C&I SCHEMES SUCCESSFULLY HANDED OVER
S278 WORKS COMPLETE AND 37 HECTARES PREPPED FOR NORTH BIRMINGHAM LOGISTICS PARK
Repeat client IM Properties appointed Winvic to deliver significant infrastructure works at Peddimore, close to Sutton Coldfield, which is set to become one of the region’s most important employment and economic locations. IM Properties is Birmingham City Council’s development partner for the first phase of Peddimore, which is bringing forward 37 hectares of the 71-hectare site.
We delivered earthworks, service diversions and installations and landscaping as well as S278 works for Birmingham City Council comprising highways, cycleway and footbridge construction. During Early Contractor Involvement an embargo on works was announced for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games so advanced the programme of works to meet key package completion dates. We constructed a 75-metre diameter, signalised roundabout, with four exits and three lanes and widened 700m ingress sections of the A38 dual-carriageway. A 60-metre span, 6.5-metre-wide steel arch footbridge was manufactured in sections and constructed offline before being installed 20 metres over the A38 under a weekend road closure. The pedestrian bridge links to a 4km cycleway round Peddimore, creating sustainable travel connections. 666,000 cubic metres of cut and fill works were undertaken to create the development plateaus and 150,000 cubic metres of material was used to create screening bunds varying between 80 and 300 metres in length and between 2 and 3.5 metres in height.
metre span, 6.5-metre-wide steel arch footbridge
SPACE FOR 1,000 MORE CONTAINERS WITH SLPEMG EXTENSION
If this isn’t your first time in reading Winvic Word, you’ll likely know about the huge civils and infrastructure project that we delivered at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, which involved preparatory earthworks for 6 million sq ft of industrial facilities, a 50-acre Strategic Rail Freight Terminal (SRFI) and major upgrades to junctions 24 and 24a of the M1. You also probably read about the last distribution unit to be constructed at the park on page 7. We were appointed once again by SEGRO to begin Phase 2 of the rail works in September 2022 and we handed over in June 2023. The scheme comprised a 28,000 sq ft extension to the reinforced concrete terminal slab – created with 13,000 cubic metres of concrete – and 8,000 sq ft of additional lorry parking. 45,000 cubic meters of material was balanced and 2,500m drainage was installed, creating storage for approximately 1,000 more containers at the site at Junction 24 of the M1.
SLPEMG rail terminal
DEMOLITION, DIVERSIONS AND DIGGING AT SOUTH CALDECOTTE
PLP selected Winvic to undertake the Civils and Infrastructure works – including Section 278 works – at South Caldecotte in Milton Keynes and we delivered them between April 2022 and June 2023. In September 2022, the developer then appointed us to construct the first four industrial facilities on the 135-acre site; these were handed over between February and June 2023, and we delivered the vertical build project as Net Zero in construction.
An existing farmhouse and outbuildings were first demolished and works on the complex service diversions commenced. A number of utilities had to be diverted so significant liaison took place between our site team and water, gas and internet service providers. Further collaboration was required for the Section 278 works, which were completed in December 2022 under a Section 8 Agreement with National Highways and formed part of the overall S278 agreement with Milton Keynes Council. We constructed a new roundabout on Brickhill Road and widened the north and south approach arms of the Kelly’s Kitchen Roundabout on the A5, as well as upgraded the existing traffic signals. The 200 metre single lane carriageway between these roundabouts was made wider to create a new dual section, highway culverts were installed and the Tilbrook Roundabout exit arm on to Brickhill Street was also widened. Further down Brickhill Road, a section of the highway was narrowed to allow for a new shared pedestrian and cycleway to be constructed at Bow Brickhill Railway Crossing. An overnight rail possession was organised by PLP, which allowed us to redo the road markings at the railway crossing.
m3 cut and fill works
The scheme involved extensive earthworks operations to re-profile the land and create seven plateaus for 10 commercial buildings, and the programme was sequenced carefully to allow the build contract to commence prior to the civils and infrastructure being completed. 643,000 cubic metres of cut and fill was undertaken plus 60,000 cubic metres of site won material was utilised from a borrow pit on site. We also diverted an existing watercourse and installed two new box culvert crossings to allow access to units 1 and 2 and constructed a private foul sewer network and two submersible pumping stations, which discharge to the existing system to the north of the site. Landscaping was also undertaken across the new park and a Greenlink shared footpath and cycleway runs around the perimeter of the development.
