
London is regarded as a cultural, social and
political bellwether and its leadership position
in relation to other global cities is something we
should work hard to retain.
In order to ensure its competitive future performance, we must
consider three key factors: political consensus on infrastructure,
diverse financial investment and strong leadership in
programme management. That means separating infrastructure
planning from political agendas and streamlining programme
delivery by removing the constraints of bureaucracy.
026 Taylor Woodrow
The only way to make truly objective progress is to encourage
debate among business leaders and stakeholders from the
property, investment, construction, transport and public sectors
regarding delivery solutions for integrated infrastructure
solutions. Future city planning should be founded on detailed
research and development of a city’s long-term needs.
Stakeholders should be brought together to share viewpoints
on future-proofing cities; agreeing a shared vision will guide a
city’s success.
Learning by example
Proactive planning
In recent years, three cities have emerged as exceptional
example of forward-thinking infrastructure planning in
progress. Singapore, for example, is commended for its
advancements in clean water sourcing, with the nation well
on its way to achieving its 2060 vision to manage its complete
water cycle through recycling. In 2010 alone, Singapore
opened four NEWater plants, which are now producing highgrade reclaimed water from treated used water purified via
membrane technologies and ultra-violet disinfection. Together,
these four plants are capable of meeting up to 30% of Singapore’s
water needs.
Taking its cue from these fellow leading cities, London now
needs to puts its own innovation plans into action. The
combination of outdated Victorian infrastructure and increasing
population pressure has made London’s continued expansion
unsustainable.
Dubai is also aiming high with its $7.8 billion Strategic Plan
2020. This ambitious expansion plan outlines steps to develop
Dubai International Airport. Key targets include expanding
capacity to accommodate 90 million passengers, with a 60%
increase in new aircraft stands, 675,000 square metres of
additional passenger facility floor space and 30,000 square
metres of increased cargo processing capacity. In addition, the
city’s new Al Maktoum International Airport is expected to grow
to five runways and three passenger terminals by 2030.
Finally, Copenhagen leads the way in energy innovation with
its target to become the world’s first carbon-neutral capital city
by 2025. This requires a dramatic 1.16 million ton reduction in
carbon emissions, with a 20% reduction in heat consumption
and a 30% reduction in electricity usage. Wind, biomass,
geothermal and waste energy plants will be implemented
alongside intelligent traffic management and mobility planning
as part of a holistic sustainability-enhancing initiative.
Growing cities need intelligent integrated
transport systems to move people
comprehensively on the ground, in the air and on
the water.
They need long-term strategies that supply sustainable and
secure water and energy supplies, and allow for communication
developments to be used to their full potential. Cities are and
will continue to be our future power houses.
By working with key officials and cooperating with pioneering
companies, Taylor Woodrow hopes to play an important role
in what could be defined as succession-planning for the next
generation. To avoid cracks forming in London’s existing
infrastructure, it is crucial that we embark on a collective
strategy to reduce energy consumption, improve transportation
links, increase the availability of affordable housing and leave
behind a sustainable city that’s fit for the future.
Taylor Woodrow 027
NEWS ROUND-UP
TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD
BORIS VISITS TCR IN
ANTICIPATION OF
CROSSRAIL 2
The Mayor of London has visited
Tottenham Court Road station following
the government’s decision to pursue a
potential Crossrail 2.
Boris Johnson, along with transport
secretary Patrick McCoughlin, inspected
the central London Underground contract
and met several members of the Taylor
Woodrow Bam Nuttall team, including
Project Director Chris Usher.
TUNNEL EXCAVATION
All main phases of the tunnel excavation
and secondary lining are now complete
but further tunnelling work, on a much
smaller scale, will be undertaken in
2015. This will complete the new access
to the Central line.
BEXHILL LINK ROAD
LINK ROAD STILL ON
TARGET DESPITE
HEAVY RAIN
The fit-out team is continuing to
change the look of the new station
from the ‘bare bones’ shell to a worldclass station. The back-of-house staff
accommodation is nearing completion
with mechanical and electrical
installations underway.
During his brief tour, the mayor, notably
impressed by the on-going work,
expressed his desire to return to the
site for a more in-depth walk around.
He showed particular interest in seeing
Central line stubs which would form the
basis for a second Crossrail link.
The Bexhill to Hastings project is still
on target for its scheduled completion
date despite being hit by the UK’s wettest
weather in 20 years.
At the Hastings end of the project, the site
team is creating a new bridge to cross
the main railway line, and three hundred
cubic metres of concrete will form the
base of the eastern side of the structure.
At the Bexhill end, the new Chapel Path
Underpass is nearing completion and the
beams for the bridge are scheduled to be
put in place in May and June.
CROXLEY RAIL LINK
PLANNING APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED
Planning applications for the viaduct across the Grand Union Canal and Watford Road,
the two new stations, and the electricity substation for the Croxley Rail Link have been
submitted.
Even though the applications were approved by Hertfordshire Country Council and
London Underground, Watford Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council must
approve the detailed planning applications in early spring.
