A round-up of the most impressive construction pictures from the past month.
School badger sett finds a new home
The dark and warm void below a classroom block at a junior school in Watford became the perfect home for a family of badgers. However, the tunnels they formed damaged the drainage network, undermining the school’s foundations.
Ground engineering firm Mainmark, working alongside Natural England, successfully relocated the badgers to an artificial sett within the school grounds.
Costain’s 3D-printed, low-carbon concrete sleepers
Costain, alongside A E Yates, has partnered with Hyperion Robotics to deliver 90 3D-printed pipe support bases or sleepers.
Costain says the sleepers will be up to 10 times stronger than traditional structures, despite being up to 60% lighter due to a thin, reinforced base design.
The project is part of the Northern Endurance Partnership, which is developing onshore and offshore infrastructure needed to transport CO2 from carbon capture projects across Teesside to secure storage under the North Sea.
London Stadium’s steel structure spring clean
Rope access inspectors have scaled London Stadium’s 30m-high roof to clean and survey its steel structure.
The job involved a team of six rope access specialists and six elevated platform technicians from structural services contractor CAN, part of the RSK Group, who inspected the former Olympic Stadium’s steel roof framework.
London Eye gets new cranes in night-time upgrade project
Two new cranes have been installed on the London Eye to support the ongoing maintenance and engineering work on the iconic Thames-side tourist attraction.
The installation was carried out over five nights while the 135m-high observation wheel remained operational.
The new Hiab cranes replace the original units that had been in operation since the Eye opened in 2000.
Brent Cross Town development sees first calcined clay concrete use
Midgard has used calcined clay concrete to construct a permanent suspended slab in a build-to-rent building at the Brent Cross Town development in London.
In total, 30% of the cement in the concrete mix was replaced with calcined clay, resulting in a 10% embodied carbon saving compared with equivalent concrete mixes previously used at the project.
Capital Concrete provided concrete made with calcined clay from LKAB Minerals, which utilises damaged waste bricks, helping to promote sustainability and support the circular economy.
Image: Morgan Sindall
University of Salford’s new acoustics lab hits a high note
A new acoustics research, testing and teaching facility at the University of Salford, delivered by Morgan Sindall, has reached its topping out milestone.
The new facility incorporates a vast triple-height space with vibration-isolating foundations and extra-dense concrete walls, creating several idealised acoustic environments insulated from external noise.
