BBC Television Centre Redevelopment

In September 2010 the BBC made the announcement that they would cease broadcasting from Television Centre in 2013. The building was put onto the property market in November 2011, and was sold to Stanhope PLC on the 16th July 2012; for 200 million.

The image shows scaffolding covering Stage 6, along with excavators working on the new forecourt for the building.

A year later on the 31st March 2013, Television Centre (As it is now formally known) closed it's doors for the final time, to be redeveloped into housing, offices, restaurants, cafés and shops, along with a new branch of the private members club; Soho House.

Up until February 2015, Stanhope PLC along with the BBC under the joint venture 'Television Centre Developments' worked to clear the building of broadcasting equipment, at a cost of over £60 million. Once completed, demolition began.

Television Centre was originally built with 8 studios; as part of a 15 year lease to the BBC, only 3 studios will remain post-demolition, “Three of Television Centre's historic studios are being refurbished for the digital TV age and will be operated by BBC Studios & Post Production, a commercial arm of the corporation” Source: http://televisioncentre.com/

At the time of our visit, BBC worldwide, the BBC's commercial subsidiary, had moved in to their new home in the old BBC news centre. Pictured below.

        The former home of BBC News (which moved to BBC Broadcasting house in March 2013) is now home to BBC Worldwide.

The BBC originally planned to move back to Television Centre in march of last year (2015), then the BBC announced that they will not be recommencing production in studios 1,2 and 3 until 2017, when most of the groundwork and demolition is complete. The redevelopment of Television centre follows with a multi-million pound regeneration within white city, with expansions to Westfield shopping centre, 5,000 new homes and new underground and overground stations within the area.

The plans for television centre include:

• 950 new homes in the form of apartments and penthouses, within the listed circular building (more commonly known as the 'Doughnut'), a new tower, and other various locations around the site.

• A 47-bedroom hotel at the front of the building, operated by Soho House

• A mixture of independent cafés and restaurants

• 500,000 sq ft of grade A offices, (with BBC Worldwide already in tenancy as of March 2015)

• Finally, as before mentioned, 3 refurbished television studios operated by BBC Studios & Post Production

We hope to revisit Television centre in the coming months, and update on the redevelopment of this world famous building.

Television Centre pictured in April 2015

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A556 Knutsford to Bowdon - January 2016 update

It has been 4 months since I last visited the project to construct a new dual carriageway connecting the M56 and M6 between Knutsford and Bowden. During my visit in August (2015) a considerable amount of earth works had been carried out, however no structures were yet visible. Over the past few months however several bridge structures have been constructed and now are clearly visible. 

Starting at the M6 end of the project, the bridge pictured below will take the new A556 alignment over Old Hall Ln before approaching the junction for the M6.

[Click image to enlarge]

Travelling north, the bridge piers shown below will carry A50 Warrington Road, which will be re-aligned at this point to pass over the A556. 

A new roundabout will also be constructed on the A50 to allow traffic to join the northbound A556.

One of the more advanced work sites is located at Millington Lane where a new bridge is being constructed to carry the lane over the A556.

The lane will have to be re-aligned north in order to pass over the A556 on the new bridge. 

Below are some pictures taken of the new bridge beams which had been lifted into place that morning. By the afternoon worsening weather conditions meant that the final lifts had to be postponed.

The piers shown below will eventually take take the new A556 alignment under a bridge which will be used to create a new grade separated junction bypassing the roundabout at Bowdon. 

The new junction will comprise the existing runabout wich will connect the A56 Dunham Road which heads in the direction of Altrincham, the A56 Lymm Rd, the nortbound exit slip from the A556 and the northbound entry slip which will carry traffic onto the M56

A new round about which will join onto the existing roundabout via a bridge over the A556 will provide a southbound entry slip onto the A556 and the southbound exit slip form the A556/M56. The new roundabout will also provide access for Yarwoodheath Lane.

