East Coast Mainline Blockade for Werrington Junction diveunder

[Donington Road]

4 hours ago, Richard E said:

I've been out today, not a lot of change but here goes:

 

And the trackbed preparation work is moving forward quite well too.

 

 

 

Over on Hurn Road they have dug out a hole alongside the piles that were cast under the A15.

 

And they are now digging out all the gravel they put in when digging out the bridge abutment on Lincoln Road which seems to have been well exposed now.

 

 

Thanks for the update.

There always seems to be a lot of filling in and levelling out going on all over the site, then they dig it up again

[Donington Road]

This little beastie arrived this afternoon.

Looks like a pile driver, don't know if it is one for cylindrical piling or one for doing the sheet piling.

Whatever it is, it must be quite heavy looking at the trailer it came on and it doesn't have any counter weights attached either.

 

 

Meanwhile the last of the track has been removed from the yard, with just a small amount left in the wide-way yet to be taken up.

 

 

The yard space has now been quickly filled with sheet piles, plus there is a fair amount of them already in the wide-way.

 

 

 

 

 

[Donington Road]

After a few days of dryish weather water levels have returned to normal in Marholm Brook and the new drain.  The island near the outfall of the Bretton Culvert is no more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[eastwestdivide]

16 hours ago, Donington Road said:

This little beastie arrived this afternoon.

Looks like a pile driver, don't know if it is one for cylindrical piling or one for doing the sheet piling.

Reading the model off the side, Bauer BG 30, it's a rotary drilling rig according to the PDF datasheet here:

http://www.bauer-equipment.co.uk/export/shared/documents/pdf/bma/BEUK/BG_30_BT_80_ValueLine_EN_905-723-2_03-15.pdf

 

Operating weight 102 t.

 

The counterweights must be delivered separately I guess. The brochure mentions 'variably stackable counterweight elements'.

 

Recently I've seen sheet piling like the stuff you show being driven in by a vibratory device attached to a crane-type thing. The vibrating head then attaches to the top of the pile, and down it goes.

Edited March 13, 2020 by eastwestdivide
counterweight

[Donington Road]

1 hour ago, eastwestdivide said:

Reading the model off the side, Bauer BG 30, it's a rotary drilling rig according to the PDF datasheet here:

http://www.bauer-equipment.co.uk/export/shared/documents/pdf/bma/BEUK/BG_30_BT_80_ValueLine_EN_905-723-2_03-15.pdf

 

Operating weight 102 t.

 

The counterweights must be delivered separately I guess. The brochure mentions 'variably stackable counterweight elements'.

 

Recently I've seen sheet piling like the stuff you show being driven in by a vibratory device attached to a crane-type thing. The vibrating head then attaches to the top of the pile, and down it goes.

 

Thanks for that.

Now why didn't I think to look for some info

Going to take a lot of vibrating to get those huge sheet piles in, can see a mini earthquake being imminent

[eastwestdivide]

2 hours ago, Donington Road said:

Going to take a lot of vibrating to get those huge sheet piles in, can see a mini earthquake being imminent

I watched some of a similar size to those going in on the canal bank. I was the other side of the canal, and there was hardly any rippling of the water. You could just about feel the vibration through your feet, but the noise vibrating your chest was more prominent.

Kind of surprising really. I suppose the right frequency of vibration just ripples/liquefies the soil out of the way and gravity does the rest.

 

Edit: useful summary on wikipedia here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile_driver#Vibratory_pile_driver/extractor

Quote

...designed so that horizontal vibrations cancel out, while vertical vibrations are transmitted into the pile...

Vibratory pile drivers are often chosen to mitigate noise... or when there is insufficient vertical clearance to permit use of a conventional pile hammer (for example when retrofitting additional piles to a bridge column or abutment footing). Hammers are available with several different vibration rates, ranging from 1200 vibrations per minute to 2400 VPM. The vibration rate chosen is influenced by soil conditions and other factors, such as power requirements and equipment cost.

every day's a school day

Edited March 13, 2020 by eastwestdivide
wiki stuff

[Donington Road]

Not quite to the standard of the Terraccota Army.

Pilings exposed on the old Hurn Road under the A15 bridge.

 

 

[Donington Road]

Removing spoil from the piling process in the wide-way using the under bridge.

 

 

[rockershovel]

Vibro piling rigs are commonly used to mitigate noise and vibration in sensitive locations. They use a high frequency vibration and you’d hardly know they were working, at any distance. They aren’t suited for all ground conditions but in the right situation, they are “the business”

[melmerby]

10 hours ago, Donington Road said:

Removing spoil from the piling process in the wide-way using the under bridge

 

I wonder whether they lose much off the back on the up slope?

[Donington Road]

3 hours ago, melmerby said:

I wonder whether they lose much off the back on the up slope?

 

I've been watching them for a few weeks now and both slopes have been really rough riding from the outset.

I am surprised that better quality access ramps have not been made up considering the lengths they have gone to, into making other areas of level hardstanding.

[rockershovel]

23 hours ago, Donington Road said:

 

I've been watching them for a few weeks now and both slopes have been really rough riding from the outset.

I am surprised that better quality access ramps have not been made up considering the lengths they have gone to, into making other areas of level hardstanding.

 

There is always a trade-off between the amount of time and resources devoted to maintaining a haul road, and the traffic achieved over it. There is a further problem that encroaching on the underlying formation, usually isn’t preferred and is unlikely to be paid work... swings and roundabouts, as so often. 

