Project Summary
The primary objective of this project was to render the station accessible to mobility and visually impaired customers in compliance with relevant legislation and appropriate standards, guides, and codes of practice.
Project Description
The enhancement works included construction of ramps, carpark spaces, lifts, footbridge and stairs, automatic doors and roller shutters, wheelchair accessible toilets, new ticket counters with ballistic glazing, non-slip floor coverings, general building refurbishment works, platform extensions, installation of signage, erection of temporary accommodation, etc. M&E works included the provision of lighting, help points, CCTV, fire alarms, intruder alarms, expansion of telecom infrastructure, etc.
Much of the platform work undertaken as well as the construction of the lifts and footbridge was carried out under possessions at night time, four nights per week and six hours per night. The temporary accommodation provided accessible toilets, waiting rooms and ticket offices while the station buildings were closed.
Project Delivery
Existing services including S&E and fibre optic had to be negotiated during the course of the works with any under track crossings and much of the excavation works monitored by Irish Rail staff. Rigorous safety procedures were implemented to ensure no damage was caused to existing services.
The works involved greenfield and brownfield sites as well as working within live buildings at different stages. Brownfield sites on Irish Rail property can be challenging due to the potential for old infrastructure, contamination, unknown services, etc to be present. Trial holing and in some cases testing was carried out in advance to determine the likelihood of encountering unforeseen conditions during the works. Old drawings and historical maps were also consulted as were Irish rail staff in an attempt to gather as much information about the sites as possible prior to the works taking place.
A site agent was appointed to each site, who managed a team to deliver the works on the particular site. Each site agent was required to manage a civils gang and a building gang, who needed to work alongside each other to complete the works. On occasion, works were undertaken during the day and night concurrently, which necessitated the mobilisation of additional supervision. A contracts manager supervised the project as a whole to ensure that each site had the necessary resources to complete the works. Several subcontractors were common to each site also, and management of these subcontractors and the order in which they were to complete the works at each site needed to be programmed correctly to ensure no site was unduly delayed. The contracts manager and planning manager would visit each site weekly to update the project programme in conjunction with the site agents. This would highlight any potential scheduling conflict and allow a solution to be developed.
Rick management on this project took the form of weekly client meetings whereby the contracts manager, contracts director and site agents from CCL would meet with the client team, including IE’s Project Manager, M&E Consultant, Structural Consultant and Architect. The agenda for these weekly meetings included a discussion on the project risks, including mitigation measures, the current status of all risks not closed off, potential upcoming or future risks and their likelihood of occurrence and potential impact. This proved very useful for all concerned and encouraged teamwork with regard to minimizing the likelihood of risk occurring and also the impact of any which subsequently did occur. It served to sharpen the focus of all concerned and helped to ensure the project was delivered on time.
