Team Recognized for “Elegant Solution” at Turnham Green Station, part of London Transport’s Four Lines Modernisation (4LM) Project
The winners of the 2019 Ground Engineering Awards were announced on Wednesday, June 5, 2019 at the Hilton Park Lane, London. The ceremony was attended by more than 800 industry and government leaders for an evening of celebration, recognition, and networking.
After being reviewed by a panel of more than 50 expert judges, Golder and Transport for London received recognition for work on the Turnham Green Signal and Equipment Rooms in the category “UK Project with a Geotechnical Value of between £1M and £3M”. Judges commented that the project team applied “an elegant solution that harmonised the temporary and permanent works to realise a solution in a safety critical environment.”
Turnham Green is a part of London Transport’s Four Lines Modernisation project that will transform the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines. These four lines are among some of the oldest sections of the Underground network, with parts dating back to 1863. Together they make up 40% of the Tube network, with around a million passenger journeys each day.
“Golder helped unlock a problem for the wider project – how to safely implement the temporary support system during traffic hours without any closure or impact on safe operation of the railway,” says John Elliott, Golder’s Shafts and Tunnels Lead. “By looking at the problem in a different way, our team was able to surmount the challenge, making a significant contribution to the delivery of the signalling and equipment rooms project milestones, and in turn the delivery of the 4LM programme”
New rooms were required underneath Turnham Green Station to house vital signalling systems and power equipment enabling future Automatic Train Operation (ATO). The plan required a concrete retaining wall to be constructed within an existing rail embankment that carries London Underground traffic during construction hours, to form six new asset spaces beneath the historic masonry viaduct, on which part of the station is sited. This raised significant challenges, as the temporary works required to facilitate the development of the disused arches to construct the rooms was difficult, compounded by limited and difficult access, and construction was required to take place near the operational railway. As a result, excavation could not be carried out using large scale mechanical equipment. A new approach was required.
Golder proposed an excavation and support system on the same premise as that is used for traditional tunnelling work undertaken utilising hand mining techniques, whereby discrete pockets of the embankment were opened to allow support to be introduced. This enabled small pockets of challenging ground to be opened and supported sequentially until a much larger excavation was formed by the composite smaller excavations.
The use of adaptive construction sequencing techniques was critical, so that the signal and equipment rooms could be constructed without a major closure. Golder’s work allowed the team to model the entire effort and create a schedule of activities to manage risks, without impacting rail operations. Further, Golder conceived of and designed the temporary works in collaboration with the permanent works designer, so they were fully integrated with the permanent works scheme.
The full list of winners can be found here.
About Golder
Golder is a leading, specialized, global employee-owned engineering and consulting firm with over a half century of successful service to its clients. Golder’s 6,500 professionals offer unique skills to address the ever-evolving challenges that earth, environment and energy present to clients and their projects across the world’s major industries.
About EMAP
EMAP is a content, subscription & networking business. We connect influential people & organisations to a high-value network of decision-makers, data and ideas through our industry-leading portfolio of brands including Retail Week, Health Service Journal, MEED, Architects’ Journal and Drapers. www.emap.com
About Transport for London
London Transport are the transport authority responsible for operating the London’s integrated public transport network and managing London’s main roads.
For more information, please contact:
Golder
Monica Lewman-Garcia
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C: +1 561 398-1015
monica_lewmangarcia@golder.com
Transport for London Press Office
Phone: 0343 222 4141
pressoffice@tfl.gov.uk