[Richard E]

Not a lot to report yet there are quite a few changes. I'm only social distancing at present, self isolation isn't in the plan unless things deteriorate further. I'm glad to report that I am, touch wood, fine for the present time.

 

Been to the dentist today, I was told that a temporary cover would be put on my broken tooth (which I didn't know I had) as they are not doing fillings due to the Corona Virus outbreak. It turned out the crack was too bad to patch temporarily so a proper filling was done ...

 

Starting over at the A15 there is a slab being cast around the piles. It is just visible on the left along with the shuttering for the next section. The temporary footpath is also being diverted, I suspect this is to allow some further piling work.

 

 

And better in this view.

 

 

There are a few more sheet piles at the end of the new cutting as well.

 

 

Moving across to Hurn Road there is a lot of machinery in the wideway now and some very big cranes around the Eastern end of the dive under.

 

 

 

 

There has been a bit of work around the culvert at Cock Lane too.

 

 

And the path out to Stirling Way is now wheelchair friendly as the bridge has gone.

 

 

And they are piling both with an augur and with sheet piles in the wideway.

 

 

 

And, finally, all the track panels have now been recovered from the wideway.

 

 

That's it for now.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Richard E

[Mike Storey]

They are getting on with it then.

 

Strange to think that a job like this is carrying on in the middle of all the health crisis. In France, this would have stopped by now.

[Donington Road]

20 minutes ago, Richard E said:

Not a lot to report yet there are quite a few changes. I'm only social distancing at present, self isolation isn't in the plan unless things deteriorate further. I'm glad to report that I am, touch wood, fine for the present time.

 

 

Really appreciate the update Richard.

I think the risk is pretty low around the public access areas of the site but at my age it is not worth that risk.

Although I am getting withdrawal symptoms of no railway activity already, and this is only the 6th day away.

 

[melmerby]

24 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

They are getting on with it then.

 

Strange to think that a job like this is carrying on in the middle of all the health crisis. In France, this would have stopped by now.

Ah! Le French disease

 

I can't see much problem with the guys working if they can.

They are outside, most I would guess are younger and fit. Why stop work for little reason? As long as materials are available and enough are around for safe working, carry on.

 

[Mike Storey]

3 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Ah! Le French disease

 

I can't see much problem with the guys working if they can.

They are outside, most I would guess are younger and fit. Why stop work for little reason? As long as materials are available and enough are around for safe working, carry on.

 

 

French disease!!

 

A bit of a crappy statement, unusually for you. Under present rules, it would be prohibited as "non vital work". There are good reasons for that, including mixing at start of work site briefings, mixing during breaks and probably mixing in the post shift. The rules have been imposed because too many people were not self-distancing, particularly effing builders.

 

With the third highest contamination in Europe, and the third highest deaths, it is no joke now.

 

Anyway, back to Werrington Junction......

[JeffP]

1 hour ago, Mike Storey said:

They are getting on with it then.

 

Strange to think that a job like this is carrying on in the middle of all the health crisis. In France, this would have stopped by now.

Given the speed at which they construct their lgv lines, this would probably be complete.

[Donington Road]

6 minutes ago, JeffP said:

Given the speed at which they construct their lgv lines, this would probably be complete.

 

You need to have been around this site on a regular basis to appreciate the amount of work that has already been done in the 14 months since the start.

It is also a restricted area with difficult access and topography.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

 

French disease!!

 

A bit of a crappy statement, unusually for you.

 

Anyway, back to Werrington Junction......

Yes. It didn't come out quite right. (reading it back it seems crass!)

I was referring to the French workers apparent prediliction to down tools at the merest hint of anything, a term they originally aimed at us Brits (The English Disease) but has sinced bounced back in their direction.

Terminology too closely associated to the actual disease.

[rockershovel]

It’s a considerable overstatement to assume that “work is simply continuing”. 

 

The site is a highly complex organisation, with numerous safety-critical elements and interfaces and an elaborate supply chain of materials, plant and personnel - not to mention possessions and the projected blockade. 

 

A great deal of planning and analysis is going on, and continues as the numerous variables interact. Decisions will be taken as that unfolds. 

 

[Richard E]

A big problem is the question of possessions. Thney take time to arrange and cannot be changed at the drop of a hat.

 

A big change is the move to a reduced timetable from this weekend for most operators that, in all likelihood, Network Rail will not be able to use to maximum effect.

[JeffP]

On 19/03/2020 at 21:20, Donington Road said:

 

You need to have been around this site on a regular basis to appreciate the amount of work that has already been done in the 14 months since the start.

It is also a restricted area with difficult access and topography.

Aye, you're probably right.

I was working on the memory of the French constructing over 60 miles of brand new motorway at heights of up to 1100m, with tunnels and viaducts, in the same time it took our workers to quadruple 14 miles of the A1.

[chris p bacon]

I don't think you can compare new build with something like the works on the A1, for a start you don't have traffic on the existing carriageway as you progress works.

 

I would also say that a couple of friends who live in France say that capital projects go well, but try getting someting like an electricity supply or a phone and you wait months whereas here it's done in a short timescale without fuss.  

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, JeffP said:

Aye, you're probably right.

I was working on the memory of the French constructing over 60 miles of brand new motorway at heights of up to 1100m, with tunnels and viaducts, in the same time it took our workers to quadruple 14 miles of the A1.

 

New build, greenfield construction projects always progress much faster than works involving maintaining heavy traffic flows in conjunction with new construction.