19 May, 2022 By Catherine Kennedy
Innovations trialled at HS2 Ltd’s first diesel-free construction site are set to be deployed at other sites in the future.
Last week HS2 marked a major milestone, with the project unveiling the Canterbury Road Vent Shaft site in South Kilburn, London as its first diesel-free location.
Other sites – yet to be revealed – are soon set to follow suit with diesel-free innovations and greener equipment as the project seeks to cut carbon across the whole of the route. SCS JV managing director James Richardson said the team is “constantly looking at new pieces of plant, new pieces of equipment, and learning about those as we implement them”.
At the Canterbury Road site, for example, one of the UK’s first 160t emissions-free fully electric crawler cranes was tested and its success means it can be implemented elsewhere.
“We didn’t know whether it was going to work but we’ve found it works very effectively so now we can roll that out further,” Richardson said.
The site’s location means that diesel-free construction can have a real impact, with quieter machinery like the crane appreciated by local residents.
HS2 Ltd air quality manager Andrea Davidson explained: “It’s quite constrained in terms of the boundaries. We have residents right near the site as well as a school in really close proximity so it’s really important that we looked at cleaner, more efficient ways of doing things.
“Having the site as diesel-free means reducing emissions and reducing emissions and noise really does result in reducing impact on all the surrounding communities as well as making it a safer and cleaner place to work.”
HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson added: “Being able to reduce the amount of noise for local residents is really important and we’ve had some great feedback on the crane. As soon as it came to site, residents were saying ‘wow that’s really made an impact in reducing the amount of noise that this site generates’. So there are all sorts of benefits.”
Overall, for Davidson, a key lesson is “around education and buy in”.
She added: “It’s understanding what operations need what type of equipment, then understanding what solutions are out there and having confidence that those solutions will do what we need them to do.”
160t emissions-free fully electric crane
In addition, the site’s smaller size meant the changes could be achieved “without some of the challenges larger sites might have”, according to Richardson.
The Canterbury Road Vent Shaft site is also being used to consider new materials options, for example reducing carbon in sprayed concrete linings.
Richardson explained: “We need to be very careful about how we proceed with this sometimes. Diesel-free is a fairly straightforward move that we can actually make. New technologies need to be brought into that.
“With regard to some of the change in materials around carbon in particular we need to think of the longevity of those materials, particularly when we’re building a railway for many many years to come and making sure it’s integral for all that period of time.”
The progress in South Kilburn comes after HS2 Ltd’s announcement in January that the project aims to be net zero carbon from 2035, with the target of achieving its first diesel-free construction site in 2022, and all diesel-free construction sites by 2029.
Reducing emissions and improving air quality on HS2 construction sites is crucial for both the environment and surrounding communities. HS2 is collaborating with the industry and its supply chain to accelerate innovations in low carbon technologies, such as fully electric machinery, alternative fuels and renewable energy solutions.
Davidson said that a key challenge is “getting the right suppliers on board, getting the right sub-contractors on board, and getting your operatives to buy into that as well”.
In addition, she emphasised the importance of an industry-wide approach.
“It’s a range of different solutions unique to every construction site – not just on HS2, but in the wider construction industry,” she said. “We’re doing a lot of work with Network Rail, with National Highways and with government bodes like the Department for Transport and BEIS where we’re really looking to align our goals and objectives to decarbonise the construction industry as a whole and not just as a one-off.
“We want to leave that lasting legacy as a project across the industry.”
The Canterbury Road Vent Shaft site features in NCE’s latest News Wrap video, which you can watch now:
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Tagged with: Diesel-free Emissions hs2
And yet you only provide one example from the many innovations introduced to achieve this commendable goal. An opportunity to inform your readership missed!
And we have multiple HS2 HGV’s using roads next to schools. One has just decided to park in a tight carpark meant for local residents to shop. To reverse out he needs a banksman to do that safely missing pedestrians some elderly some with low lying push chairs. He has a blind spot how does he think he is to reverse on to the A525 a detrunked main road with true knowledge of safety. Debunks HS2’s claims in this article in several ways don’t you think. Reg of HS2 vehicle LD69 AGC.
Is there a cost to this diesel free initiative, and how was this cost met under the contract, and by whom? I think you should provide a fuller explanation of this issue as I am pretty sure SGS JV would not have taken this initiative at its own cost. Also, was there a time impact?
Yup most certainly seen lots of pictures of these electric ‘zero emission’ cranes when actually they are having to run huge generators 24/7 guzzling huge amounts of diesel to supply the electricity.
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