NW Electrification Progress

[LNW-GW Joint]

Some pics from today on the Chat Moss line (in pretty poor weather).

Balfour Beatty is now installing tubular piles over Chat Moss proper.
Starting from the M60 bridge there is a nearly continuous couple of miles or so of these piles, towards Astley.
The pics show a group of these laid out ready in the cess, and then one of them upright, I assume waiting for the pile driver.
When they are driven in you hardly see them above the ground.
It seems this section will be 100% piled, but they do appear elsewhere, probably where the ground conditions are poor.
The upright piles appear quite other-worldly marching on both sides of the track through the remote moss.

Plenty of mast bases at Ordsall Lane now, with a lot of steelwork ready for erection across all four tracks.
Bits and pieces are now also being added to the portal structures on Castlefield viaduct, including what looks like some new signalling or signage.

While I was turning round at Newton-le-Willows, the BB concreting train passed through westbound, having come off the Lowton line.
This is based at Edge Hill which is a hive of activity with large stockpiles of assorted electrification equipment.

 

[swt_passenger]

It seems this section will be 100% piled, but they do appear elsewhere, probably where the ground conditions are poor.

I think it's the other way around nowadays. Tubular steel piles seem the default standard, and the only time they aren't used is if something else is needed instead because of ground conditions.

Rail Engineer mag reported last month that the vast majority of the GW piling will be steel tube, something like 14000 piles but only about 1500 concrete foundations, (without looking it up). I remember noticing it being about a 10:1 ratio anyway.

Nearly every electrification mast or signal gantry already installed around the Reading rebuild area seems to be bolted on top of steel tubular piles.

 

[John55]

I think it's the other way around nowadays. Tubular steel piles seem the default standard, and the only time they aren't used is if something else is needed instead because of ground conditions.

Rail Engineer mag reported last month that the vast majority of the GW piling will be steel tube, something like 14000 piles but only about 1500 concrete foundations, (without looking it up). I remember noticing it being about a 10:1 ratio anyway.

Nearly every electrification mast or signal gantry already installed around the Reading rebuild area seems to be bolted on top of steel tubular piles.

On the Chat Moss line all the foundations installed between Parkside and Ordsall Lane are concrete foundations with the masts bolted to the concrete. There seem to be these monumental circular piled foundations only between Astley and Patricroft (i.e. the Moss proper).

While the use of tube foundations is well established the ones on Chat Moss appear to be much more substantial than anything I have seen before.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

On the Chat Moss line all the foundations installed between Parkside and Ordsall Lane are concrete foundations with the masts bolted to the concrete. There seem to be these monumental circular piled foundations only between Astley and Patricroft (i.e. the Moss proper).

Not quite. The mostly-concrete stretches have some odd gaps, and I saw today that these are now being piled.
Some of the piles appear near Eccles, and others near Kenyon Jn.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

All in all, great news that there is substantial progress.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

All in all, great news that there is substantial progress.

Despite all the positive signs, Balfour Beatty are having a bad time and have issued a profits warning.
http://www.balfourbeatty.com/index.asp?pageid=42&newsid=389
Their rail business is "under review", though I think this is mainly because of the recession in Europe.
As they have just been awarded the £50m NW Phase 2 contract one would hope they would be very keen to get on with this and bid for the next round of electrification work with NR.
I should think they are well placed to do all the NW and TP work west of the Pennines.