Overgrown vegetation along the Croxley Rail Link will be cleared over the next few
months and ground investigations to gather geological information are continuing. Hertfordshire County Council and London
Underground expect the trains to be running on this new link of the Metropolitan line in 2017.
028 Taylor Woodrow
NEWS ROUND-UP
VICTORIA STATION UPGRADE
SECOND PHASE PILING
COMPLETE
PROTECT THE
ENVIRONMENT
Piling for the second phase of the south
ticket hall has been completed ahead of
schedule. As piling equipment is removed,
the site team will begin the ticket hall slab
construction.
By using a temporary lifting gantry and
jacks, the team at Victoria Station Upgrade
has saved around 280 vehicle movements
and 3.6 tonnes of CO₂.
A total of 27 pre-cast architectural domes,
and 220 tonnes of steel has been installed,
along with approximately 550m³ of
concrete poured to form the roof of the
north ticket hall. Top-down excavation
and utility work has now begun.
The team recently hit a milestone for
installing 2,000 jet grouting columns,
signifying the task is nearing completion.
Jet grouting has been completed within
the façade of the Duke of York pub and
the team is working overnight close to the
District and Circle line tunnel.
The gantry lifted an 80 tonne piling rig
and a 50 tonne crane on to the site; an
operation which would normally need
a temporary ramp to be constructed
and require nearly 10,000km of vehicle
movements between the project and
aggregate supplier in west London.
The equipment not only provided an
environmentally friendly solution but
saved the site nearly four weeks of
programme time.
LIVERPOOL
STREET
INSPIRATION AND
COLLABORATION
AWARD
Liverpool Street site engineers Andreas
Michael and Luke Mason, have been
awarded an Inspiration and Collaboration
Award from Crossrail.
Andreas and Luke have been working
in challenging conditions around
live services. The reinforced concrete
retaining wall has helped remove the
brick arch roof for the Queen Victoria
Tunnel. This has enabled the Thames
Water Sewer to travel through ground
level which has been treated with
permeation grouting.
The volume of buried services presents
a challenge. To address this, the team
recently held an interactive training
session on excavating around buried
services to broaden understanding of the
processes involved and to reinforce the
message to ‘stop and ask’ the team if they
are unsure.
Taylor Woodrow 029
NEWS ROUND-UP
A HUB OF ACTIVITY FOR CONNAUGHT
TUNNEL TEAM
A Taylor Woodrow team has helped to decorate a community
centre in Newham, London.
In addition to their normal duties on the Connaught Tunnel (C315)
project, the group spent three days and 170 man hours painting
the local Asta Community Hub, as part of the Stand Out! Make A
Difference initiative.
The Hub provides a range of facilities for the community, including
play and learning for pre-schoolers, life skills sessions for adults
with learning difficulties, homework clubs, drama groups, music,
media and photography sessions.
NEW APP LAUNCHED TO INSPIRE
NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERS
Leading figures in engineering and politics have joined up with
students, apprentices and graduates for the launch of a new
engineering mobile phone application.
The ACE Trails app draws attention to the remarkable engineering
behind locations such as King’s Cross with the aim of drawing
young people towards the trade.
London’s Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise, the
Chairman of Crossrail, and Network Rail’s Chief Executive led
the launch event. They were joined by pupils from Hackney
University Technical College - who helped test software – and
recent graduates embarking on engineering careers.
The new app, which provides an augmented reality walking tour
of King’s Cross, plays fifteen videos made by engineers describing
the engineering work that has gone into transforming and
regenerating the area.
030 Taylor Woodrow
NEWS ROUND-UP
ENGINEERING LECTURE AIMS TO INSPIRE
YOUNG MINDS
Directors from Taylor Woodrow have hosted the first in a series of inspirational
lectures at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London.
The lecture was designed to be a thought-provoking assessment of how today’s civil
engineering achievements can be used to inspire the next generation.
Managing Director Graham Stanley and Transport Director Fred Garner chaired the
event and facilitated discussions. Guest speakers included New Civil Engineering
editor Anthony Oliver, Tony Giddings from Argent and Professor Chris Wise of
Expedition Engineering.
THE BEST IS NEVER ENOUGH AT NET PHASE 2
The Nottingham tram team has raised the
bar yet again.
Monitor Stephen Bird visited the NET Phase
2 project in late October, the fourth such
audit since work began on Taylor Woodrow
Alstom’s joint venture. Mr Bird awarded
46 marks out of a possible 50; which is one
of the highest scores within the VINCI
Construction UK group.
The result is yet another achievement for the
wider Taylor Woodrow team, having only
two weeks ago secured all-time best scores
at Whitechapel and Connaught Tunnel.
SELLAFIELD: 1 MILLION
HOURS RIDDOR FREE
The team working on the Sellafield direct
encapsulation plant has reached a major
health and safety milestone.
One million man-hours and six years
have now been worked on site without a
RIDDOR reportable accident.
Project Director Ray Bradbury said:
“Congratulations go out to the whole
team for this achievement, particularly
as much of the work has involved
demolition, heavy civil engineering and
substantial working from height.”
Taylor Woodrow 031
NEWS ROUND-UP
VICTORIA INNOVATION CROSSES THE GLOBE
A safety innovation first pioneered in London is now being used as far away as Hong Kong.
