Farrans Foundation is an award-winning, two year graduate programme which provides applicants with the necessary experience and knowledge to fast track their career in construction, quantity surveying and civil engineering. With a blend of classroom-based learning and on-site experience, this is the starting point on the journey to becoming the future leaders of Farrans.

This year, Farrans will be hosting a series of virtual career open days in September, October and November for those people who are interested in finding out more about what it is like to be a graduate or a placement in the company.

Farrans Construction, a CRH company, has over 80 years’ experience of delivering world-class projects across the UK and Ireland. The company which employs more than 600 people has offices in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds and Belfast with further site offices connecting its regional network.

Dominic Lavery, Managing Director of Farrans, said: “We understand that the move from education to employment can be a big step and we want to make the experience as enjoyable as we can. Our graduate programme, which has recently been CPD Accredited by Engineers Ireland, will provide you with all of the necessary experience and knowledge you need at the start of your career. We will support you to begin your journey to become Chartered with your relevant professional body and, with over 60% of our professional employees Chartered, we are able to give you all the help, guidance and support required to attain your professional qualification.

“We receive a high volume of applications for our programme so I recommend that anyone who is interested should join a virtual open day to find out what we look for in our graduates and placements and to take your time to make your application the best it can be.”

Conor McCourt, senior engineer and Farrans Foundation Graduate, said: “Farrans Foundation is a graduate programme that provides you with an opportunity to learn about all aspects of the business so that you understand the ‘why’ of the work that you are doing. It certainly made me more commercially astute, taught me time management skills and opened my eyes to the many career paths I could take. University focuses on the theory while Farrans Foundation provides a framework to excel on the ground.

“One of the major benefits is that you are able to make connections with colleagues at many levels. The programme gave me a support network of experienced professionals to call on for help if I need it. Skills from Farrans Foundation can be easily transferred to working towards Chartership.”

For more information, to register for an virtual open day and to submit an application to Farrans’ Graduate and Placement Programme visit: www.farrans.com/graduates/ and www.farrans.com/placements/

Virtual open days will take place on 27^th September from 5-6pm, 18^th October from 1-2pm and on 23^rd November from 4-5pm. Register here.

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Since its inception half a decade ago, Aptus’ Midlands team has secured over 250 contracts worth more than £50 million in value, including the award of 87 lighting projects.

During that time the site has also gone from having one team to a 40-strong workforce, and counts Taylor Wimpey, David Wilson Homes and Bellway among its roster of over 80 clients.

Another reflection of the site’s success can be seen in the number of plots they’ve secured too – more than 15,000.

The Midlands arm of Aptus was also trusted to novate all of Western Power Distribution’s existing schemes when they exited the market.

This was based on the recommendation of the adopting network providers to Western Power Distribution, highlighting Aptus’ standing and reputation in the Midlands.

The team at Burntwood is led by Midlands General Manager Jon Patrick, who has reflected on the depot’s first five years and spoken about plans for the future:

“I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made at Burntwood. A lot has changed since I took on the role in 2018 with one team and project manager working under my direction.

“To have secured over 250 contracts and worked with more than 80 clients is a real testament to the team. We never rest on our laurels at Aptus though and are determined to keep growing the Midlands arm of the business. Here’s to the next five years!”

Aptus designs, builds and installs gas, water, electricity and street lighting infrastructure for housing developers and construction clients. Operating from its Bolton headquarters, Aptus has regional depots across the UK.

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When built, the scheme will deliver:

• 150,000 tonnes of rock barrier along the coast to manage erosion and high tides
• Sheet piling along the Lamby Way roundabout
• Maintained earth embankments, and Rock protection for Lamby Way Bridge

And it will:

• Manage the flood risk to 1,116 residential and 72 non-residential properties, plus the Rover Way Gypsy and Traveller site.
• Provide defence against a one-in-200-year severe weather event, including allowing for the effects of climate change.

The scheme will deliver an effective flood defence while minimising impact on wildlife and improving the walking route forming part of the Wales Coastal Path, which links to existing public rights of way.

