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Digging the dirt on HS2

5 Feb 15 The proposed high-speed rail link between London and the West Midlands presents massive opportunities and challenges for contractors and plant manufacturers alike, reports Jim Simpson

Earthmoving is an intrusive activity. Critics of HS2 cite its predecessor HS1 as evidence of the environmental damage it will cause
Earthmoving is an intrusive activity. Critics of HS2 cite its predecessor HS1 as evidence of the environmental damage it will cause

Although the HS2 rail link remains controversial in some quarters, it is already a foregone conclusion – so far as HS2 Ltd and the government are concerned — that construction work will start in 2017. Last year (2014) saw the start of the “construction phase” (confusingly named, as no construction is expected to take place until 2017). In 2016 the hybrid Bill is expected to receive Royal assent and enabling works can begin.

Meanwhile, HS2 executives have spent much of the past 12 months attending industry conferences, establishing supply chains and setting up workshops as they prepare the industry for the scale of the project and what it will involve. The figures put forward by HS2 construction boss John Carroll at a recent conference of the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) showed that the project “delivers the equivalent of two dual three-lane motorways”. Carroll’s official title is ‘head of construction and logistics, hybrid Bill team’ and he has spent the last few months introducing the project to the civil engineering industry — and earthmoving specialists in particular.

Among the statistics Carroll presented recently from HS2’s “route-wide mass haul movement plan” was the sheer volume of earth to be excavated and moved: 55 million cubic metres of ‘suitable excavated material moved by transport’ and more than 62 million cubic metres of material excavated in total. On a global scale HS2 might not be the largest high-speed rail link in the world, says Colin Timms, senior consultant with Off- Highway Research, a management consultancy specialising in the research and analysis of international construction and agricultural equipment markets. China, he points out, has built the equivalent of over 2,000 miles of high-speed train line in the past seven years. Even so, HS2 is still a weighty project in European terms.

“Building HS2 will be one of the largest infrastructure projects undertaken in Europe when it is built, comparable to the massive extension of the French TGV network in the 1990s,” says Timms. “It’s bound to have a big impact on the market for plant in the UK.”

Just to take one example - that of articulated dump trucks - Carroll estimates that at its peak, HS2 will employ 430 ADTs. This is the equivalent of the current entire annual UK output, according to Timms. It will probably boost the UK market to around 700 units for that year, making it the largest market for ADTs in Europe by far and second only to the vast North American market in size. “The project will have a similar effect on the market for other plant associated with ADTs, such as excavators,” says Timms. Not surprisingly Rob Oliver, chief executive of the Construction Equipment Association, says the project will be a welcome boost to his members, though one that will require careful planning if the UK is to derive the full benefits. “HS2 will significantly boost the demand for plant but it’s important to bear in mind that out of the 30,000 units manufactured in the UK each year 70% is exported,” he notes.

“So UK manufacturers should be engaged so that they can meet this domestic demand without the construction industry resorting to imports.” While scale is important, Carroll is at pains to emphasise that it is not a case of ‘business as usual’. The contractors who are serious about bidding for the various packages involved in Phase One will have to demonstrate that they have “vigorous safety processes with long records of achieving high standards as well being able to innovate constantly” so as to “build better, faster and cheaper than other comparable HS railways,” he says.

In his discussions with the industry, Carroll has promoted HS2 as providing both a ‘showcase’ and a ‘legacy’ for UK civil engineering, enabling it to demonstrate the efficiency of the UK construction sector to the rest of the world. And he has pointed out that there are other high-speed rail projects in the offing elsewhere in the world and that the UK needs to show that it is as expert at delivering them as, for instance, the Japanese, the Germans, the French and the Spanish. This, he argues, goes hand in hand with concern for the environment.

These concerns will lead to HS2 becoming a catalyst for the widespread introduction of the Euro VI and Stage IV power plants, pushing forward the change from a polluting engine to a non-polluting engine. And the challenge presented by HS2 is not limited simply to plant. Carroll’s projections show that HS2 will deliver up to 50,000 jobs a year during construction and a proportion of these will be the operators of the machines excavating and transporting material. Innovation should bring efficiency improvement and thus should lead to the ability to do more with fewer resources — particularly the trained personnel that are currently in short supply. Taken together with the other elements on the HS2 wish list — dust suppression, light pollution and ‘intelligent equipment management’ — it becomes clear that the procurement process will be more than a case of rounding up the usual suspects. As Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, observes, “There will be packages of work that are both large and small so there will be opportunities for every size of contractor. But what is clear is that to be successful in bidding for work they will have to demonstrate competencies in areas such as BIM, a strong track record in safety and training, and an agile approach to innovation.

