Civil Infrastructure

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.

Project Title: 

Road Safety Audits | J. B. Barry & Partners Limited

Location:

Serbia

Client:

JP “Putevi Srbije” – PE “Roads of Serbia”

Date:

2021

Business Sectors: 

Civil Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines):

Road Safety Audit

Our Role:

J B Barry was commissioned by JP “Putevi Srbije” – PE “Roads of Serbia” to carry out a series of Road Safety Audits for the Main Design for Heavy Maintenance of Sections from the third year of the Serbian Road Rehabilitation and Safety Project (RRSP), which is supported by the World Bank, European Investment Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The project forms parts of the Government of Serbia’s National State Road Network Rehabilitation Program.

The Road Safety Audit work involved 12 schemes totalling 220 km of IA, IB and IIA class roads, located throughout Serbia. These roads included the IA-1 and IA-3 motorways which provide key strategic linkages between Belgrade, the rest of the country and the borders with Hungary, FYROM (Macedonia) and Croatia. The audits were undertaken in accordance with the PIARC publication “Road Safety Audit Guidelines for Safety Checks of New Road Projects” (2011), with the final audit report recently completed and delivered.

The team used role play to consider how all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and visual- and mobility-impaired people, will cope in every condition. This included driving the routes during day-time and night-time, taking photographs and videos and drawing on our experience of undertaking Road Safety Inspections, Road User Audits and Accessibility and Disability Audits as necessary. Our audit team subsequently made recommendations on measures to mitigate any potential safety issues identified.

The RRSP will improve the conditions of the state road network as well as increasing safety for all road users and we’re delighted to have worked with Roads of Serbia, who were a very proactive and engaging client, on this project.

Geoscience Ireland Contact:

Kieran O’Dwyer (kodwyer@jbbarry.ie)

Project Title: 

Ispartakule– Çerkezköy Railway Line

Location:

Turkey

Client:

European Bank for Reconstruction & Development

Date:

2021

Business Sectors: 

Civil Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines):

External Monitoring

Our Role:

Intersocial Ltd. (Ireland) has been has been selected by the EBRD to conduct the RAP external monitoring of the Ispartakule– Çerkezköy Railway Line project in Turkey.

The project will see the construction of approximately 67 km section of a new high-speed railway line from Ispartakule, İstanbul, to just before Çerkezköy station, which is a Phase 2 of the new high-speed railway project between İstanbul and Kapıkule (the “Halkalı – Kapıkule railway line”), near the Bulgarian border.

Intersocial’s ongoing projects include a Resettlement Close-out Audit of the Shuakhevi Hydropower Project in Georgia, finalizing the Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP) and Process Frameworks for conservation projects in Indonesia and Rwanda (KfW/WCS/WWF) and supporting the Antamina Mining Project in Peru to develop a comprehensive approach to sustainable development with neighbouring communities.

Project Objectives/ Outcomes:

Intersocial, in partnership with Turkish consultants SRM, will assess overall compliance with EBRD Performance Requirements including the checking if agreements and resources are adequate for land acquisition and resettlement and define if any corrective measures are going to be required to ensure the implementation of the Resettlement PLan to PR5 requirements.

Eddie Smyth from Intersocial will visit the affected communities and meet with impacted people, project staff and community leaders to check on grievances and the adequacy of the grievance mechanism.

Geoscience Ireland Contact:

Eddie Smyth (eddiesmyth@intersocialconsulting.com)

Project Title: 

A55 Mammal Tunnel | GDG

Location:

Abergwyngregyn,Wales

Client:

Welsh Government

Date:

Ongoing

Business Sectors: 

Civil Infrastructure

Services (Technical Disciplines):

Design

Our Role:

Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions (GDG) has been asked to take part in this project. In particular, the work includes the construction of two tunnels under the A55 to allow for the safe passage of wildlife. GDG’s expertise in structural design and engineering will be key to developing the new tunnels, which will offer a considerable improvement in safety to road users and wildlife.

A suitable design and construction method for these tunnels must be developed, to take in to account the geotechnical formation of the areas, as well as the structural requirements of the tunnel and the road. GDG will also use its skills and experience to analyse the possibility of overhead ground movement, and the possibility of flooding.

With a strong background in geomechanics and applied geotechnical research, GDG brings together state of the art research and direct industry experience and is in a position to offer its unique engineering design experience to the construction of the tunnels. Work with Road and Rail networks, slope and embankment monitoring, design of shafts and tunnels for sewerage infrastructure and other, extensive experience in this field, makes GDG the optimum choice for this project.

Project Objectives/ Outcomes:

The A55 between Abergwyngregyn and Tai’r Meibion is a stretch of well-known road with a history of difficulties including congestion, pedestrian safety, and animal safety – with traffic incidents often being a mixture of all three issues. The A55 in this area is now undergoing significant improvement work to address the concerns, upon request from the Welsh Government.

Geoscience Ireland Contact:

Jack Walsh, Bid Manager (jwalsh@gdgeo.com)