Long-term infrastructure planning crucial

NIC Chair Sir John Armitt has called for a long term perspective on infrastructure funding up to 2050 – yet on rail we don’t even have visibility on projects for the next five years, says RIA, the voice of the UK rail supply community.

As the rail industry gathers at Railtex in Birmingham, RIA is concerned that despite calls by the National Infrastructure Commission Chair for a 30-year perspective on infrastructure funding, the Government is not giving visibility on rail enhancement projects for even the next five years. This comes soon after the Government’s own Outsourcing Playbook in February called for all central government departments to publish their commercial pipelines to help suppliers understand the long-term demand for services and prepare their responses to contract opportunities.

The Rail Minister Andrew Jones addressed the RIA Future Focus Conference at Railtex on Wednesday, where his thoughts on enhancement projects visibility were keenly anticipated.

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), said: “As the rail industry comes together in Birmingham for Railtex, it faces continued uncertainty caused by the Government’s unwillingness to make public its list of projects to enhance the UK railway network. This is especially apposite at a time when the respected Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, Sir John Armitt, has just called for a 30-year infrastructure pipeline – rail cannot even commit to the five years of Control Period 6.

“Whilst RIA welcomes any process which ensures rail enhancement projects can be considered and decisions made on them promptly, the supply sector needs more than a process – it needs projects to plan and compete for, ultimately bringing about the more efficient, more effective, value-for-money and customer-focused railway network we are all trying to build.

“Rail suppliers tell us that there simply is no visibility of upcoming enhancement schemes other than those already known from CP5, with the knock-on effect that they now reduce the levels of investment and employ fewer new workers. Given the Government’s own advice of ensuring transparency for its suppliers, set out in its recently-published Outsourcing Playbook, there really is now an urgent need for the DfT to reveal what rail projects it is planning over the coming five year period.”

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Legal & General launches fund for retirement homes

L & G has launched Guild Living, a £2billion fund for urban retirement homes with modern architecture.

Guild Living will create around 3,000 modern retirement homes in communities across the country, providing modern facilities to encourage a healthy lifestyle and independence. The fund is being created by L & G in collaboration with an international team of design, development, and wellness experts.

L & G has said that Guild Living was created in response to loneliness and isolation among the elderly.  The fund also aims to use the retirement communities to help revive UK high streets in major cities including Edinburgh, Manchester, London, Oxford, Brighton, and Cambridge.

Phil Bayliss, CEO of Later Living at Legal & General and Chairman at Guild Living said: “With over three million over 60s in UK seeking to downsize their homes, we see a £100 billion investment opportunity. 84% of the UK population lives in urban areas and we expect retirees to continue to migrate to UK towns and cities to enjoy all the local amenities they have to offer as well as to be closer to their loved ones and transport links.”

“We are establishing the Guild to address this staggering opportunity and tackle the NHS and care crisis head-on. This forms an excellent extension of Legal & General’s retirement ecosystem. Nobody knows UK pensioners better; we are the largest UK manager of pension scheme assets, have over three million DC pension scheme customers and pay over one million pensioners a month. Through Guild Living and together with our existing out-of-town offering, we will now be delivering over 7,000 later living homes over the next five years.”

The guild will launch with 4.5 acres on the riverfront in Batch City Centre and a 2.7-acre site in Epsom. Each community will contain around 200 apartments with a restaurant, a physiotherapy gym and pool, consultant rooms for GP surgeries, a children’s nursery and retail space for local businesses, all open to the local community.

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NHS recommends anti-infection action during hospital construction

NHS Grampian has encouraged strong anti-infection measures to protect patients while the Baird Family Hospital and Anchor Centre are being constructed in Aberdeen.

The organisation has encouraged anti-infection procedures to protect patients receiving treatment that reduces the immune system, such as chemotherapy. Concern has been raised over dust and microorganisms that can be spread through construction work.

Robust cleaning procedures, adhesive mats to collect dust, and ensuring windows are closed can help prevent dust contamination and the spread of illness. It is expected that such measures will be enforced to ensure patient safety.

Most people can be exposed to such contaminants risk-free, but they can become a problem for vulnerable patients. NHS Grampian has said that any large construction project can cause problems for people with weaker immunity.

The Baird Family Hospital will house a new centre for all neonatal, reproductive medicine, and maternity services. The Anchor Centre will be the new base for radiotherapy, haematology, and oncology.

The £163.7million construction work began earlier this year and is expected to be completed in 2021. NHS Grampian revealed that the currently closed nearby Forresterhill Road junction will be reopened shortly, after it was closed earlier this year for construction work at the hospital.

The centres are being designed with the latest technology in mind, including modern IT services and self-check-in for patients. Funding for the construction comes from NHS Scotland and charitable funds.

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NIC calls on government to commit to post-Brexit infrastructure

Sir John Armitt has called on the government to commit to post-Brexit infrastructure in a speech to MPs.

National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) chair Sir John Armitt spoke to MPs at the start of the month and challenged them to create a strong plan for post-Brexit infrastructure, energy, and transport. The NIC published the first National Infrastructure Assesment last year which outlined a costed an achievable programme within a fiscal remit of 1 to 1.2% of GDP a year invested in infrastructure for the government to implement.

The assessment recommended measures such as extending fibre broadband across the country, ensuring 50% of the country’s energy is renewable by 2030, funding transport infrastructure in cities, and protecting communities against flood damage. The government is required to respond to the plans with its own strategy.