Cllr Caro Wild, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change has welcomed the progress of the scheme, and said: “Cardiff is already starting to feel the effects of our changing climate and as a coastal city flooding has become an increasingly significant risk as sea levels rise and extreme weather events become more frequent.

“Enhancing our coastal flood defences is a key priority, especially in areas where residential properties are potentially at risk.

“Through our One Planet Cardiff strategy, we’re making good process on reducing the Council’s own carbon emissions, ensuring we’re playing our part in limiting global temperature rises, but proactive steps like this scheme on the foreshore and River Rhymney, are also essential if we are to ensure Cardiff is resilient enough to cope in years to come.”

The One Planet Cardiff strategy sets out a range of ways in which Cardiff is moving towards being carbon neutral, including: reducing energy consumption and energy efficiency in council buildings, increasing the supply of renewable energy, shifting to more sustainable and active modes of transport, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services, making smarter choices to waste less and recycle more, and increasing opportunities to absorb emissions through green infrastructure and tree planting.

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The City of Edinburgh Council plan to open up the area to create a new and exciting multifunctional public space as part of their wider £1.3bn regeneration project to create a new sustainable coastal town at Granton Waterfront.

McLaughlin & Harvey began work on the site in January of this year on behalf of the Council using £16.4m from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund. The Scottish Government has also provided an additional £1.2m to provide a high quality public park within the gasholder frame.  

The space within the restored gasholder is to have multi-sensory play zones, a dedicated space for permanent and temporary public art, a relaxation area, outdoor trails and tracks for exercise as well as a large outdoor space for sports, markets, seasonal events, community use, festivals, performance arts, exhibitions and play. Work will also be carried out to plant trees, shrubs and wildflowers improving biodiversity and local habitat in the area.

Council Leader Cammy Day said:

It was really dramatic to see the bell being ripped apart by the machinery. It marked a historic moment as this iconic structure will be transformed now to move on with the times to serve a completely different purpose for the local community to enjoy arts, sports and culture for future generations to come. Now the bell has gone the contractor can get on with the exciting work to transform the frame back to its original glory which will be seen for miles around.

The scale and ambition of the gasholder nicely mirrors that of this £1.3bn regeneration project where we are using brownfield land to build a new sustainable 20-minute neighbourhood which is well linked to surrounding communities and is somewhere residents will be proud to live. We’ve already started building some of the thousands of environmentally friendly affordable homes planned and active travel routes, along with recently completing the restoration of the former Granton Station building to become a modern workplace and cultural hub, with public square.

UK Government Minister for Levelling Up, Dehenna Davison, said:

The Granton gasholder has been part of Edinburgh’s skyline for over 120 years, and will soon be brought back to life as a real community asset.

The bell’s removal will ensure the structure can be restored to its former glory, whilst the space will be brought into the 21^st Century by becoming a destination for families, residents, and future generations to enjoy.

We’re delighted to have supported this project through £16.4 million from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund which will ensure this iconic structure will serve as a beacon to people in the area for many years to come.

Seamus Devlin, McLaughlin & Harvey Civil Engineering Director, said:

McLaughlin & Harvey is delighted to be main contractor for the restoration works at Granton gasholder. We bring with us a wealth of experience in the civil engineering sector, and look forward to completing the deconstruction of the bell this week and the removal of the walls in the upcoming weeks.

Fascinating gasholder facts

• Over 100K rivets holding the structure together
• Total cost of original construction £18,968.
• Was opened in 1901, making it 122 years old.
• It’s since been painted 72 times.
• 26 columns in total with a height of 42m. each column is 9.3m apart.
• Granton was one of 12 gas storage tanks for the greater Edinburgh area. These 12 tanks had a combined capacity of 175,000 cubic meters of storage. At the time they were in operation the demand was around 28,000 cubic meters an hour (at its peak).
• The lowest tier was erected with the use of a steam locomotive crane.