“HS2 has made it clear that it wants to take advantage of tested technologies to improve efficiency and to use recognized best practice,” continues Reisner. And that could favour a relatively small regional specialist as much as one of the larger, more established players.

But the signs are that the manufacturers are more geared up to the challenge of HS2 than most contractors or plant hirers, possibly because they have been exporting into those very markets that have already focused on improving efficiency. Both Caterpillar and JCB, for instance, two names synonymous with muckshifting, can already offer the power units and telematics systems that HS2 would require.

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JCB’s product range includes many of the machines that HS2 will need — backhoes, Loadall telehandlers, excavators and wheeled loaders. One of the stipulations of the project’s contracting team will be that all machinery meets the latest emissions regulations. JCB Power Systems, which supplies the majority of the company’s equipment divisions, manufactures a range of power plants that meet all current emissions standards without the need for costly diesel particulate filters (DPF). Meanwhile, Caterpillar launched the 336EH hybrid excavator last year, using a special hydraulic hybrid system to recycle energy and reduce fuel consumption, so there is no question of the company being able to meet HS2’s environmental agenda. Caterpillar has already introduced Cat Product Link, a telematics system that feeds back information on the hours, positioning, fuel consumption and performance of each machine via either mobile or satellite phone. Next year it is introducing an additional system to analyse payload for its range of ADTs. This will report back on how much each unit is actually carrying on each trip and will integrate with Product Link.

This information will be available to the customer and can also be monitored by a team of Finsight engineers at Caterpillar dealer Finning’s UK headquarters in Cannock. The Finsight team uses data from telemetry, on-site maintenance logs and fluid sampling to look for trends and potential issues that might affect the machines’ efficiency. For its part, JCB also has its own LiveLink telematic system, which provides fleet managers with up-to-theminute operating data, including fuel consumption, operating mode and location. Both companies and their distributors are also up to the mark in offering training to operators. JCB works closely with the CITB and has a CITB construction college centre within its demonstration and proving ground in Derbyshire. Finning has just launched its own Operator Academy in response to customer demand to train operators beyond simply being competent to being both competent and efficient, so that the machines’ capabilities are fully utilised.

So the manufacturers seem fully geared up to meet HS2 requirements. But according to Kevin Minton, director of the Construction Plant-hire Association, plant hire companies are somewhat less engaged — even though the CPA is working with HS2 to hold workshops on the supply chain.

“If there is any activity then it isn’t public,” he says. “Some members are already involved and committed to planning long term by talking to clients and principal contractors so they can work together and plan supply chain management. But that’s a small number who have responded positively to the opportunities offered by HS2 and will continue to do so. For the most part, though, there is little evidence that our members have grasped what HS2 can do for them — or if they have grasped it then they’re not speaking in public.” There is little evidence, too, that HS2 has had any effect upon the supply chain for plant and equipment. Take Tata Steel, for example, which supplies all the major manufacturers operating in the UK, including JCB, with which it works on an engineering and design basis, and Caterpillar, which awarded Tata Steel ‘Gold’ status in its Supplier Quality Excellence Process (SQEP).

“We would anticipate seeing increases in our customers’ annual build forecast as soon as a decision has been made, and this would be firmed up as their customers, particularly equipment rental companies, start to plan how they are going to meet the demand for equipment, and begin to place orders for new or replacement machines,” said a Tata spokesman. That “as soon as a decision has been made” hits the nail on the head. People in the construction industry are not prone to counting their chickens before they’re hatched and HS2 remains a highly controversial scheme despite the coalition government’s reassurances.

Before the all-important decision is made, there is the small matter of a general election in May 2015 to consider. All three main parties are, to a greater or lesser extent, in favour of HS2 – in principle, at least. But that is no guarantee that political expediency won’t throw a spanner in the works somewhere along the way.

So, with construction work scheduled to start in less than three years’ time, there is little evidence that HS2 is actually affecting the construction market yet — despite its massive scale and its worthy ambitions to become a showcase for British expertise.

This article first appeared in the December/January 2015 issue of The Construction Index magazine. To read the full magazine online, click here.

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