In 2014, BCM fought of stiff competition to secure a five-year framework on behalf of Network Rail Infrastructure Projects (NR), to deliver electrification and plant upgrades and renewals in the Southern region.

The design and build contract covers the whole of NR’s Control Period 5 (CP5) and could be worth up-to £100m, has been awarded for work primarily on the high voltage feeders.

Specifically, the HV feeder work includes refurbishment or replacement of high voltage feeder cables between substations, replacing oil filled cables with new 33kV cabling, renewing pilot cables and installing optical fibre telecommunication cables.

Working in conjunction and in collaboration with Network Rail’s Electrification and Plant team, BCM has been successfully delivering HV feeder renewals throughout the South and has also been constructing substation foundations and buildings.

All of these E&P upgrades and renewals are part of Network Rail’s long term investment programme to enhance the rail infrastructure to cope with current and future requirements for increased frequency and higher capacity services.

Introduction

SCHEME: CP5 Electrification and Plant (E&P) Framework

LOCATION: IP Southern – Kent, Sussex and Wessex Routes

DATE: April 2019

Electrification Case Study CP5 Electrification and Plant (E&P) Framework

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• condition survey and reporting

• GRIP 5 design

• preparation of a prioritised programme of works to meet NR’s requirements, including a staged delivery approach to meet other key stakeholder requirements

• hour by hour programme of installation, test and commission activities across concurrent working locations

• track access planning

• condition survey and reporting

• daily progress reporting

• logistics management and co-ordination of all resource, plant and materials to support the programme

• renewal and installation new cable containment routes consisting of precast concrete troughing, glass reinforced plastic (GRP) troughing and buried ducts

• construction of new under track crossings (UTX’s)

• delivery of new cables using NR cable trains and road rail vehicles (RRV’s)

• security of the new cables from delivery to energisation

• cable jointing and testing with in house Level A personal

• full test, commissioning and handback of new high voltage cables and pilot cables

• recovery of redundant cables and equipment, including purging of oil filled cables in an environmentally friendly manner.

There were numerous access issues that were identified at a very early stage. These were primarily based around lack of working space on site and also restricted possession and switch out availability.

BCM engaged with Network Rail under an early contractor involvement (ECI) process, to establish a robust programme structured around existing possession availability to match the project completion dates. This programme allowed BCM to then plan all necessary switch outs with as much notice as possible.

To overcome the lack of access in areas of railway cutting and embankments for cable installations, BCM devised various methods, including installing troughing on posts along the embankment and also re-routing cables to the very top of embankments. This de-pressurised the requirement for track access by eliminating the need for some possession working and allowing some works to be undertaken during the day.

Demands for key resource in the South East has presented BCM with a challenge throughout these works - particularly the Level A testing resource. In order to maintain a consistent delivery approach in terms of quality and supply availability, BCM has sought to employ their own talent pool of these resources to accommodate their current and future work requirements.

Project Deliverables

Challenges and Solutions

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BCM has provided a full GRIP 5-8 design and construct service, delivering a fully project managed electrification work scope covering:

BCM has an established team that combines design, engineering and delivery expertise across all rail electrification activities and can be trusted with the most complex and demanding of schemes.

The company offers the full scope of rail electrification and power services from one off small projects to multi-million pound schemes varying from cable repairs to 275KV HV works.

BCM have amassed extensive rail electrification experience during decades of successfully delivered HV Electrification and DC Switchgear schemes.

The rail electrification team has also successfully developed their own certified internal training procedure, to enhance the competency of all our rail electrification operatives, ensuring we achieved the highest possible quality for our rail clients.

Benefits

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