Chair of the NIC Sir John Armitt said: “The Commission was established to encourage a radical change in the way the UK plans and funds its infrastructure for the long term. These four tests represent our minimum requirements ahead of this autumn’s Spending Review for determining the effectiveness of the government’s response.”

“We’ve seen positive steps from government in adopting our recommendations on reducing water leakage and tackling waste. But those were the easy wins. Real change is required if we are to boost our economic prosperity and quality of life up to 2050. That requires the government’s National Infrastructure Strategy to be bold and transformative and commit to major changes like devolving funding for cities transport.”

“We’ve put forward a costed plan for how we do that, backed up by a wealth of new evidence in support. We now need the government to step up to the plate and share our ambition to create a bold future for the infrastructure that people across the country will use every day of their lives.”

Sir John also wrote to the Chancellor, asking the government to commit to long term perspective, clear goals and how to achieve them, funding commitment, and strong backing of change. He praised the government’s compliance so far with guidelines set out in the assessment created by the NIC.

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HS2 Birmingham work progresses

Andrew Jones MP visited HS2 Birmingham sites to view progress and the potential opportunities presented in the city by the high-speed rail.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport Andrew Jones MP visited key sites for HS2 Birmingham and discussed the opportunities that the sites will present. Work on the sites is well underway, including building demolition and archaeology work to reveal Birmingham’s history.

Sites include a major maintenance depot at Washwood Heath and a city centre train station at Curzon Street. The Curzon Street site spans 250,000 square metres and has generated 20,000 tonnes of concrete which will be recycled into new building work.

Andrew Jones MP said: “HS2 is an incredible project that will transform our railway network, boosting capacity on our busiest lines, better connecting Birmingham with large cities across the country and building the Midlands Engine.”

“The scale of works happening in Birmingham show the huge progress being made on HS2; they also show first-hand the fantastic jobs and opportunities HS2 is providing people across the country; I cannot wait to see the results of further construction, and for this vital railway to become a reality.”

Two buildings are being demolished at the site of the former Unite student accommodation on Curzon st which covers an area of 3,000 square metres. This will yield around 30,000 tonnes of material, with works being undertaken by the Birmingham-based demolitions firm, DSM.

The immense old site of the Alstom Rail Depot is 110,282 square metres and will yield 412,000 tonnes of material that will be recycled into the new depot. It is expected that the depot will provide 500 new jobs for local people.

Other works include ecological habitat creation and route clearance as well as further building demolition. Andrew Jones MP was met with representatives from the City and HS2 Ltd. while being shown around the two sites to assess how they will affect the local community.

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Recycling company fined after workplace fatality

Liverpool based recycling company Centriforce Products Ltd was fined after a workplace fatality due to falling plastic bales.

Liverpool Crown Court fined Centriforce products £120,000 and ordered them to pay costs of £10,540.95 after a workplace fatality at their site in Derby Road, Liverpool. Worker Paul Andrews was crushed by waste plastic bales weighing over 500kg which were found to have been improperly secured and assessed after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), he is survived by his wife Claire and two daughters.

The court heard that on the day a fork lift truck (FLT) driver noticed one of the columns consisting of bales, stacked three high, had partially collapsed obstructing his path. He subsequently used the fork lift truck to straighten and stabilise the stack before continuing on his way.

Rohan Lye, HSE inspector, said: “This appalling incident could so easily have been prevented if Paul’s employer had acted to identify and manage the risks involved, and put a safe system of work in place. Their failure to do so has left Claire without her husband and two daughters without their father.”

“Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous work activities and prevent future tragedies.”

The investigation found that Centriforce Products had failed to store the bales in a way that would prevent collapse and failed to carry out an assessment to ensure the safety of workers in the presence of unstable stacks. Centriforce Products Limited of Errington Works, Derby Road, Bootle pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and has been fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,540.95.

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Network Rail and Colas rail achieve 97% diesel free site

Network Rail and Colas Rail Ltd have used solar power to achieve an almost diesel free site at a major project in Llanwern, South Wales.

The site is being powered with solar power and batteries from Prolectric Ltd ensuring 97% of the power used at the site is diesel free and low carbon. The solar energy has saved 6,000 litres of fuel and almost 15 tonnes of carbon.

This forms part of Network Rail’s CP6 target to reduce non-traction energy consumption by almost 20% and carbon emissions by 25%. The power was used during a 14-day project focussing on a 72 hour stretch of work.

Ryan Ballinger, Production Manager for Colas Rail Ltd, said: “A 97% diesel reduction at the first attempt is a great achievement. Saving close to 6,000 litres of diesel is the same as driving a family car at 40 mpg twice around the circumference of the world.”

“It’s also clear where we have learnt the lessons from Llanwern so we can aim to close that small gap. We really want to get to that 100% fuel-free figure by the time of our next challenge, planned for a rail renewal project later in the summer.”

“There’s no doubt these technologies are going to be a complete gamechanger and we need to push on to get to a place where using this type of technology is just business as usual.”

A total of 21 Prolectric ProLightTM solar tower lights illuminated the site compound, car parking and work preparation areas, as well as being deployed on the trackside, where 200m of ProTrack battery-powered link lighting was also used. Prolectric ProTempTM column street lights were positioned along the access road to the site

Prolectric’s solar lighting and power generation technologies were used across the site covering more than 21-acres. This included access roads, the welfare cabin area, car parking and the track working area itself, where the London to Cardiff main line meets the Llanwern steelworks spur, near Newport.

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