The Power & Energy and Rail sectors are going through a time of substantial investment, driven by the need to upgrade our infrastructure and move towards a global net zero emissions economy. Key projects include National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade, Network Rail’s Control Period (CP7), and the All-Island Strategic Rail Review (AISRR).
The complexity and scale of infrastructure projects necessitate careful temporary works design and coordination. But their importance can often be underestimated, particularly in the design phase, leading to health and safety risks, delays, and increased costs; ongoing coordination efforts are also vital to a project’s success.
What are temporary works?
Temporary works refer to engineering structures that are required to facilitate the construction of permanent works but are not part of the final structure. Examples include scaffolding, crane platforms, props, and access roads.
As Jeremy Barnes, Technical Director at Whitfield Consulting Services (WCS) explains, “All construction projects require some form of temporary works, but the complexity can range from basic, low risk work on small projects to large, sophisticated structures required for more complex builds.”
Why is temporary works design and coordination so important?
Jeremy highlights that while it is difficult to completely overlook temporary works — even if they are missed in the design stage, it quickly becomes apparent on-site that they are needed — the real risk, however, is when temporary works have not been properly considered.
“This can lead to failures such as safety issues and delays, particularly if the temporary works are not properly designed to handle environmental factors such as wind load or ground settlement.”
Such failures have been documented in various safety reports, including those from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS) and the Temporary Works Forum (TwF). These organisations highlight incidents where poor temporary works design has resulted in safety breaches and accidents.
The risks are not limited to safety. Failing to properly design and coordinate temporary works can lead to project delays and budget overruns.
The role of effective coordination
Given the nature of modern construction, with multiple contractors and subcontractors involved in a single project, effective coordination of temporary works is essential.
The role of a Temporary Works Coordinator (TWC), a recommendation that arose from the 1970s Bragg Report following a major bridge collapse, is to ensure that all parties involved in the project communicate effectively and that temporary works designs are compatible with the overall construction plan.
“It is critical to ensure that different contractors are talking to each other and that temporary works are properly coordinated across a project,” says Jeremy.
Regular interface meetings between different contractors and subcontractors are one way that WCS ensures that this coordination happens. These meetings provide a forum for discussing potential health and safety risks and ensuring that everyone is aligned on the temporary works strategy.
The importance of early involvement
By factoring temporary works design into earlier stages of a project, engineers can anticipate potential challenges and develop solutions that align with the overall construction sequence.
“Constructability is a key aspect,” adds Jeremy. “By constructability, I mean examining how the permanent structure is going to be built, considering the stage-by-stage process of construction. This involves looking at how each part of the structure transitions through various phases until it reaches its final state. Once you’ve mapped out that sequence, the necessary temporary works, such as supports or scaffolding, naturally flow from that planning.”
“The interfacing between temporary and permanent works is key to ensuring that the permanent structure is built to the required design, safely and economically,” adds Jeremy.
The WCS approach
“When we are appointed as temporary works designers, we undertake a critical review of the construction sequence and the constructability of the permanent works we have been contracted to assess,” says Jeremy.
This includes a health and safety risk review and a value engineering exercise to identify opportunities for reducing the amount of temporary works and the overall cost of construction.
“When we are appointed to design a piece of temporary work, such as propping, we won’t just focus on that alone. We aim to understand the full construction sequence of the permanent works, ensuring the temporary works align with the overall strategy.
“If we identify risks or opportunities for improvement, we will communicate those to the client,” adds Jeremy.
A dual service
“Because we specialise in both permanent and temporary works, we have a unique advantage,” adds Jeremy.
“Many companies focus on either permanent or temporary works, but our dual expertise allows us to fully understand and address project requirements. As permanent works designers, we have a deep understanding of how our structures will be built, and as temporary works designers, we know what must be considered for future construction phases,” says Jeremy.
Case study: Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank, set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, required extensive temporary works and meticulous coordination due to its scale and complexity. Hitachi Energy appointed Nick Lowe, Director at WCS, as the Lead TWC for a critical portion of the project related to the on-shore substation.
“We were engaged early to integrate temporary works into the project schedule and managed coordination among various contractors to avoid conflicts,” says Nick.
Coordinating these different parties ensured that their activities did not conflict and that the temporary works were correctly designed and executed.
“Each of the companies Hitachi Energy subcontracted – including civil contractors for foundation work and electrical contractors for equipment installation – had their own temporary works coordinators,” Nick continues, “our role was to coordinate all of them. For example, one company might want to dig a large excavation right next to another setting up a crane, and those two operations cannot happen side by side – you need to sequence them properly.
“Managing temporary works ineffectively can lead to severe issues, such as crane overturning or an excavation collapse,” Nick adds.
Visit our guide, Delivering the UK’s net zero goals through civil engineering expertise, for more information on the Dogger Bank project.
Case study: Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line electrification project is a £1.5 billion initiative to upgrade the railway line. WCS is providing both temporary and permanent civil designs to various stages of the project.
This included civil designs to ensure the safe transportation of the UK’s largest ASG25 substation to site. The Wigston mid-point auto transformer site (MPATS), measuring over 44 metres in length, had to be divided into three sections for transport.
Visit the full case study for insights into how this was achieved, along with details of other temporary works completed on the project: Powering progress: WCS’s contribution to the Midland Main Line electrification project.
Temporary works for long-term success
“Temporary works are an inherent cost in all projects, and early consideration of them can bring both commercial and health and safety advantages. Overlooking them is a risk that no project can afford to take,” concludes Jeremy.
To find out more about how we work, or to see some of our recently completed projects, visit our portfolio page or get in touch.
