Spencer Group has won the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) South East England Engineering Innovation Award for the pedestrian subway slide at Rochester Station, which was carried out during Easter 2014. The 850t concrete subway was slid into position on a cushion of compressed nitrogen; the first time in the UK this method was used.
The construction of the new subway was completed off-line, close to the site of the new, Access for All, Rochester station that Spencer are currently building. Once construction was complete, the existing embankment was excavated through and the subway, which is 28m long, 76m wide and 4m high was slid into place with compressed nitrogen.
The awards celebrate outstanding civil engineering achievement and Spencer will now be automatically considered for the ICE National Award later this year, which is to be held at ICE Headquarters in Westminster, London.
Spencer Group Project Director, Adrian Kilburn said: “It has been a great job to be involved in, which has brought lots of challenges with it. We are all delighted to have won this award which is a testament to the expertise, forward-thinking and hard work of everyone involved from the early tendering days to design to implementation.”
This award comes off the back of a string of industry awards in recent months for Spencer, including the Smeaton Award, which is another from the ICE, for their work on the Humber Bridge.
Rochester Station and the subway is part of a £145m project comprising of the upgrade to 33miles of East Kent’s railway lines, encompassing re-signalling, track and civil works. Spencer are also involved with the creation of a new platform at Rainham, the extension of platforms at Strood and Sole Street Stations and the installation of a new footbridge at Alyesford.