Over the last year, cardboard cut-out construction workers have become a regular sight on
the pedestrian crossings around Victoria station.
These life-size images encourage members of the public to follow designated pedestrian
routes and observe safety measures. They have now travelled almost 6,000 miles to Hong
Kong for use on the VINCI Construction Grands Projets £240m metro contract.
The idea was first mooted by Craig Lyttle, a foreman at Victoria. Since then, the cut-outs
have claimed a Step UP award and even a VINCI Innovation Awards nomination.
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
SOLVES CORNWALL SILT
PROBLEM
BSI ACCREDITATION TO
BOOST ENGINEERING
PROJECTS
An innovative and cost effective solution
for treating site run-off water has been
successfully introduced on the Cornwall
Energy Recovery Centre project (ERC).
A new accreditation from the British
Standards Institution has strengthened
Taylor Woodrow’s collaborative working
credentials.
The problem was solved following a
discussion between Taylor Woodrow
colleagues on the Empower course.
The BS 11000:2010 accreditation was
awarded following a pre-assessment in
August 2012 and two further audits in 2013.
Floculation blocks were also successfully
used on the Nottingham Tram Extension
site (NET Phase 2). The knowledge of this
system was shared and has now been
implemented in Cornwall to improve both
solids capture and final discharge turbidity
of treated waters.
Recognised as an industry benchmark,
BS 11000 provides a framework to help
companies manage their interaction with
other organisations.
The process involves flocculant chemicals
which, in the form of solid cationic blocks,
are specially developed to slowly dissolve
directly into the effluent flow, positively
charging the suspended particles enabling
them to flocculate and settle.
NATIONAL AWARD
RECOGNITION
Before the treated water is discharged,
anionic blocks are placed downstream to
negatively charge residual positive charges
which could be harmful to marine life.
032 Taylor Woodrow
Pippa Higgins and Becky King have been
shortlisted for Engineer of the Year.
The nominations are part of the Women in
Construction Awards 2014 which showcase
the brightest and best female achievers in
the built environment.
The winners will be announced on the
26th March 2014 at The Point, Lancashire
County Cricket Club.
GRAHAM STANLEY
PRESENTS
UNDERGROUND AWARD
Taylor Woodrow’s Managing Director
Graham Stanley has presented a special
recognition award to London Underground
at the Global Light Rail Awards.
The Judges’ Special Prize was sponsored
by Taylor Woodrow and honoured the
150 years of service provided by London
Underground.
Graham handed over the award in front
of a 300-strong audience derived from the
UK’s light rail community.
OUR PEOPLE
TRAM TEAM SWIMS
FOR HEART CHARITY
The British Heart Foundation is to receive
£2,500 after 60 people from Nottingham
Express Transit phase two took part
in a sponsored swim at Nottingham
University.
26 MILE CONSTRUCTION
CHALLENGE RAISES
£2,100
Together they completed a combined
distance of 120km. Engineering Director
Steve Collins, said: “It was fantastic to bring
everyone together for this event which proved a
great way to help people think about improving
their health in the new year. At the same time
we were able to raise money for a charity which
means so much to so many people.”
A team of four has raised over £2,000
through an endurance challenge on
Exmoor.
Harry Russell, a Senior Engineering
Manager on the Whitechapel project,
joined former Taylor Woodrow colleagues
to take part in the annual CARE
Construction Challenge, a 26 mile bike,
hike and kayak. Under blue skies and
blazing sunshine, they completed the
26 mile course and associated mental
challenge tasks in a respectable 5 hours
and 37 minutes. Thirty-seven teams took
part on the day, together contributing
£70,000.
TOTTENHAM COURT
ROAD RAISES £30,488
FOR CHARITY IN 2013
The project team from Tottenham Court
Road Station have raised an outstanding
£52,233 for various charities. The team
started raising funds in 2010 through the
project’s ‘Observational Card’ initiative
scheme which focuses on supporting a
number of charities whilst improving
overall site safety.
SUPERVISORS JOIN
EMPOWER
A second group of Taylor Woodrow’s
engineering supervisors joined the
Empower course in the new year.
Empower is a transformational leadership
programme, designed to promote
managerial leadership skills.
The development of effective supervision
is key to Taylor Woodrow’s success.
Rather than being a technical skills
training course, the programme is
designed to drive visible changes in
leadership behaviour which will be seen
and felt within the business.
Thousands of pounds have been raised
through quiz evenings, raffles, football,
cricket and rugby matches, summer boat
parties and salary sacrifice to physical
challenges.
TUBE LIFE SEALED IN
TOTTENHAM COURT
ROAD TIME CAPSULE
London Underground’s 150th anniversary
year has been celebrated with the
installation of a time capsule at the
Tottenham Court Road station upgrade
project.
Containing a range of items, the capsule
will offer Londoners in 2063 a glimpse of
life on the Tube today.
The installation was carried out on the
evening that London Underground – the
world’s first underground railway –
passed into its 151st year.
Taylor Woodrow 033
CREATING A WINNING TEAM
www.taylorwoodrow.com
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