Sheet Piling (UK) Limited is Ready for HS2
As debates about the transformational HS2 high speed rail project continue, the team at Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd is ready to go, whenever political decisions are made, with unique steel sheet piling solutions that can maximise available budgets, keep projects running to time and deliver compliance.
HS2 high speed rail is a project due to roll out in stages, but which will ultimately connect London and Birmingham to Manchester, the East Midlands and Leeds. It wishes to deliver a 49-minute train journey time for the London to Birmingham route and is said to be “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the economic geography of the country.” It has been a long time in the making and is a £56bn project officially under review at the present time. Sheet piling will be the backbone of many infrastructure features.
HS2 and Construction Projects
Despite the current uncertainty about HS2, a tender has recently been issued for a £270m Birmingham-based project that will see a Birmingham Interchange built at Solihull and connect HS2 to Birmingham Airport. The main construction work is currently anticipated to take place in mid 2021, if the project goes ahead.
HS2’s vision is to transport 2 million people a year in a low-carbon manner. The first passenger services were intended to run in 2026, when the West Midlands to London high-speed rail line was scheduled for completion. Phase 2a was supposed to begin in 2027, connecting London and Crewe, with phase 2b – connections to Manchester Leeds and beyond – scheduled for 2033.
HS2 – Environmental Benefits
With the project being part of Britain’s move towards a net-zero carbon economy, it will be hard to not proceed with HS2. Air quality is a huge issue in the UK and HS2 designers say over 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be saved, by converting car drivers into train passengers. It is estimated that HS2 would reduce car travel by 1.2m miles every day.
HS2 – Sheet Pile Innovation
If the project goes ahead, earthworks and infrastructure widening will be key parts of the project’s civil engineering requirements. Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd has extensive experience in this field. It also has its unique TM 12/15 LR, long-reach rig, which has an 8.1m arm, a full three metres longer than any other rig in the UK. In many scenarios, it is unnecessary to build a temporary platform for this rig, just so it can reach the sheet pile driving location. This can save precious time – running into weeks – as well as budget. There are also environmental benefits, by reducing land and habitat disturbance. Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd also has silent, vibration-less rigs that lower noise pollution and reduce impacts on communities living around working sites.
HS2 – Health & Safety Compliance Support
A huge project like HS2 will also see contractors of all sizes handling earthworks. Many of these will struggle when it comes to health and safety compliance within earthwork support projects. To address this, Sheet Piling (UK) Limited has launched a new division – Earthwork Support Services (ESS) – which provides a turnkey solution, removing the health and safety onus from the contractor’s shoulders and ensuring that everything at the logistical interface is health and safety compliant. ESS offers services that include design, project management, pre-construction installation of sheet piles and their extraction (if only intended to be temporary), as well as reducing risks and exposures that can threaten duty of care within earthwork scenarios.
The HS2-ready equipment and services from Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd are compliant time and budget savers. These are already deployed on other major infrastructure projects, such as smart motorways. Whenever HS2 is ready to roll out, Sheet Piling UK has the temporary and permanent sheet piles, the innovative equipment and the earthworks skills-set to make a huge difference at any site. To find out more, head to www.sheetpilinguk.com or call +44 (0)1772 79 41 41.
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Sheet Piling (UK) Limited is one of the UK's leading piling contractors. Owning and operating a comprehensive range of specialist piling equipment Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd also carry extensive stocks of new and used piles enabling rapid reaction to any urgent requirements or emergency situations.