A NEW ROAD FOR ROADE
While we wrote about the Net Zero civils and infrastructure project – SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton (SLPN) – on page 6, the project is so vast, we wanted to go into some more detail about the highways elements here. Roade is a village close to the site and we’ve constructed a 2.5km bypass, which ties into the A508 as well as a road to another nearby village as part the complex Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP). Three roundabouts had to be constructed as part of the 2.5km single carriageway, but one of the biggest challenges was the construction of a bridge, which takes the highway over the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
We began collaboration with Network Rail 14 months before works commenced and a tripartite agreement was drawn up between the three major stakeholders, Network Rail, West Northamptonshire Council and SEGRO. Rail possessions were requested between six and nine months in advance and the design workshops took place with Network Rail regarding the Mechanically Stabilised Earth Wall and screening bund, which runs adjacent to the Northampton Loop of the WCML. Furthermore, the geological and physiological features of the Victorian Railway cutting that the bridge was to cross over made it a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). We guaranteed that this railway heritage would be protected from our works by utilising inclinometers, which provided real time data on whether activity was causing any movement of the railway cutting. Stop works procedures were agreed with Network Rail should movement occur, and we’re delighted to report there was no movement!
tonnes of steel lifted in the bridge beam installation
Works commenced in June 2022 with the excavation of both the east and west abutments, the Reinforced Concrete abutments were fixed formed and cast during July and August 2022 and the 48-metre steel bridge beams – totalling 264 tonnes – were lifted into place in September 2022. We agreed two, four-hour weekend possessions to allow the pairs of braced beams to be landed on the abutment using a 1000 tonne crane with additional counterweight balance; the site was handed back to Network Rail early on both occasions. Further possessions were carried out to place concrete to form the bridge deck and parapet strings and facilitate the removal of the falsework elements. The bridge opened to traffic in August 2023 and practical completion is due in 2024.
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
Complex traffic management phasing on 75-week motorway junction programme
The creation of the new bypass will help to ensure the network is resilient enough for additional traffic created by SLPN, but these works were paired with reconfiguration of Junction 15 of the M1. Our Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) processes identified that the upgrade required a complex and sizeable traffic management solution that combined the applications of different National Highways (NH) Sector Schemes. We therefore created a traffic management phasing system that ensured the highest standard of public and workforce safety at the large five-junction roundabout, including on and off slips for the motorway. A fully wireless and remotely accessible system was also used – a first for being deployed on such a scale. Regular reviews were undertaken throughout the upgrade works which comprised changing the asset from two-lanes up to a five-lane carriageway, with three permanent lanes around the gyratory roundabout. This highway programme was completed in December 2022 after a 75-week programme. We maintained traffic movement through a combination of 24/7 lane closures, ring management and off-peak full closures and met the legally binding completion dates of the project’s Development Consent Order (DCO). The National Highways ‘Works Examiner’ gave their first-time approval and we achieved 100 per cent satisfaction KPI scores for client satisfaction and stakeholder management. Our collaborative planning supported the rationalisation of traffic management and delivered savings on costs, while reducing the number of diversions has decreased carbon emissions on potential additional journey times. Our goals were to ensure stakeholder assets could remain open without incident, to put local residents’ needs first and to mitigate risks – we’re very proud of our achievements.
Mark Skelton, Civils and Infrastructure Contracts Director
“SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway is a special project for Winvic and particularly for myself as I’ve been involved with the site since long before we broke ground in January 2017, throughout planning and in Early Contractor Involvement. With the final industrial facilities now complete as well as the 28,000 sq ft extension to the rail terminal’s container slab, it has been some goodbye, but I’m delighted to be working on SEGRO’s sister SRFI and logistics park in Northampton. This is another one of those special long-term projects that you get to know intimately and build amazing client relationships through.”