Matt Hadden

Said the following about Taylor Woodrow CWS Team:

“To facilitate the Crossrail West phased track realignments, Taylor Woodrow Crossrail West station's Hayes & Harlington (HAY) and Southall teams designed and constructed a number of temporary platforms. The platforms were designed to be flexible and both quick to build and dismantle to suit the available possessions. In addition, the temporary platform solution enabled the team to build the permanent platform in further phases once the permanent way had been installed.

HAY needed to narrow 155 metres of the existing Platform 4. Southall station required two platform adjustments: narrowing 112 metres of the existing Platform 4 and to narrow 26 metres and widen 92 metres of the existing Platform 3.

In a perfect world, these teams would have been able to realign the platform with the tracks over an extended possession such as Christmas, or close the lines to complete the realignment in its entirety. However, this was not the case. Due to the phasing of the works and the possession timetable, the realignment of the platforms had to occur over multiple short possessions.

HAY and Southall teams worked together on a solution that could be replicated on both projects. The teams also sought feedback and ideas in the weekly long-term planning meetings between all Crossrail West contractors. In conjunction with these meetings, the HAY and Southall teams met with our supply chain partners to discuss the possible solutions. From these meetings it was clear that due to supply chain constraints the temporary platform could not be completely replicated on each site.

HAY’s was first to implement their temporary platform made of scaffolding whereas Southall’s installed a timber temporary platform that was fixed to the rise-of-wall. However, the temporary platforms installed may have differed slightly in design and construction each site had the same result – a temporary platform that can be modified to the tracks position and allowing the permanent structure to be built in small sections and stages around the temporary platform.

Over a six-month period, HAY and Southall teams delivered long lengths of realigned platforms to the slewed tracks during short possessions, along with other platform works. A summary of the works delivered over this period includes:

• 570m temporary platform installed

• 500m riser wall and footing installed

• M&E/Telecoms removed and relocated

• 17,000 blocks laid

• 400m of linear slot drain laid

• 650m2 of bit mac surfacing laid

• 153m of temporary coper and tactile installed

• 360m of permanent coper and tactile laid.

Critical to this successful delivery was the extensive planning and close collaboration between all parties – Network Rail, Great Western Rail, Heathrow Express, Carillion’s P-way team, Taylor Woodrow and our supply chain partners – which ensured every person on site knew each other by name, and role/responsibilities were clear. The HAY and Southall teams also notified local stakeholders through letter drops well before work commenced and conducted several joint inspection meetings with Network Rail and Great Western Rail prior, during and at entry into service, which were all significant benefactors to delivering each possession on-time, without delays.

This phased platform installation is a Crossrail West first demonstrating that long possessions are not required to complete major platform works, rather they can be achieved during short possessions over a length of time.

Great Western Rail’s Project Interface Manager, Lee Bladen said: “The [platform] surface was finished to a high standard with pre-painted yellow and white lines. It has presented us with no operational incidents or customer or staff accidents. The transition back to a permanent finish is also proving to be trouble free and resulting in a high standard finish. The use of this system facilitated a quick and easy safety validation process for us as the train operating company.”

The timber used to create the temporary platforms was perfectly reusable which led the team to donate the timber to the local college’s Carpentry and Joinery Course.“