The map below should help better show the positioning of the new A556 alignment and the several bridge that will have to constructed to carry a number of roads either over or under the new dual carriageway. 

The weather remained wet for most of the day during my visit but luckily there were some gaps in the weather so that I could take some pictures. The weather hasn't hampered construction as the main earthworks were wound down over the winter months with work focusing on drainage and the construction of the bridge structures. 

Some earth works were taking place during my visit but the majority of the moxys (articulated dump trucks) had been stood down over the winter. It is clear from some some of the images below that operating the moxys in these wet conditions would of been difficult at best. 

Large pumps could be seen positioned around the main work sites to keep water out of areas were it was not wanted. 

One of the work sites at Old Hall Lane, facing north.

Looking south from the A50, the moxys stood down, a different sight to that witnessed in August when they were busy carrying earth over the A50 under traffic light control.

Looking north from the A50, some work continues but at a less frantic pace than back in the summer. 

Looking south from Millington Lane, the alignment for the A556 taking shape,

Work continues on the existing A556 to prepare the road for the new alignment and to strengthen the existing bridge which carries the A556 over the M56,

Work continuing on the construction of the new grade separated junction between the A556 and M56 

More information and update can be found on the Facebook page for the project

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Northern Powerhouse: Rail franchise announcement

On the 9th of December 2015 the DfT finally revealed who will be operating rail services in the North from next year. Prior to the announcement the future of rail services in the North looked uncertain, with a number of trains being moved South with no obvious replacement.

However the DfT's announcement contained a few pleasant surprises. The main surprise being that the North will see the arrival a greater number of new trains by 2019 than originally anticipated.  The number of new carriages announced has jumped from 120 prior to this announcement to over 500. The Dft also confirmed that Pacers will be removed all together by 2020

Our previous estimate for carriages in the North up to 2020 with the removal of Pacers gave the region an overall reduction of carriages of 3. However with this announcement the North so far could see a possible overall gain of 378 by 2020.

Updated carriage assumptions (click to enlarge)

The Transpennine franchise is to be retained by First who will operate the franchise until March 2023. First have promised to introduce 44 new 200km/h trains comprised of 5 cars. With the new trains they will introduce new direct services to Scotland from Liverpool.

Services from Liverpool to Glasgow will begin from December 2018 and existing services from Liverpool to Newcastle will be extended to Edinburgh from December 2019.

The current Northern Rail franchise which is currently operated by a joint venture between Serco and Abellio will from next be operated by Arriva Rail North. Like First, Arriva have promised new trains and say they will introduce a total of 281 new carriages comprised of a mixture of new DMUs and EMUs from 2019.

End of the line for unpopular Pacers

The new trains will help to bolster capacity on busy routes, aid the removal of Pacers and enable the introduction of new services. The new routes which will be launched from 2019 include: 

"New direct journeys from Bradford to Wakefield, Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool and Hull; from Leeds to Chester and Bridlington; from Lincoln to Leeds; and from Manchester Airport to Warrington, Bradford and Halifax" DfT

Arriva will also introduce a new high-quality ‘Northern Connect’ service, which will provide longer-distance services, with faster journeys and stations staffed daily with catering services and free Wi-Fi.


So is the promised Northern Powerhouse finally beginning to take shape? 

To see how your journey could benefit check out the Interactive map on the DfT's website

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Liverpool2: new ship-to-shore cranes arrive

On a incredibly foggy afternoon in November the latest additions to Liverpool's skyline made their way into Liverpool bay. A small group has gathered in New Brighton on the opposite side of the bay in anticipation of their arrival. Unfortunately November 2nd turned out to be one of the foggiest days in recent times, so the expectant onlookers could only glimpse the ghostly silhouette of the enormous structures making their way into the bay.

