Liverpool Lime Street Cutting

The Challenge

In early 2017 Vertical Access Ltd was invited by BGCL to undertake the Lime Street Cutting OLE anchor & bracket installation works which had already commenced on the project but was not being delivered within the requisite timescale nor to the quality that was required to meet the very demanding project programme.

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The Vertical Approach: Safety, Quality, Innovation & Agility

Safety

The project was delivered without any incidents or accidents whilst working in a very busy work site where multiple contractors were operating under constant time pressure and to tight timelines.

Quality

By working together our geotechnical services team led by the VA Technical Director in conjunction with the BGCL Senior Project Manager and the Arcadis designer/engineer a revised anchor design was proposed & demonstrated in a non operational area. The success of the trial works allowed faster and more accurate anchor installation systems which functioned well in the very limited time frames provided by Rules of the Route [ ROR ] possessions with 2 to 4 hour working windows and later in rail blockades with 24/7 working

Innovation

The company identified a number of key improvements to the design, work methods and delivery that had to be developed and demonstrated to Network Rail to claw back the programme deficit in order to hit key milestones for OLE gantry installation.

In order to ensure the stability of the OLE bracket locations the stone & brickwork had to be inspected and repaired to ensure that they were in a suitable condition for the bracket anchor works.

Agility

The complex logistics of tying the rail planning, rail plant and VAL work operations was undertaken by BGCL’s project management team which excelled in this operation. The level of co-operation achieved between this team and our logistics & depot team both on ROR and Rail Blockades was exceptional and provided the bedrock to the effective delivery of the project.

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Outcome & Feedback

Over the duration of the project our teams installed 500+ resin anchors each with a drill log, void inspection video and anchor test record. The 100+ OLE brackets varied from basic 3 hole units that could be easily fitted up to more complex 5 to 12 hole versions that had to be hoisted using electric winches and positioned over the anchors in a complex operation for our teams working from the RRV MEWPS or from ropes.

The Lime Street Renewals Project Won both ‘ Putting Passengers First’ & ‘Best Collaboration‘ Awards for BGCL at the Rail Partnership Awards in June 2019.

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