The Granton Gas Holder is unique as the umbrella which supports the tank roof when the system is not pressurised, was made from timber as opposed to cast iron. These timbers were in remarkably great condition when demolition began.

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The civil engineering and infrastructure specialist secured its place on the framework under Lot 2, Water-clean and Waste Infrastructure, of the West Midlands Metro Framework agreement for the Provision of Diversionary Utilities Works for Metro Extensions and any Major Highways Schemes.

Barhale will be one of four suppliers awarded to Lot 2 of the framework for advanced utility diversions across the WMCA. The others are J McCann, M&A Doocey Civil Engineering Ltd and IES Utilities Group.

James Ingamells, regional director for Barhale, believes that the award reflects the strength of the business’s track-record and deep connections across the West Midlands.

“We are very pleased to secure our place on the WMCA framework,” he said. “We are very proud of our roots in the region and our forty-plus years heritage operating from our headquarters in Walsall.

“In that time, we have had the opportunity to work with many of the region’s statutory undertakers, key stakeholder groups, alliance project teams, suppliers, and sub-contractors.

“We enjoy an ongoing relationship with the major water companies, Severn Trent and South Staffs, and have been involved with previous phases of the Midlands Metro Alliance, the team responsible for delivering the region transformative new transit system.

“Having recently completed a mineshaft cap at Sandwell and the infilling of Wolverhampton’s Craddock Street Subway, we are also looking forward to working closely with more of the West Midlands’ local authorities.

“Most importantly, the award will give us the opportunity to extend our engagement with the community both in terms of employment through Barhale and our construction supplies to fabrication business BCS and also in terms of our community outreach and engagement work.”

The agreement runs for four years with an option to extend to a maximum of a further four years. 

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Although located on the site of the historic Kitchener Barracks in Kent, the apartments themselves are precision-engineered at TopHat’ s factory in Derbyshire and delivered to site ready for installation.

The project is part of a larger scheme that will see TopHat deliver almost 300 new homes over three phases on the 4.8-acre Kitchener Barracks site.

O’Keefe is the groundworks contractor on the current second phase, which started with enabling works in January 2022 followed by the main works package in March 2022.

The company was principal contractor on the first phase of the scheme, completed in early 2021. The site knowledge gained by the team on that phase has assisted greatly when dealing with the construction element of the phase two works.

“We have worked with TopHat previously on other schemes so there is a positive relationship between TopHat and O’Keefe,” says O’Keefe project manager Daniel Gough.

The Kitchener Barracks project involves the construction of three four-storey blocks of modular apartments which will comprise 96 one- and two-bedroom homes. On this phase, some 240 modular sections were assembled on site and cassette corridor sections were then installed at the upper levels between the rows of apartments.

O’Keefe’s role includes part-construction of foundations, drainage and services for the modular apartments, plus access roads and external finishings. Although the apartment modules are manufactured off-site, they still require foundations and services to be built in-situ.

The foundations are mass concrete strip footings bedded a minimum 200mm into the underlying chalk strata. One of the biggest challenges for O’Keefe has been to ensure the on-site works perfectly align with the factory-built modules. Working to exacting tolerances, O’Keefe has formed upstands to receive the prefabricated modular units.

“Co-ordination is vital when off site manufacturing and site build foundations are carried out,” says Daniel Gough. “It is essential that precise as-built surveys are carried out to ensure that the position and levels are within the specified tolerance and any drainage pipes are located correctly.”

O’Keefe formed the drainage connections prior to the modular sections being installed. Service entries were taken into the plantrooms situated in the two stair cores and then distributed to the modular units. Reinforced concrete upstands and slabs were constructed within the two cores and the end escape stairs and a reinforced concrete in-situ lift core constructed to each of the cores, with a steel framework installed prior to installation of the modules.

O’Keefe’s contract has also involved construction of a reinforced concrete (RC) frame extension off the back of the existing Khartoum Building, dating from the 1930s.

