HS2 has opened a new on-site rebar steel component facility to reduce materials shortages at the Copthall tunnel in Hillingdon
The new facility will include 92,000 rebar steel couplers and will be constructed by a team of 14 workers. According to HS2, the facility will create new jobs, cut waste, and reduce lorry movements.
The Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV) team, who are constructing the tunnel, were subject to delays due to a shortfall of available prefabricated fatigue-rated rebar couplers after suppliers exited the market. The team have constructed an onsite threading facility which will allow them to produce adequate quantities of the materials themselves. This facility will lead to significant financial savings as inefficiency will be increased due to reduced lorry movement and waste.
The construction industry has suffered a shortage of raw materials over recent years, and the price of supplies has soared due to increased inflations. Government statistics have shown a consistent rise in the cost of building materials over the last few years. According to a report from Electrical Direct, builders in the UK say the rising cost of materials will be their most significant challenge in 2023.
The financial savings will be welcome news to HS2 after they recently announced delays to the project to spread out the cost over a longer period. Parts of the line between Birmingham, Crewe and Manchester will be “rephased” by two years, meaning the Crewe line could be delayed to 2036 and the Manchester line to 2043.
The rebar facility could take up to three years to complete
The construction team will work on the 880-metre-long facility for eight hours a day, six days a week, for up to three years. It took 20 weeks to get the development up and running as the workers needed to gain CARES certification (assured certification for the construction steel industry) and secure equipment from Leviat, a Sheffield-based construction supplies company.
Once these were secured, the team purchased stock rebar and completed on-site processing operations before undergoing the four-step threading process. To reduce the emission and supports the HS2 Net Zero Carbon target, all work at the site will take place within the site boundary, reducing lorry movement.
“Uncertainties in the market and the need to meet the requirements of the HS2 construction programme meant that we had to look at an innovative solution for supplying fatigue-rated mechanical reinforcement connections. In mid-2022, we started engaging with partners, including Leviat and CARES to develop an on-site processing scheme. Within 20 weeks, we were processing our first order,” said Ray Moloney, senior project manager for SCS JV, who designed the solution.
“The solution has created new jobs, offered new training opportunities for engineers and means that we can remove the risk of any delays in construction due to supply shortages,” he added.
The new approach could benefit sites across the HS2 project
“We are always looking at ways to improve construction efficiency and are pleased to support our construction partners in developing solutions like this and getting them off the ground. Ray and the team have developed an approach that means we can stay on track, save money, and be replicated elsewhere,” said HS2’s project client, Malcolm Codling.
The rebar steel facility offers a new model for the manufacturing of material on-site, which may benefit other construction projects. In addition to the Copthall tunnel works, the facility has also provided fatigue-rated couplers to other HS2 works sites that SCS JV is working on.
