Tel: 01777 869 896 Fax: 01777 862 491 ISSUE FIFTEEN www ...

HBPW Consulting Ltd is playing a major role in the regeneration of historic Hayle Harbour in Cornwall.

The port was a significant site in the Second World War, as a centre for munitions manufacture and also fishing.

However, it has been in decline

for many years, with the port areas largely derelict with many collapsed sections of mass masonry quay walls.

ING and Cornwall County Council have started an ambitious project to refurbish the harbour area and provide infrastructure for its development by other partners.

Working on behalf of Carillion, HBPW Consulting Ltd is designing major construction elements, including the innovative reinstatement of the collapsed quay wall.

This is an Area of Special Scientific Interest and the design has been modelled to

minimise the effects on flora and fauna, while also achieving a safe method of working for modern enhanced safe working construction techniques.

The design and detailing of cantilevered and tied sheet pile walls was also undertaken to provide wing walls to a new highway bridge and to stabilise the existing embankment extending down to the foreshore to preserve extensive listed structures.

We have recently added geotechnical engineering, and geotechnical engineering in the railway environment in particular, to our growing list of expertise.

While many of you know us for specialising in bridges, both new and refurbished, the stabilising of existing embankment slopes is an area of work that has allowed us to show another side to the company.

Two very similar projects for Network Rail have involved providing widened shoulder, on embankments, making a safer environment for maintenance teams, while simultaneously improving stability of the embankment slope.

Both sites, at Allington near Grantham and Ilkley in West Yorkshire, involved building a wall, embedded into the embankment to reinforce it and create a wider walkway at the top

of the slope.

HBPW Director Paul Withers said: “A lot of these railway embankments were built 150 years ago and many of them have a very low factor of safety against slip failure.

“Our work on both the embankments has extended our innovative capability into geotechnical engineering.”

HBPW Consulting Ltd prepared and developed proposals for King Post strengthening of embankment slopes through

the Form A & Form B Approval for Construction process, to successful construction. Analysis was carried out in accordance with BS8004 and Eurocode 7 to provide calibration of the method for future projects.

The company is growing its relationship with new clients Owen Pugh, based in the North East.

Following a successful partnership on a minor project in Darlington, Owen Pugh engaged HBPW Consulting Ltd on one of its first forays into the Design and Build world of civil engineering.

The task was to prepare a

design and construct proposal for a new roadstone coating plant for Jobling Purser near Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

HBPW Consulting Ltd director Paul Withers said the site presented many challenges.

“The major issues were the steep sloping site and the area being a brown field development.” said Paul.

Northern exposure

ISSUE FIFTEEN

Although the UK and in particular the UK Construction industry, is in the grip of a deep recession HBPW Consulting Ltd find themselves extremely busy, primarily with work related to replacement or refurbishment of the ageing bridge stock owned by Network Rail.

While HBPW Consulting are trading on their long and detailed experience of bridge assessment and design we have also extended our expertise within the rail environment to include the design of buildings, stations and in particular geotechnical engineering. We have recently undertaken designs of geotechnical works using

the same proactive and innovative approach that we demonstrate in all our work, with excellent results.

With an eye to the future and the ever developing Building Regulation requirements in relation to the design of thermally efficient building, HBPW have undertaken training to have the capability to design buildings in accordance with the Integrated Passivhaus methods.

HBPW Consulting are also actively implementing the use of Eurocodes for the design of Civil and Structural Engineering.

We are looking forward to 2012 with the prospect of the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations which will, we hope, provide a boost to the confidence of the country.

It continues to be challenging times, but I remain confident that HBPW’s commitment to best value and client care, will benefit when the economy starts to recover.

PAUL WITHERSDIRECTORHBPW CONSULTING

Paul Withers - Director

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HBPW Consulting Ltd, 43 Bridgegate, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 7UXTel: 01777 869 896 Fax: 01777 862 491Email: [email protected]

www.hbpw.co.uk

Rebirth for historic harbour

CONTINUED ON BACK PAGE

HBPWNEWSWelcome

ENGINEERING YOUR SOLUTIONS

The Jobling Purser Roadstone Coating Plant

Allington Embankment Client: Network Rail Contractor: May Gurney

Ilkley Embankment Client: Network Rail Contractor: Buckingham Group

Client: Jobling Purser Contractor: Owen Pugh & Co LtdContract Value: £2 million

Sheet Piling

On a firm footing

Allington Embankment

Client: ING & Cornwall County Council Contractor: Carillion Regional Civil EngineeringContract Value: £1.5 million

A quality assurance scheme developed by HBPW Consulting Ltd that meets ISO 9001 criteria has received independent BSI Accreditation.

This practical and pragmatic scheme has been designed to control and complement – but not restrain – the innovative and lateral thinking processes for which the company’s designers have achieved a deserved reputation.

The scheme allows the simple integration of quality procedures, demanded by clients such as Network Rail and Electricity Alliance. These procedures incorporated into the independently accredited system, help HBPW Consulting Ltd ensure adequate experienced and well-trained resources, are available to allow designs and details to be delivered on time and to programme constraints.