Ghostly silhouette of the cranes arriving by ship on the 2nd of November (2015)

The structures in question are the first 5 ship-to-shore cranes which will soon take their place on the waterfront as part of the expansion of Liverpool's container terminal. The new river facing terminal will eventually have 7 so called "mega-max" cranes which will be able to load and unload 2 14,000TEU (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) ships at a time.

The cranes themselves stand 92m high and weigh roughly 1600 tonnes each. Given the size of the cranes it seems remarkable that they were transported 30.000km by sea from China, sat atop an ordinary looking cargo ship, all be it sat very low in the water.

On my return to New Brighton a week later 2 of the cranes had already been offloaded and were resting on their new tracks ready for commissioning. The unloading process is remarkably straight forward given their size and weight. 

2 of the cranes on the far left resting on the new quay

Put simply the cranes are slid off the ship with the use of specially constructed dollys which sit on rail as well as a system of pulleys and winches. Obviously this is a precarious task which relies on precise coordination which must be timed precisely with the ebb and flow of the tide.

There is a video on Youtube which demonstrates the process in action. 

Another key milestone for the Port's expansion was reach on the 27th of October when an new biomass handling facility entered service. The new £100m facility will supply wood pellets shipped from America to the Drax power station in North Yorkshire. 

The facility will eventually supply 3m tonnes to the power station each year. The pellets will be stored in silos capable of storing up to 100,000 tonnes before being transported 160km by rail to the power station.

The pellets Drax is using are made from waste products from the forestry and milling industry, as well as residual agricultural products, such as straw and energy. The company claims that the CO2 saving of using biomass over coal are 80%, even after harvesting, processing and transportation are taken into account.

The new concrete silos which will store biomass for Drax

The new container terminal and biomass handling facility constitute a £300m investment in the port by the owners Peel Ports, this investment will help to deliver 400 jobs and support the creation of a further 4500 indirect jobs.

The first phase of the new container terminal is due to be complete at the end of the year, with phase 2 to be complete next year with the arrival of a further 3 ship-to-shore cranes.

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Mersey Gateway project - Autumn update

It has been roughly 4 months since our last update of the Mersey Gateway project and since then quite a lot has happened. For the first time visible structures are emerging from the River Mersey and other important structures are starting to be constructed. 

In September a major milestone was reached when Europe’s longest bridge-building machine was named after a 3 month assembly process. The machine known as a movable scaffolding system (MSS) has been named Trinity.

Trinity will be used to construct the main elevated approach roads leading to the bridge. The machine will act as an enormous mould into which concrete is poured, after each 70 meter section of concrete has set Trinity will then move on to the next section. 

Despite weighing 1700 tonnes and being 75m long Trinity will move from pier to pier in one piece. The machine will do this using 2 175m long rails onto which she sits. There is a video of how the movable scaffolding system works here.

Trinity will initially construct the northern approach road (Widnes side) before being dissembled and then reassembled on the southern side (Runcorn side) to being construction of the southern approach road. 

Trinity Key facts 

• Total length 175m

• Casting length 70m

• Weight 1,700 tonne

• Number of Components 3,000

• Number of bolts 60,000

Trinity pictured here in September before starting work on the new approach road. 

After months of preparation work to construct the bridge foundations which has gone on mostly unseen, the first visible signs of work have begun to take shape. 3 cranes have emerged from the river resting on each of the 3 foundations ready to begin construction of the main pylons. 

Each crane will rise steady with the bridge pylons as they are constructed and by the end will sit a few meters higher than the finished pylons. Once finished the cranes will be dissembled to reveal 3 large self supporting pylons from which the bridge deck will be supported. 

Northern pylon site

Middle pylon site

Southern pylon site

The view of all 3 tower cranes from Wigg Island (Runcorn)

The view from the Catalyst Centre (Widnes)

A key element of the Gateway project which will improve the connectivity to the bridge from the M56 has also started to take shape. At the start of October the eastbound exit slip from the M56 which is used to access the expressway leading to the current bridge was closed for 5 weeks.

