Civil Infrastructure

Project

Design Review of Approximately 321km of the Lusaka to Ndola Dual Carriageway, (T002/T003) including bypass roads in Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi and 45km of the Luanshya-Fisenge-Masangano Road

Location

Lusaka – Ndola, Zambia

Client

National Road Fund Agency

Business Sectors

Roads

Services (Multidisciplinary)

• Preliminary Design

Our Role: 

• Review of previous designs
• Field investigations
• Review of Design of Main Contractor

Project Objectives/ Outcomes

The project section of the Road starts from Lusaka and stretches an estimated distance of 321km to Ndola. The project also covers works for construction of bypasses in Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi and the construction of the Luanshya to Fisenge to Masangano Road. The road section is now earmarked for upgrading to bituminous standard.

 

Geoscience Ireland Contact | Michel Davitt <mdavitt@nodwyer.com>

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Project

Geospatial Services for UK House, London

Location

London, UK

Client

Blue Sky Building

Business Sectors

Civil Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines)

• Aerial / UAV Surveys
• BIM
• Laser Scanning
• Property Consultancy
• Inspection

Project Objectives/ Outcomes

The UAV survey was undertaken by our Specialist Engineering Services (SES) team due to its prominent central London location and the requirement to fly as close to the building as possible. By undertaking a comprehensive UAV flight at close range (in line with all necessary UAV legislation and OH&S requirements), high-resolution imagery could be collated and inspected by our in-house Building Surveying team to provide a detailed Schedule of Condition Report.

In addition, the survey was undertaken to produce a full, accurate, and detailed scan-to-BIM model of the building facades in Autodesk Revit. Undertaken by the Digital Engineering team, the modelling was to be used by the architect, lighting designer, and various other project stakeholders to plan and refurbish the building.

Our Role:

Murphy Geospatial was commissioned to undertake various geospatial services at UK House, a landmark heritage building on the North side of Oxford Street, London.

The primary brief of the project was to undertake a UAV/drone survey of the building roof and facades for the dual purpose of condition reporting and accurate as-built BIM modelling.

Results:

By federating and updating the client’s existing survey and design information into a common BIM environment, Murphy Geospatial provided a singular BIM model of the building externals for all stakeholders to work from.

Geoscience Ireland Contact | Jonathan Butler at jbutler@murphygs.com or Andy Kitson at akitson@murphygs.com or call +44 203 598 3775

Project

Thomond Paving | Roadstone

Location

Ireland

Client

Private Home

Business Sectors

Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines)

Supply and consultancy

Project Objectives/ Outcomes

The Limestone blend provided the visual effect required to replicate the tones of natural cobble stones but at a fraction of the cost.  The paving provided a durable paving product that can accommodate light traffic, parking and turning areas and requires minimum maintenance or protection from the elements

Our Role

To provide a functional and aesthetically pleasing courtyard to allow a very modern style house to nestle into a traditional rural setting

The courtyard would need to reflect the various hues of traditional cobble stones to portray the ambiance of a traditional rural courtyard.

The courtyard needed to reflect a variance in pattern and lines to create a canvas to enhance the clean lines of the modern home.

The product would have to be robust to accommodate pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Roadstone supplied 450 m² of dual size, 60mm Limestone Blend Thomond Paving and 10m² of 60mm Verona Midnight Setts to this modern dwelling.

Roadstone also supplied 50 tonnes of laying grit for the paving and 200 kgs of granite sand in 20kg bags, to joint the paving. All the materials were supplied locally from Roadstone’s paving plant in Gooig, Co. Limerick

The Thomond Limestone Blend was laid as the body of the paved surface with the Verona Midnight Setts being used in a double row as an inset border. The paving was laid on 6mm grit and jointed with a kiln dried white granite sand which was sympathetic to the paving colour.

The paving contractor then sealed the paving, using a liquid sealer, in order to set the jointing sand, enhance the colours and provide extra protection from the environment.

 

Project Title:

Skanska Leverages Mincon Spiral Flush Technology For Major New York City Transit Project

Location:

New York City

Client:

Skanska

Date:

2021

Business Sectors:

Civil Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines):

Design and Build

Our Role:

Mincon’s patented Spiral Flush technology recently played a key role in a Skanska-led project to modify a rail junction called the Harold Interlocking – the busiest rail junction in North America.

