Scaffolding
The project
The Colne Valley Viaduct will stretch for more than two miles, carrying high-speed trains 10 metres above water. Once complete, it will be the longest railway bridge in the UK at 3.4 kilometres, passing over a series of lakes and waterways across the Colne Valley. As part of the project, a total of 1,000 concrete segments will form the deck of the 3.4 km viaduct, each one weighing up to 140 tonnes. The deck segments are supported by 56 piers resting on concrete piles, inserted up to 180ft (55m) into the ground.
The solution by Millcroft
Deploying its specialist HS2 team for the project, Millcroft worked on erecting 6 ft-high scaffolds around 11 of these piers for the viaduct. The piers house tower cranes and required additional construction to extend the jetties, allowing for construction of walkway access to the cranes.
In this particular section of work within the Colne Valley, the HS2 team from Millcroft had to work in boats to erect scaffolding. In preparation for deployment, Millcroft personnel completed a Safe Working in Water (SWIW) two-day course, delivered by Rescue 3 Europe, which provided classroom and swimming-pool based safety training, offering self and co-worker rescue capability techniques for working in water.
The water training course included modules in identifying hazards, rescue tools, cold water considerations, lifejacket and buoyance aid safety.
This challenging project required the Millcroft team to work in different shifts on various dates to complete the piers on the programme on time. Our in-house design team was heavily involved to provide tailored solutions that met the exacting safety standards of the project.