The RC frame comprises a lower ground floor/basement level for parking, including electrical vehicle charging bays, with a ground level transfer slab above. This forms part extension for housing apartments and part outdoor terrace. A particular challenge here was the interface between the existing Khartoum Building and the new RC frame.

“The existing building was originally cut to demolish the western side some years ago – this was carried out and surveyed in a method to assist with best coordinating the design of the new RC frame with the remaining building elements,” explains Daniel. 

“The complex design has been a continuous, coordinated process assisted by O’Keefe, the consultant engineers, architects and TopHat, to ensure that further survey work was carried out to slabs, roofs, cavities and foundations for the structural frame to have its final design.

“Underpinning was carried out on the building in the early stages of the project and then the installation and cutting back completed after the concrete had cured.

“TopHat and O’Keefe have worked together throughout the RC frame element of the works to monitor progress and provide live survey data to the consultant engineers and architects to assist with overcoming any issues encountered during the RC frame build,” says Daniel.

Andrew Shepherd, managing director of TopHat Solutions said: “TopHat have worked closely with O’Keefe on this complex and ground breaking project.  It was essential that we had a partner that was able to address a number of different challenges from foundations for an innovative modular project through to a concrete frame that would tie into an existing heritage building.  This ongoing relationship has been formed on a process of innovation and continuous improvement, which underpins our joint approach to future projects.”

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Will is an expert in driven piling techniques and has over two decades of experience in the specialist foundation industry, having also worked for Van Elle and Aarsleff.

Akela Ground Engineering operates in Scotland and the North of England and was founded in 2019. It is part of the Akela Group which is headquartered in Thornliebank, near Glasgow, and has an office in Leeds.

Will Payne, General Manager of Akela Ground Engineering, said: “Akela is a family oriented business that is looking to grow and expand their works across England and that is what attracted me to this role.

“They have also been investing heavily in new technology and innovation over the past year.

“I’ve worked in the UK and abroad within the specialist foundation industry and am very proud of my record in working with clients to find solutions at the most difficult of sites.

“It is important to build and establish relationships with clients and I am looking forward to working with existing Akela clients and also expanding Akela right across England.”

Mark Markey, Managing Director of Akela Group, said: “We are really proud to have Will Payne join the business at the crucial time of expanding our work in England. He is well known as a specialist in piling and will be a key part of growing our ground engineering arm.

“Importantly, he is experienced at managing complex works and ensuring quality work is carried out in a safe manner.

“He has decades of experience in the construction industry and his appointments will bolster Akela Ground Engineering and allow us to continue to go from strength to strength.” 

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GRAHAM was awarded the £92m M2 junction 5 improvements scheme by National Highways in June 2021.

The junction is one of the busiest in the region and experiences large queues and heavy congestion on a daily basis. It also had one of the highest collision rates across England’s motorway and major A roads nationally.

The project team has recently implemented major changes to the way drivers use the Stockbury roundabout.

Earlier in the year, GRAHAM switched the A249 southbound traffic onto a new stretch of road on the south side of the roundabout, that runs adjacent to the existing carriageway.

The new section is temporarily carrying southbound traffic and once complete will become the new Oad Street Link Road, which will carry traffic directly from Oad Street to the Stockbury roundabout.

The A249’s northbound traffic has also been switched onto the existing southbound carriageway to allow construction of the Stockbury South bridge structure.

Once complete, the flyover will allow traffic to flow without restrictions over the Stockbury roundabout, reducing delays and improving safety.

Last month GRAHAM opened the new Maidstone Link Road, a new carriageway connecting Maidstone Road to Oad Street.

The project team also opened the new southbound diverge (slip road) to southbound traffic. The start of this new slip road consists of continuously reinforced concrete paving (CRCP), to tie in the existing carriageway, with surfacing also recently completed. Once works are complete, the southbound diverge will have a dedicated slip road to the M2 (westbound).

The switching of traffic to the southbound diverge will enable the construction of the northern Stockbury flyover, with the first step being the installation of 900mm dia CFA (Continuous flight auger) piles.

