Engineering Focus

On Tuesday I was at the opening day of Infrarail 2016 to see what's new in the world of rail infrastructure. For those who haven't heard of Infrarail before, it is an exhibition which is held every 2 years which brings together leading railway infrastructure companies from across the world. Attracting upwards of 5000 industry professionals it is the " UK's definitive rail infrastructure event ". One of the first exhibits that caught my eye was that of Aerialtronics who are exhibiting a range of remotely piloted aircraft (or drones). As an engineering photographer and blogger this was bound to catch my attention. These aircraft are becoming more commonplace and an important tool for inspecting sites. Most people would have seen by now some of the stunning footage Network Rail have published using drones. Another exhibit of interest was that of the joint venture between Tarmac and Max Bogl. They were exhibiting a slab track system that is aimed squarely a

Work to construct a new chord that will eventually connect Manchester Victoria and Piccadilly began in October 2015 after several years of debate, planning and legal wrangling. In fact the final legal challenge which had the potential to halt the project was not thrown out of court until March this year ( 2016 ). It was hoped that the chord would be open by 2016 but the legal challenge has meant that the £85m project will not now be complete until late 2017. The denial by the court for the projects main opponent Mark Whitby to appeal an earlier decision to throw out his case means that the project can now proceed at full pace. In late March ( 2016 ) an agreement was signed by Amey, Skanska, Bam Nuttall, and Siemens in partnership with Network Rail to deliver the project. Approval to proceed with the chord constitutes a major step forward in the Northern Hub programme which aims to connect cities across the north with reliable, frequent and fast rail services. By connecting Ma