The closure is to allow work to continue safely on the slip road which currently leads to a roundabout. This section of the route is a major bottleneck which often causes traffic to back up onto the M56. The new junction being constructed will hopefully alleviate the congestion on this busy section.

Looking south toward the M56 from the Weston Point Expressway

[Edit]

It has been announced that sections of the Central and Southern Expressways will close from 07 November 2015 for 7 months.

The Mersey Gateway website states: "The Central Expressway stretching from Halton Lea through to the Lodge Lane Interchange will be closed in both directions. The northbound Southern Expressway – heading from Hallwood Junction to Lodge Lane Interchange – will also be closed. A diversion will be in place via Runcorn Shopping Centre."

A map detailing the diversion can be found here

The map below shows the route drivers will take from the M56 to the new bridge once the project is complete in 2017

Birmingham New Street redevelopment

On Sunday the 21st of September (2015) Network Rail finally unveiled the new enlarged concourse at Birmingham New Street station. The culmination of 5 years work requiring the effort of 1000 engineers working on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The new concourse which is the size of 13 Wimbledon centre courts is now bathed in light thanks to a new 3,300 square meter roof made from steel and ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene). The new roof introduces light to the station for the first time since the Brutalist concrete station was built to replace the original station in the 1960s.

The impressive roof which covers the new concourse

The £600m project to refurbish the station was part of a larger £750m development which also included the redevelopment of the old Pallasades shopping centre. The shopping centre now re-branded as Grand Central contains 200,00 sq ft of retail space as well as a new 250,000 flagship John Lewis store

Exterior of John Lewis and the "Media Eye" at the Southside exit

The £600m price tag of the station development may come as a surprise, especially considering that no new train capacity has been provided, however there was never any doubt that the station was in need of major redevelopment.

Birmingham New St is the busiest station outside of London serving 170,000 passengers every day, despite the fact the 1960's station was only designed to handle about half that number. The new station concourse and platform alterations will enable the station to handle almost double the number served today. 

In order to accommodate so many passengers, 30 new escalators and 15 new lifts have been installed, as well as 6 separate entry/exit points each with 10 ticket gates. Below the concourse all 12 platforms will be improved to allow better passenger flow and to open up the platform level making it seem less claustrophobic. Work was still underway on platform 5 on the day of my visit. 

The view through the de-cluttered platform level

An engineering train stands at platform 5 where work is still ongoing

Despite being the busiest station outside of London the 5 year development of the station continued whilst it remained open to the public. This was achieved by phasing the works, with a small concourse area developed first which opened in 2013. This allowed for the closure of a much larger area which involved the closure of the Smallbrook Queensway exit. 

The closure of the exit allowed for the massive task of the removal of 20,000 tonnes of concrete to create the new atrium. In order to bring light to the new concourse enormous holes were cut through several floors made of steel reinforced concrete. The removal of concrete relied on the use of special remotely operated excavators which allowed the operator to work safely from a distance whilst the machine broke up the structural concrete.

In order to reduce the impact of the development on commuters and people working and living within the city Network Rail made use of trains to transport waste material away. The use of trains saved 10,000 lorry journeys from the city centres roads. 

There was still a lot of work ongoing during my visit on the 22nd of September, Platform 5 was still being refurbished and external work is still yet to be complete on the Stephenson Street exit. Despite this passengers and members of the public were still able to enjoy the new atrium and the striking architectural features on the Southside and Smallbrook Queensway exists. 

Work continuing on the external features of the Stephenson Street exit. 

A few images of the striking architectural features, such as the reflective cladding and "media eye"

Some may question the £600m cost of the redevelopment, however I doubt that many will question that the station was in dire need of development or the success of the development itself. The building is striking and along with the Bullring it is a genuine architectural asset to the city. More importantly though the station now works for passengers and has enabled it to handle an ever increasing number of passengers.