Now the traffic has been switched, GRAHAM’s team is demolishing the CRCP slab beneath the existing A249 carriageway utilising excavators with hydraulic breakers.

Recent progress has seen the construction of the southern abutment for the new Stockbury south bridge structure. The abutment is constructed with 170 cubic meters of steel-reinforced concrete.

Following completion of the abutment, GRAHAM has made major progress on the scheme’s bespoke flint-clad reinforced earth RECO walls. The RECO walls will see 1,500 RECO panels placed in total, allowing earth to be backfilled behind them. The faces of the panels have been chosen to provide an aesthetically pleasing finish to the scheme, with a coarse finish of locally sourced flint utilised to suit the scheme’s natural surroundings in the Stockbury Valley.

Once complete, the scheme will lead to smoother and safer journeys for hundreds of thousands of drivers each day.

For more information about the scheme visit the M2 junction 5 project website.

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On completion of the major upgrade project between Manchester and Sheffield, the passing loop will enable passenger trains to pass slower freight trains, increasing the reliability of passenger journeys.

The team on the ground has completed soil nailing and regrade work at Bamford to clear the land needed for the new track and to secure the adjoining rock face. This involves drilling nails into the embankment to stabilise the ground in advance of track installation. A total of 935 nails have been installed by the team as part of the work ready for track to be installed later in the year.

LINK TO VIDEO

Graeme Whitehead, Senior Sponsor on the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade said:

“We’re very pleased with the progress of work that the team have made at Bamford, despite challenging ground conditions”.

“Reaching this milestone means that we’re one step closer to completing the passing loop and delivering benefits to passengers travelling along the Hope Valley line.”

The first phase of track installation on the loop was completed in Bamford between November 2022 and February 2023. This included the construction and placement of two turnout sections of track for the loop, which will eventually meet in the middle completing a passing loop for fast trains to pass, therefore reducing delays to services. The remainder of the loop is planned to be completed this year.

Elsewhere on the project, work is progressing to build a second platform and a new footbridge at Dore & Totley station. Over 2355m of track has been installed in Dore & Totley since July 2022, and work has recently started to build the foundations for the platform and footbridge. The Hope Valley Railway Upgrade is due to complete in spring 2024.

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With Schedule 3 of the Flood & Water Management Act 2010, requiring developers to seek adoption of all their Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), expected to be implemented next year, the importance and accessibility of effective stormwater storage and attenuation systems is only set to increase. With Civils Store now stocking StormTech, a versatile and effective alternative to crates, ADS’s globally popular products can now be more readily sourced throughout Civil Store’s UK branch network.

Combining arch-shaped chambers with an innovative, integrated water quality treatment system, StormTech has been used successfully in over 50,000 projects worldwide employing in excess of 3m units.

Featuring a range of chamber sizes and its unique Isolator Row, providing ‘first flush’ cleansing and treatment of storm water run-off, StormTech is especially suited to applications requiring minimum cover, installation under trafficked areas and fast construction.  As units are stackable, minimal space is required for storage and transport.

StormTech fully complies with the recently updated Design and Construction Guidance for foul and surface water sewers (DCG), meaning that water companies in England can accept StormTech when offered for adoption by developers under Section 104 Agreements in accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991.

Additionally, structural modelling to Eurocodes has demonstrated that StormTech SuDS attenuation chambers can be installed to the minimum and maximum cover depths detailed within the standard ADS installation guidelines, originally based on US standards.

Kevin Hancock, Civils Store Managing Director, says of the new partnership with ADS, “We have enjoyed great success with StormTech on a buy-to-order basis, and with the huge increase in interest in StormTech and with Schedule 3 just round the corner, it makes perfect sense for us to bring StormTech into stock at our depots. Our first shipment is to Kent, then into Somerset, with other branches to follow.”

For details of Civil Store branches, and to get a quotation, please visit bit.ly/civilsstore.

For more information on Advanced Drainage Systems’ StormTech, including a handy Design Tool and Installation App or to book a CPD, go to www.adspipe.co.uk.

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