A project carried out by May Gurney on behalf of Network Rail won the Civil Engineering Achievement of the Year category in the 2011 National Rail Awards, which were presented on 15 September.
This latest win, for the Bishop’s Grange Underbridge reconstruction project, is the second time in the past four years that May Gurney has scooped this prestigious award.
The previous win was for the project to refurbish the High Level Bridge which connects Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead (this project scooped a remarkable nine industry awards).
Bishop’s Grange Underbridge is located to the north of Durham Station on the East Coast Mainline and carries the Up and Down line over Chester Low Road near Plawsworth.
When the May Gurney team was presented with the tender it included a Form A (Approval in principal) for a Western box construction.
Rather than take the simple course of pricing the Western box, May Gurney submitted an alternative tender which allowed for a more cost effective bridge, easier maintenance and less road lowering, and as a result of this challenging and innovative approach was awarded the contract.
The 43-hour operation in January 2011 involved up to 35 men on site at any given time, working 24-hours a day.
The May Gurney team made extensive use of road rail vehicles (RRV) and Abnormal Load Engineering (ALE) multi-axle trailers.
Despite the challenges, the project team achieved a zero accident/safety incident rate throughout the main possession.
In the event, a highly professional and committed approach to the works by May Gurney and Network Rail resulted in the bridge being handed back some 6.5 hours ahead of schedule.
The scheme is believed to be the fastest mainline bridge reconstruction carried out on the LNE area.
John Wilkinson, managing director May Gurney Rail Services, said:
“Winning this award twice in four years is a fantastic achievement. The project team members deserve all the accolades for delivering this challenging project in such a professional manner.
“This award win is further confirmation of the civil engineering talent we have within May Gurney Rail Services, and of our commitment to work in partnership with Network Rail to deliver excellence.”
