Ceequal Excellent Paddington Bakerloo Line Link - BRE Group
CEEQUAL rating of Excellent for London Underground pedestrian tunnel
Overview
The complex £40 million Bakerloo Line Link project provided a new 170m pedestrian tunnel link between the Paddington Crossrail Station and London Underground Bakerloo Line platforms. This development eased congestion on the existing London Underground infrastructure and minimised the journey time between Crossrail and the Bakerloo Line. For designing and developing to meet sustainability standards, the project team were awarded a CEEQUAL (now known as BREEAM Infrastructure) rating of 93.3%.
About
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
Background
The Bakerloo Line Link project was awarded to CSJV due to an innovative design that completely internalised the work site within an existing Royal Mail Group building at Paddington. Internalising the site and removing the need for two external shafts has made it possible to avoid impacts on the surrounding local heritage. Surveys were completed to assess the areas and landmarks of key significance and all consents were set out with local stakeholders and Westminster City Council to protect and maintain the historic environment.
Challenges
The site is surrounded by sensitive receptors – including hospital buildings and hotels – so the project team aimed to reach the highest environmental and sustainability standards possible.
Solutions
Community and stakeholder engagement
Internalising the work site within the Royal Mail building also lead to a significant reduction in the project’s impact on the local community and environment. Internalising the works meant all construction, waste removal, deliveries, and loading of excavated tunnel material could be contained within the enclosed site. This reduced the impact on traffic congestion, air quality, noise, vibration and other nuisance related activities. CSJV maintained a good relationship with Westminster City Council throughout the project with regular monthly meetings and clear communication of any potential risks or upcoming work-related nuisance. As a result, the project had no environmental complaints – something which is almost unheard of in such a sensitive environment.
Project management
CSJV tunnelling team in Paddington Bakerloo Line Underground station
Through utilising the CEEQUAL process the Bakerloo Line Link project was able to achieve enhanced sustainability and performance throughout the design, pre-construction, and construction stages. Steered by the senior management’s weekly HSE inspections, a full time CSJV environmental advisor, and a part-time London Underground environmental manager, have worked through each stage of the project to successfully integrate and deliver positive environmental management in the daily site operations. This has resulted in the beyond expectation CEEQUAL Excellent score of 93.3%.
Benefits
Key benefits included:
Work completely internalised in existing Royal Mail Group building – reducing impact on local heritage, communities and transport
Reduction in carbon emissions by minimising lorry movements and transporting spoil by rail.
No environmental complaints throughout the project
Reflecting on the success of the project, a spokesperson shared, “Including CEEQUAL in the Works Information led to buy in from senior management and early involvement in its implementation. Incorporating the new Project Strategy section of CEEQUAL allowed for early collaboration between the project team and design team in the crucial pre-construction stages of the project.”
They continued, “The greatest amount of influence can be identified in these stages and CEEQUAL supported the dialogue between design, client, and construction teams. This in turn led to early design meetings that helped reduce material by minimising the required tunnel profile and promote the adoption of innovative solutions like internalising the work site.”