The Harold Interlocking primarily serves Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), but also supports train movement for New Jersey Transit and the New York and Atlantic Railroad.

Skanska’s task was to design and build a Support of Excavation (SOE) for the construction of a 200-foot-long (61 metres) concrete cut-and-cover structure that connected a bored tunnel to a 600-foot-long (183 metres) open-approach structure.

The key structural element chosen for the solution was a “mini” soldier pile measuring 18-inches (457mm) in diameter, but the nature of the site presented multiple challenges.

The first challenge was the glacial till, which contains nested cobbles and boulders in the subsurface that can be hard to drill through.

Second is the restrictions placed by the surrounding rail infrastructure, which eliminated the use of large drilling rigs due to the presence of overhead obstructions while also eliminating the use of impact and vibratory methods due to settlement concerns.

The drilling site was also surrounded by active rail tracks, which meant that equipment had to be delivered by train during rail off-hours, further limiting equipment size.

The site wasn’t suitable for using a conventional DTH systems due to the risk of damage to the rail infrastructure from flushing during drilling.

Mincon’s Spiral Flush systems offer a unique air control feature that entirely contains flushed air within the casing, avoiding disruption to the surrounding soil and nearby foundations.

The Mincon DTH hammer used for this project was attached to a modified excavator that was equipped with a drill mast and hammer controls using an excavator-mounted drilling attachment.

By partnering with Mincon, Skanska was able to overcome traditional objections to using air drilling near rail infrastructure, a practice banned by most rail agencies.

“The work was completed on time and on budget without any major issues,” concluded Skanska in its article. “Teaming with specialty equipment and tooling suppliers resulted in a site-specific drilling system that overcame the challenges presented by a very difficult site.”

You can read the full feature by Skanska to learn more about this project in the digital version of Foundation Drilling magazine.

Geoscience Ireland Contact:​ christovangemert@mincon.com

Project Title: 

A737 Dalry Bypass, Scotland | Fehily Timoney (FT)

Location:

Scotland

Client:

Farrans Roadbridge Ltd.

Date:

2021

Business Sectors: 

Civil Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines):

The project includes the design and construction of 3.8km of new carriageway, a 256m long five span steel viaduct bridge and 6 no. culvert structures.

Our Role:

The A737 Dalry Bypass involves the construction of a new off-line bypass to the east of the town of Dalry and associated junctions to connect to the existing A737 Trunk Road. The project includes the Design, construction and maintenance of the scheme including:

• Approximately 3.8km of new carriageway comprising 2.45km of Wide Single 2 + 1 layout with overtaking lanes in opposing directions & 1.35km of single carriageway layout including the provision of a differential acceleration lane (DAL).
• A five span steel viaduct bringing the mainline across the River Garnock floodplain and Glasgow to Ayr Railway line;
• Blair Road overbridge a single span concrete overbridge bringing Blair road over the mainline;
• One farm accommodation Underpass bringing a private access track beneath the mainline;
• Mine consolidation works (grouting works);
• 6 No. culvert structures to accommodate watercourses;
• 2 No. Mammal underpasses adjacent to the culverts on the Coalheughglen Burn;

FT were responsible for the design of all structures on the scheme including the River Garnock Viaduct a 256m long viaduct over the River Garnock floodplain and adjacent Glasgow to Ayr Railway line.

The structure is a 5 span, weathering steel ladder deck bridge with precast concrete deck and piled in-situ concrete abutments and piers.

The steelwork for the bridge was assembled on the west embankment and push launched into place due to difficult access conditions between the river and railway. FT carried out the temporary works launch study to assess the impact on the bridge steelwork along with the load and deflection analysis for the temporary bearings, launch nose and tail design. Deflections during the launch over the railway span was particularly critical due to railway overhead electrical lines.

Precast concrete deck panels were designed to support a 40 Tonne crawler crane allowing the panels to be placed from deck level and then to support the crane for placement of adjacent panels. Precise detailing of the panels was essential to ensure that protruding reinforcement fitted precisely with adjacent panels and shear studs from the deck steelwork.

Scour protection measures for intermediate support columns within the floodplain were also required as part of the design.

Geoscience Ireland Contact:

Tom Clayton (tom.clayton@ftco.ie)

FT is an Irish civil and environmental engineering, scientific and planning consultancy. The practice was established in 1990 by Eamon Timoney and Brendan Fehily. Initially the company focused on structural engineering, and pharmaceutical and water services.