The numbers

• £750m Total development cost

• 1000 engineers worked 24/7 for 5 years

• 20,000 tonnes of concrete removed to create the atrium 

• 3,300 square metre roof made from steel and ETFE

• 170,000 passengers use the station every day 

• 10,000 lorry journeys saved by using rail to remove waste 

• 30 new escalators installed

• 15 new lifts installed 

• 13 centre courts at Wimbledon, the size of the new concourse

More pictures can be found on our Facebook page

Northern stock - all change

Update December 2015

On the 24th August (2015) the BBC reported Commuter groups angry at train 'cuts' from North West. The shock headline felt like another blow for passengers in the North who have already seen trains move south.

In May (2015) First TPE lost 5 of it's class 170s which are owned by Porterbrook Leasing to Chiltern Railways. In total FTPE will lose 9 of it's 170s, however an agreement was reached which meant that FTPE could keep hold of 4 170s until February 2016.

First TPE 170 stand at Manchester Airport March 2014

In the meantime FTPE have subleased 6 class 156s from Northern rail in order to provide services between Manchester Airport and Blackpool North. Class 185s have in turn moved to services between Manchester and Hull via Leeds in order to make up for the loss of 170s.

Northern has benefited from the arrival of refurbished 319s which are operating on newly electrified lines between Liverpool Manchester and Preston, however Northern has been forced to hire loco hauled trains due to shortages.

Northern class 319 on the first day of electric services between Liverpool and Manchester

2, 4 coach Mk2 sets hauled by class 37s have been leased from DRS to provide services on the Cumbrian coastline. This in turn released a unit to provide an hourly service between Manchester and Burnley over the recently reopened Todmorden Curve.

Despite First TPE introducing 10 brand new class 350s on it's Manchester to Scotland service, the loss of 5 170s has meant a lot of timetable and unit reshuffling. The reshuffle is only a short term measure and it is uncertain what will happen after February 2016 when a further 4 170s move to Chiltern. 

So it it would seem understandable then that commuter groups should feel angry at the loss of 17 electric trains from Northern. The 323s are currently used on a number of services including Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe via Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly to Hadfield.

What the BBC report does not say however is that the move is not due to take place until 2018/2019.

Porterbrook Commercial Director Olivier Andre told RAIL on August 25: “All the bidders for the Northern franchise have access to the Class 323 until 2018/2019. source Rail

London Midland 323 leaving Crewe

It's not all good news for London Midland either, as in December this year (2015) 7 of it's class 321s will be moving North to Scotrail to provide services between Glasgow Central and Lanark.  London Midland will make up for this loss by leasing class 319s which are being cascaded from Thameslink services. 

The reason for this shuffling of stock is due to the fact that both the First TPE and Northern franchises are due to come to an end in February 2016. In fact they were supposed to end in March this year (2015) but were awarded an extension to 2016. Therefore the companies that lease the trains face uncertainty about the future of the their rolling stock. 

It is for this reason that Porterbrook has chosen to lease it's trains to an operating company who can offer more long term certainty. Chiltern in Contrast to Northern and First TPE has a franchise agreement which extends to 2021.

The report does go on to say that "A spokesman from the Department of Transport said they would bring in "at least 120 brand new carriages".". This of course is good news for the North, however it will not solve the capacity problem in the short or medium term.  The 120 new diesel units which will not be available for several years are intended specifically to replace the unpopular Pacer units operated by Northern of which it has over 100. 

A quick tally of what we know so far about train movements and new trains promised by the government gives the North a potential overall loss of 3 carriages by 2020, assuming the north retains 319s and 15Xs which will be getting on for between 30 and 35 years old by then.

[Edit] Table adjusted to take into account number of carriages rather than simply the number of train units 

click to enlarge

It's taken a lot of investigation and this is an evolving situation. If you spot a mistake or have an update feel free to comment or e-mail Blog@EngineeringFocus.co.uk

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