Battersea Power Station Phase 3 Update
I realised I have been a blog voyeur and not participated a great deal so I thought I would provide an update.
Photo 1 – Site today.
Photo 2 – My task – Bridge 1 CAD image (NB existing ramp visible on left. The existing ramp is visible from the train when travelling into Victoria).
Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering has nearly completed all piles (nearly 300) along the line of the first temporary bridge structure (area A). This has allowed McGee to commence construction of the pile caps that the bridge structure will sit upon. Points of note. Photo 3 shows Dolphins 7, 8 & 9 (the terminology for the RC sway frame that the bridge steel decking sits upon). The pile cap for dolphin 9 has been poured, the rebar for dolphin 8 is being fixed and the blinding has been poured for dolphin 7. There is over 140m^3 of concrete in the pile cap and when the excavation commences this pile cap will sit approximately 13m above formation level.
Photo 3 – View of ‘Dolphin’ 7, 8 & 9 with pile cap 9 poured, rebar for pile 8 fixed and over 40m^3 of blinding for Pile cap 7.
In tandem DAM structures have commenced fabrication of the steel deck structure and I have conducted a number of visits to East Yorkshire (‘Brid’ as the locals call it). All of the sections are ‘standard’ road haulage dimensions to avoid wide loads. The bridge deck comprises three 2.4m wide sections plus edge sections – Photo 4 shows a standard bridge deck on its side in order to weld the steel plate that makes up the road surface.
Photo 4 – Steel Deck Sections in the fabrication shop (This is a ‘normal’ deck section 2.4 m wide, 12m long and weighs approx. 13T) .
Photo 5 – Practice lift and erection in DAM Structures yard (these are special deck sections that connect to the existing permanent bridge).
Photo 6 – Connection detail.
Interesting ‘stuff’ going on:
- Contractual wrangling is still on-going.
- Bouygues UK has not signed a contract and is moving toward a construction management role.
- BBGE has not signed either
- McGee has finally signed on the dotted line.
- We had a spate of safety issues but they pale into insignificance compared to Kukie so I will not bore you with them.
- Too many piling issues to mention from pile rig failures through to changing ground conditions and everything in between.
Bit of a long post – apologies James!
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 
what is it about contractors not signing contracts? It almost if they had shares in a dispute resolution company like the one Richard Swan runs,
Probably the most interesting piece of information I heard was that the client (who negotiated the contract directly with the specialist contractors (BBGE)) failed to include a sectional completion date for the temporary bridge piles – which are the client’s main effort.