ICEing on the cake

May Gurney's Engineering & Project Services sector has achieved a string of successes at recent ICE regional awards.

Two projects carried out for Network Rail were Highly Commended by ICE, and the River Witham project for the Environment Agency was also Commended.

The Whitehall Road project (above), to replace a railway bridge in Leeds city centre, involved months of meticulous planning and preparation to ensure minimal disruption to the East Coast Main Line and traffic on a major commuter route.

The bridge was replaced in a 54-hour possession, but much was done in advance - including a trial erection at the fabrication yard in Scotland and the lowering of the road to accommodate a 200mm increase in the bridge deck depth.

In the week leading up to the possession the new bridge was assembled in an adjacent compound and the day before the road was closed and the new bridge moved up to the site.

The judges said: "The planning that went into successfully completing this scheme, within a very tight programme and restricted working space, is an example of outstanding civil engineering. The innovative and cost-effective reuse of materials contributed to this outstanding project."

The project was Highly Commended for 'excellence in concept, design and execution in civil engineering works'.

The second Highly Commended project was the repair of the Fossdyke Embankment between the railway line and the historic Fossdyke navigation canal in Lincolnshire. The judges described the project as 'an environmentally sensitive embankment repair solution' - the bank is an important habitat for a number of species, including kingfishers.

The project was designed by May Gurney's in-house design team and carried out by May Gurney Rail Services in partnership with specialist contractor Salix River and Wetland.

The 'soft' design solution was proposed and developed by May Gurney Design - despite an earlier feasibility study (by others) that recommended the use of significant lengths of steel sheet piling.

Timber stakes were driven in front of the bank to secure coir rolls pre-sown with indigenous aquatic plants, and brushwood cut from the banks was used to backfill behind the coir roll. The roots of the plants grown in the coir rolls will strengthen the embankment as they grow.

Improvement works have been carried out to 30km of the River Witham bank, across 50 separate sites. An integrated team comprising customer (EA), consultant (Faber Maunsell) and May Gurney as contractor has worked together closely and successfully to deliver the project.

Designs were prepared on site for each location to optimise the opportunity for value engineering and to find local solutions. Borrow pits close to the river allowed water borne transport to be used.

Other innovations included combining the waterproofing properties of polythene and bentonite to prevent seepage, and the use of more than one million recycled tyres in compressed bales as low-weight embankment fill material.

The River Witham (see pic below) and Fossdyke schemes were recognised at the ICE East Midlands Telford 250 Gala Dinner on 16 March. The Whitehall Road bridge project received its Highly Commended award at the ICE Yorkshire & Humberside Awards dinner on 9 March.

Left to right: Andrew Usborne (EA customer), Deborah Campbell EA Project Manager), Malcolm Bear (May Gurney General Manager) and Nick Thomson (ICE Chair) receiving the award for River Witham.