Crossrail has launched a knowledge-sharing website to spread lessons learned during its construction with the wider industry. 

Welsh ambitions to embark upon some landmark infrastructure schemes will benefit from the learning passed on by the new knowledge sharing web site set up by Crossrail. Its Learning Legacy initiative will share good practice on a wide range of topics, including Health & Safety, Project Management, Engineering and the Environment. 

The reaction this week has been very positive with a lot of exchanges of information via social media and strong support from groups such as the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE).

The first tranche of material shares some of the early lessons that have been learned from the Crossrail programme.

It includes technical papers, peer-reviewed case studies and procedures, which have been published on a dedicated website here. Further material will be published every six months during the rest of the project. 

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive, said: “Passing on the lessons and good practice that we have learned at Crossrail is an absolutely essential part of raising the bar in the delivery of major projects.

“With an unprecedented number of infrastructure schemes around the corner, now is the time to start sharing what we have learned so the UK can build on its reputation for delivering safely, on time and on budget.”

The CEW Awards shortlist is out – but don’t worry you can still join in the fun if you’re names not included. Have you bought your table yet? Have you considered becoming a CEW Awards sponsor? Now’s the time to plan how you will be involved.

We have received over 100 entries of outstanding quality giving our judges a real headache – your award entries keep on improving and reflect real progress in Welsh construction. Take a look at our shortlist (below or via the web site) and start planning your diary, sort out your suits and dresses and book a table for the 15th July at the Celtic Manor. It is the tenth anniversary of the CEW Awards so we are planning a BIG night!

But meanwhile think about how else you can get involved. Apart from booking a table and enjoying the fun why not become a sponsor? The CEW Awards dinner is the biggest night of the year for construction in Wales – if you want to be noticed, or you want to remind stakeholders what your organisation does for the industry in Wales then talk to Sue Selkirk about becoming a CEW Awards 2016 sponsor.

Integration & Collaborative Working Award

• Cloud Based Supplier Intelligence and Analytics – ABC Electrification
• Cwmbran High School – Torfaen CBC/Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd
• M4 Junction 33 Capacity Improvement –  Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd 
• North Wales Construction Framework – Denbighshire County Council
• South and Mid Wales Collaborative Construction Framework (SEWSCAP) – Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC
• Welsh National Sailing Academy and Events Centre – Wynne Construction

Sustainability Award – Our Legacy

• Burry Port Community Primary School –  WRW Construction
• Cyfarthfa Retail Park Phase 2 – Powell Dobson Architects
• Project Riverside – Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd
• Ysgol Bro Llifon – Cyngor Gwynedd

Value Award

• Bryn Ivor Lodge – Castleoak
• Burry Port Community Primary School –  WRW Construction Ltd
• Cyfarthfa Retail Park Phase 2 – Powell Dobson Architects
• Llwyncrwn Primary School – Morgan Sindall
• The Agilis School Model – ISG

Health & Safety Award

• Kier Construction Western & Wales
• Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales Phase 2 – Interserve Construction
• Sobell Development – Laing O'Rourke Construction Ltd

Innovation Award

• Adult Mental Health Unit, Llandough Hospital – Laing O'Rourke Construction Limited
• Burry Port Community Primary School –  WRW Construction
• Cloud Based Supplier Intelligence and Analytics – ABC Electrification
• coBuilder
• Sobell Development – Laing O'Rourke Construction Limited
• The Agilis School Model – ISG

BIM Project of the Year

• A465 Dualling Section 3 – Carillion Civil Engineering
• Adult Mental Health Unit, Llandough Hospital – Laing O'Rourke Construction Limited
• Holywell Learning Campus – Galliford Try

Client of the Year

• Cardiff & Vale University Health Board
• South & Mid Wales Collaborative Construction Framework (SEWSCAP)
• South Wales Police

Leadership & People Development Award

• A465 Heads of the Valleys Section 2 – Costain Ltd
• SME Supply Chain Academy - Costain Ltd
• Engineers for Overseas Development Limited  (EFOD)
• Lendlease North Wales Prison Project – Lendlease
• Pinkspiration – Transforming Spaces – Design Factor
• Willmott Dixon Leadership & People Development Strategy 2015

Project of the Year - Civils

• A465 Dualling Section 3 – Carillion Civil Engineering
• Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm – Jones Brothers & Balfour Beatty Joint Venture
• Pont Briwet – Cyngor Gwynedd
• Rhiwbina Flood Defence Scheme – Raymond Brown Construction Limited

Project of the Year – Buildings

• Adult Mental Health Unit, Llandough Hospital – Laing O'Rourke Construction Limited
• Burry Port Community Primary School –  WRW Construction
• Cwmgelli Lodge - Morganstone Limited
• Loftus Garden Village – Seren Group
• Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales – Interserve Construction
• Sobell Development – Laing O'Rourke Construction Limited

SME of the Year, Young Achiever and Achiever of the Year shortlist will be announced over the next few weeks.

Construction is the great enabler for our society and nowhere is this better illustrated than in the plans for a new lifeboat station in Llandudno.

A modern new boathouse in Llandudno worth £2.5million will begin construction next week. The facility at Craig-y- Don will provide a home for the station’s new Shannon class all-weather lifeboat. The lifeboat is expected to arrive at the station in 2017, replacing existing Mersey class lifeboat Andy Pearce.

The current Lloyd Street boathouse in a busy town centre is not fit for purpose, in either its location or the facilities it offers.

The RNLI charity has been committed to saving lives at sea at Llandudno since a lifeboat service was established in the town in 1861. We are delighted to see work getting underway to see this much needed facility being introduced which will enable Llandudno to be home to an all-weather lifeboat for many more years to come.

– Lee Firman, divisional operations manager for the RNLI in North Wales.

The project is expected to take 14 months to complete.

Do you know how to install ventilation systems properly? The Zero Carbon Hub has done some research and guess what? Ventilation isn’t specified right or installed right.

The Zero Carbon Hub visited 33 dwellings across 6 construction sites in 2015 to see how effectively their mechanical ventilation systems were designed, installed, commissioned and handed over to occupants.

In summary, the ZCH team found things going wrong at multiple stages of the construction process at every site. The cumulative effect of these issues ultimately outweighed any good practice, as the systems they tested showed significant under-performance. At 5 of the 6 sites, fans were operating at only half the required duty or lower, i.e. flow rates were far too low.

The end result was that nearly all of the 13 occupants interviewed by the team across the sites had turned off their ventilation systems, finding them too noisy, especially at night. If systems are turned off, they are not doing their job. The air quality in the property will be compromised, with potentially serious consequences for the health of occupants.

The need to address such process-related issues is pressing. In highly efficient, airtight homes, reliance on accidental air leakage through leaky walls and windows no longer provides a safety net. It is essential that ventilation systems are designed, installed, commissioned and handed over to occupants in accordance with Building Regulations.

In common with other recent studies, our findings show that despite the availability of good practice guidance and training from Government departments, commercial companies, trade associations and professional bodies, minimum ventilation rates are still not being achieved in practice by the systems reviewed. The critical question is, why?

Consumers are acutely aware of the consequences of something going wrong with their boiler or with their electrical wiring, for example. The effects can be fatal.

It is time to borrow thinking used to improve issues with gas and electrical safety and apply similarly stringent frameworks in the ventilation sector. Failing ventilation systems may be less noticeably and immediately dangerous, but the effects over time are certainly not benign.

Look out for news of a CEW event soon to look at how to improve ventilation across Wales.