The HBPW Consulting Quality Assurance Scheme is divided into two parts, Policy

and Implementation. They allow HBPW to demonstrate to a CDM Co-ordinator, in combination with an impressive curriculum vitae of diverse projects, that HBPW are competent to undertake the role of Engineer for Civil, Structural & Building projects.

The Quality Assurance Scheme includes formal procedures to ensure that risks and hazards are, as far as possible, eliminated by design and, where residual risk remains, that this is drawn to the attention of the Principal Contractor.

Up to date calibration of measuring and testing equipment used by HBPW, is ensured by the QA scheme.

Computers increasingly run our lives – but they don’t always provide the best answers, as HBPW Consulting Ltd found when they were asked to advise on a project that had spiralled over budget.

When contractors Carillion were tasked with strengthening the listed Grade II Ouseburn Viaduct on the East Coast mainline near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the solution included proposals that would add additional costs to the scheme, both financially and in programme time.

As a result Carillion turned to HBPW for an alternative.

Paul Withers takes up the story: “Sometimes the best policy is not to jump onto a

keyboard, but to sit back and think about the fundamental structure, of the mechanics and stress analysis – and this can lead you to the right answer without the need for a computer package.”

“Our idea was simple and it saved a considerable sum.”

Paul and his team complemented their “fundamental ingenuity” with 3D-finite element analysis to put the finishing touches to the value-engineering solution.

Added Paul: “This was similar to how we tackled a footbridge at Milton Keynes railway station, when the experience and innovative thoughts of our expert designers paid huge dividends for the client.”

The new Eurocodes are having far reaching implications for the construction industry, involving both the cost of projects and the time to complete them.

HBPW Consulting Ltd is discovering that the introduction of European Codes replacing British Standards is resulting in extra design time and expense.

Recent design work carried out in relation to the refurbishment of Westwood Bridge on Belgrave Terrace in Scarborough provided the opportunity to compare the design which would be generated by the use of Eurocodes, and designs prepared in accordance with BS5400, BD37/01 and the assessment code BD21/01.

The bridge on Belgrave Terrace is a half through cross girder bridge and it was found that the highway loading specified by the Eurocodes resulted in a 48% increase in loading compared to the highway

loading previously specified by British Standards.

The consequence of such a large increase in loading is that on a “like for like” basis the weight of material in a half through cross girder bridge is considerably greater for a bridge designed to Eurocodes compared to a bridge designed to the former British Standards with cost and time for construction associated with the increase in weight of materials required also increasing.

The potentially greater cost of bridges, and in particular cross girder bridges, resulting from the use of Eurocodes is being hotly debated by our clients who have a potentially large portfolio of bridges to be strengthened or replaced.

HBPW are contributing to the debate from the viewpoint of their thorough understanding of both the Eurocodes and the British Standard predecessors.

Credit where it’s due!

ENGINEERING YOUR SOLUTIONS

Mind over matter saves time and money

European legislation is a hot topic for everyone in the business

Heavy duty

Cold comfort in a warm climatePaul Withers’ expert knowledge of cold stores is being transferred into the design and detailing of Passive Housing.

The techniques and principles learned for keeping heat out of chill and cold stores are found to be a perfect grounding for understanding the design principles of high efficiency Passive Housing.

The ingenious holistic design method, pioneered in Germany, can offer almost total independence from utility supplies.

Paul is studying Passivhaus design at the Building Research Establishment near Watford, with the aim of having the capability of designing buildings to meet the developing thermal performance of the Building Regulations.

“These are truly low energy houses,” explains HBPW Consulting Ltd director Paul. “Many people may find it surprising that a “green” house doesn’t have to be made of wood but can have a sizeable amount of concrete.

“Big windows allow the sun in during the day and the concrete absorbs the heat. Once the sun goes down, the concrete slowly releases the heat and the house stays at a nice, uniform temperature.”

The Passivhaus design can also include sustainable features such as wind turbines, PV panels, with ground/air source heat pumps incorporated into the design.

On completion of his studies, Paul will be one of a relatively small number of Passivhaus designers in the UK.

When Queens Park Rangers were promoted to football’s Premier League in the summer, it was a race against time to get the ground fit for the new season.

The ageing Loftus Road stadium had to be updated to meet the needs of broadcasters and eager fans.

HBPW Consulting Ltd has experience in improving major stadiums and was delighted to offer its expertise.

Two large screen scoreboards were installed and platforms fixed for cameras to be mounted to cover all the action.

In addition, new offices –

supported from existing structures – needed assessment, calculations and inspection to ensure that structural capacities were not exceeded.

HBPW Consulting Director Paul Withers said: “All of this work had to be done in a couple of weeks; we were designing it as they were building it!”

- see the next issue of the newsletter for more on the company’s involvement in work on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux stadium.

Stadium revamp is a winner

Client: Queens Park RangersMain Contractor: Faircloth GroupContract value: £150,000

Queens Park Rangers in action

Westwood Bridge, Belgrave Terrace, Scarborough

Ouseburn Viaduct

Client: Network RailContractor: CarillionContract value: £10 million

Client: Network Rail Contractor: Amalgamated Construction Contract value: £700,000

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