Contest for radical rethink of rail footbridge design

Network Rail has challenged engineers and architects to come up with ideas that radically rethink rail footbridge design in the UK.

The infrastructure provider said ideas for the next generation of fully accessible footbridges should be innovative, challenge presumptions and raise expectations for the quality of future designs. 

A RIBA design contest has been launched that is open internationally to practising architects, structural engineers, civil engineers or students of these design disciplines. 

In developing their proposals, entrants are encouraged to consider how their accessible footbridge designs might be adapted for use in other settings such as at level crossings.

Network Rail owns just under 2,400 footbridges, providing access across the railway for both passengers at stations and people using rights of way. 

As part of the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme, Network Rail has installed 200 footbridges since 2006.

The AfA funding initiative was established to improve accessibility at railway stations through the creation of obstacle free routes from station entrances to platforms.  

The competition will be organised over a single phase, involving the anonymous submission and appraisal of design proposals. 

A Design Fund of £20,000 will be available for award at discretion of the judging panel to the submission judged to be the best response to the challenges outlined in the Competition Brief. 

Anthony Dewar,  Head of Buildings and Architecture at Network Rail, said:  “We’re challenging the architectural and engineering community to come up with new and innovative ideas for footbridge structures that will be both functional in form and sympathetic to the communities that they serve.

“The winning design concept will also need to protect and enhance the great legacy of engineering design that is inherent in railway history.  We’re excited to see the solutions that will be put forward.”

Further details are here.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/06/22/contest-for-radical-rethink-of-rail-footbridge-design/

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Mobile app means contractors can match paint in seconds

London finishing and fit-out contractor Lucas is pioneering a new paint matching service that is set to transform practices in decorating and building aftercare.

The new service is based on a revolutionary pocket colour scanning device that allows building owners and contractors to specify existing paint colours on site in seconds.

Lucas has developed a mobile phone app that uploads the data from the handheld reader and then orders directly from a Dulux Decorating Centre  with a four-hour delivery pledge in London, where the new service will be rolled out.

Danny Lucas, Executive Chairman, said: “The technology we are using here is ground-breaking and a disruption to the normal approach in the market.

“We are effectively giving clients an “Amazon Prime” style service, a first in the construction industry.”

The firm is rolling out the “Colour & Concierge” service after trailing the paint matching device on its own sites in London.

These include Battersea Power Redevelopment, the 22 Bishopsgate tower, Greenwich Peninsula and Berkeley Group’s South Quay Plaza residential tower project in London Docklands.

“10 years ago a paint matching came in a brief case and cost nearly £10,000, now it comes pocket sized. This has allowed us to develop a completely new approach to scoping works, identifying the correct paints and automatically making an online work request” said Lucas

Primarily Lucas will be making the service available to clients on practical completion as part of an O&M PLUS handover service for their ongoing maintenance programmes.

But it will also be offered as a collaboration tool for architects and specifiers to use at an early stage of a project and assist them with samples, mock-ups, specifications and colour schemes.

In partnership with Dulux the device and delivery service will be offered next year to the paint maker’s 250 other contract partners nationwide before being offered to its 750 select decorators.

Alistair McAuley, Managing Director for Dulux UK, said: “Our strategy outlines our desire to be a business that is more connected, and leverages digital technology to optimise what we do and how we do it.

“We are constantly looking to evolve and develop our offer in the market, and our long standing partnership with Lucas provides a great platform for us to work collaboratively and move at pace with this exciting new tool.”

The new services is being launched on 5 July in London. Firms wishing to attend the event can register here.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/06/22/mobile-app-means-contractors-can-match-paint-in-seconds/

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Buildings as power stations work: They generate more energy than they consume, data shows

The UK’s first energy-positive classroom generated more than one and a half times the energy it consumed, according to data from its first year of operation, the team has revealed. The findings were announced as the researchers launched the next phase of their research, gathering data and evidence on an office building, constructed using similar methods.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180620193729.htm

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'Flamingo:' High-powered microscopy coming to a scientist near you

Scientists have developed a portable, shareable light sheet microscope. The project can be mailed to a lab anywhere in the world, configured remotely by engineers, and run one to three months of experiments.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180621121819.htm

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Contractor fined over unsafe fleet of cherry pickers

A Devon contractor has been fined after placing employees and members of the public at risk of serious injury by failing to suitably maintain their fleet of lorry mounted elevated work platforms.

Following a fatal incident in Dawlish on 13 December 2014, a subsequent investigation by the HSE found that the machines involved in the incident failed to automatically stop before overslewing, increasing the risk of vehicle overturn.

Exeter Crown Court heard that, prior to December 2014, there was an almost complete lack of a planned preventative maintenance systems at the company.

The investigation also found that workers had not been given adequate information or instruction regarding how to use or maintain the machines or how to carry out pre-use checks.

There is no suggestion that the failings of the company caused the fatal incident in Dawlish.

T J Smith Contracting Ltd of Teignmouth was found guilty of breaching safety regulations and has been fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £70,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Sue Adsett said: “Owners of high risk work equipment such as cherry pickers have a responsibility to ensure that they are safe.

“The manufacturers’ maintenance regime should be followed, rather than simply carrying out repairs when the machine breaks down.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/06/21/contractor-fined-over-unsafe-fleet-of-cherry-pickers/

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Interaction of paired and lined-up electrons can be manipulated in semiconductors

The way that electrons paired as composite particles or arranged in lines interact with each other within a semiconductor provides new design opportunities for electronics, according to recent findings.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180620125935.htm

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Scotland to require sprinklers in all new social housing

The Scottish Government has agreed to introduce legislation to make sprinkler systems compulsory in all new social housing of over 10 tenants.

Scottish Housing Minister Kevin Stewart confirmed that the Scottish Government will take forward David Stewart MSP’s proposal for a Members’ Bill to make it a legal requirement for all future new build social housing.

Currently all new high-rise domestic buildings, whether private or social, with a floor over ‎18m must have automatic fire suppression systems fitted.

New legislation would extend this to all houses in multi-occupancy or more than 10 people, including care homes.

Scottish Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “I am very grateful to David Stewart for his work on bringing forward this important issue and gaining cross-party support for his proposal.

“I can confirm that the Scottish Government will implement the aim of Mr Stewart’s proposal and will bring forward legislation as soon as is practicable in this Parliamentary session.

“This is an opportunity to further improve standards in our social housing and this work will be taken forward alongside the recommendations of the two reviews of building standards and fire safety which we will consult on later this summer.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/06/20/scotland-to-require-sprinklers-in-all-new-social-housing/

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