…modifying your vehicles to prevent danger to cyclists?
The UK Contractors Group is working on a new safety strategy for its members that mean lorries are fitted with sensors, turning alarms, mirrors and safety bars to prevent cyclists being thrown under their wheels.
The plan, which comes in response to The Times’ Cities Fit For Cycling campaign, could make a big impact if adopted by the UKCG’s membership, which includes the likes of Balfour Beatty, Lend Lease, Carillion, Mace and Skanska.
“It’s all very well protecting workers on site, but we also have to outward looking and ensure we are protecting the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and road-users,” UKCG director Stephen Ratcliffe told The Times. “We are aware of the health and safety risk [to cyclists] and this is about finding a more cohesive and collective way to manage the issue. If the same message is coming out from 30 companies rather than just one, it is far more powerful.”
…paying a visit to the Brick Lane Gallery?
The gallery is hosting an exhibition of art inspired by the construction of Glasgow’s £74m Riverside Transport Museum. The exhibition features work by award-winning artist Patricia Cain, who spent three years on site documenting building work as architect Zaha Hadid’s first major UK public building and its iconic saw-toothed roofline took shape. Cain worked closely with main contractor BAM Construct to coordinate her visits. “I was able to walk all around the site at all stages of the project, which gave me a real insight into an occupation that isn’t normally seen by the public,” she said. The exhibition runs from March 9 to April 29.
…thinking carefully in case you put your foot in it?
Why are these people grinning so excitedly and waving little feet in the air? Is it an advert for foot deodorizer? Well no, in fact it’s part of the marketing campaign for EcoPod, a self-contained heating system fitted with renewable technologies, which its manufacturer Belfry Group claims can virtually halve a building’s energy costs and carbon emissions.
The system is proving popular with energy-conscious local authorities, housing associations and trusts, and energy services contractor Carillion has just won exclusive rights to market and install the system worldwide.
The feet in fact represent the carbon footprint EcoPod aims to reduce. So if not quite normal, maybe these people are the New Normal after all.
…uniformly applying a layer of asphalt on a 28 metre-wide sloping embankment?
If you had to come up with a method statement, allow us to recommend this impressive beast of a machine. It was developed by German firms Allcons Maschinenbau and MOBA Mobile Automation to asphalt a canal in France.
The 80-tonne monster features a specially developed combination of sensors and controllers designed to level the screed and steer the machine with pinpoint accuracy. Impressive, but it’s also quite tricky to find a big enough parking space.
