Constructing Excellence were delighted to collaborate with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) construction forum to visit two of HS2’s major sites in North West London.
The SCS Logistics Hub is a state-of-the-art facility that provides real-time analysis of the project logistics including the movement by rail of 500 million tonnes of tunnel spoil to three separate locations, managing inbound construction products including the delivery of pre-cast tunnel lining by rail. The security operation incorporates 1,200 CCTV and 200 ANPR cameras. The scale of the site enables it to benefit greatly from the efficiencies and standardisation that a consolidation centre provides.
The BBVS site at Old Oak Common is equally impressive in its scale and complexity. The station will provide a world-class interchange for an estimated 250,000 passengers each day and will be a gateway into Old Oak and Park Royal, one of the largest regeneration sites in the UK.
Logistics are often over-looked and under-resourced on construction projects and both these projects demonstrate the benefits that focussed logistics strategies can bring:
Community Engagement
Minimising disruption for the local community is a huge challenge for major construction projects and HS2 is no exception. The aggregation of data from ANPR cameras gives the team real time information on how many of their allocated HGV movements they have used on different stretches of roads – this is really important for the safety and support of the local community. Innovations such as the ‘MudCam’ are able to monitor the impact that mud from site is having on local roads and pro-actively address issues before they arise.
Productivity
Use of the rail network to transport goods to site and waste from site removes a significant number of vehicles from the local road network, making it safer and less congested. Precision monitoring and real time data avoids congestion on site making the site run more smoothly and minimising issues.
Circular Economy
Strategic oversight of temporary works equipment allows it to be allocated effectively across the project, enables re-use and avoids over-ordering of equipment – saving cost and carbon.
Risk Management
The use of digital technology to monitor activity across the projects enable a more pro-active approach to managing and mitigating risk, bringing significant benefits to the project.
As with any solution to construction challenges there are some common principles that unlock the strategic benefits of logistics:
- Think about logistics early in the programme – the earlier logistics are considered the more value it brings. Bringing specialists and logistics thinking at the earliest stage enables a better logistics strategy that better supports future programme delivery.
- Commercial alignment – ensure that commercial strategies and contracts enable all parties to use common logistics partners and share logistics data.
- Collaboration – as ever with Constructing Excellence collaboration is crucial – make the logistics team an integral part of project delivery – it will unlock productivity!
Get Involved
To find out more about our upcoming site visits and online sessions, take a look at our events page or get in touch to register your interest.
