Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Its been a relaxing 3 weeks away from work but I’m finally back. The 2 weeks in Italy were great however coming straight back to MA module A was a reality check.

I had expected a lot of progress on site, who was a kidding. There seems to be very little change in the 3 weeks away. However this week has seen it all come together, the simple reason is that the excavation sub contractors start work next Tuesday and it all had to be in place. The temporary works that I have been heading up have all come together at the 11th hour. The steel platform, which has been the thorn in my side since arriving, has finally been erected. Although as predicted there were numerous adjustments that had to be made. Top tip, never get a structure fabricated off site and expect it to go into a complex location without some serious on site alterations.

Since getting the steel platform in this week other components have begun to arrive and get put in place. As you can see, the generator, receiver, compressor, MDU and finally the Siltbuster HD unit (which will neutralise the PH level of the water before discharge) have all been put in place. The water treatment system will be in place by the end of next week, consisting of a concrete washout, settlement tank and the Sitltbuster HD unit. Fingers crossed that this system will work, as other sites around London have had some serious issues with the water treatment systems they have in place.

The Muckbin has also been completed this week, including the propping of the sub basements in both our building and the adjacent buildings. The only issue now is some debris netting to be put in place in order to protect the public footpath and our building, as it’s a listed building. The Muckbin will be accommodating the 200m3 of soil that will be obtained from each 1m depth of shaft excavation. My only concern now is that the Muck skip or the excavator will knock into the building and stop works for a considerable amount of time. I have had a designer produce a scaffolding barrier that would protect the building, however the powers to be have decided against it. We shall see who is right in the weeks to come.

The equipment platform has been completed with my first large concrete pour. Inspection cubes were taken and the whole procedure went fine. This was the final temporary works structure to be completed before Barehale (sub contractors) began to take over the site. On the whole the three temporary work structures have gone pretty well and I’m pretty chuffed.

The 80T heavy-duty crane arrived today, hence me being in on a Saturday. What a beast. One of the smaller cranes is being used to assemble the 80T crane. We are lucky to have even got the crane in the first place. There are only two cranes capable of fitting onto our crane platform, due to the restricted nature of the site, which were also capable of the lifts. Additionally Crossrail have insisted all plant are fitted with specific exhaust filters, you guessed correctly, neither of these two models were. However we applied for dispensation and hope that Crossrail will agree.  We await their response, however we have taken a gamble and installed it any way.

The site looks like we are ready to start the excavation works now. As you can see from the photo below, once the settlement tank and siltbuster are moved out of the shaft and the 80T crane is built the excavation work can begin.

As I have mentioned in other posts, the paperwork  involved in the project has been obscene. To obtain the authority to begin the excavation phase we have had to demonstrate to Crossrail that all our paperwork is up-to-date. This has involved Material Compliance Records (MCR) for every component used in the setup of the site and for the excavation phase itself. Each component we use from; Hilti bolts, paint, concrete, steel, reinforcement etc has to have a document produced with proof that the product meets the required standard. The document then has to be approved by Crossrail, you can imagine the implications of this. On top of the  MCR’s an Inspection and Testing Plan (ITP) has to be produced for each phase of construction. This has involved obtaining welders qualification certificates, steel mill certificates, concrete batching plant certificates, the list goes on. However I think we have finally got there.

My final bitch concerns jack blokes. When I started on site there were only two Engineers, myself and Gemma. Now that the site is properly under way, they have surged more manpower to us. This has come in the form of a new boss, Aleandro from Spain, who speaks limited English, arrives late on a Monday and leaves early on a Friday to go back to the failing Eurozone. The term ‘useful as a chocolate fire guard’ comes to mind. Additionally another sub-Agent has arrived, who spends all his time on Linkd In, looking for his next job. I have been watching him, he has produced 4 documents in over a month. I wish he would move to Spain as well. As you could imagine the atmosphere in the office could be cut with a knife most of the time. I predict it is only a matter of time untill Gemma explodes with one of these two individuals, I can’t wait!!!