When National Highways needed to widen the westbound A31 from two lanes to three, we were brought in to collaboratively deliver the detailed design and environmental services with VolkerFitzpatrick. The objective? Safely widen the segment between the Ringwood and Verwood junctions and remove and reconstruct two bridges over the River Avon and Bickerley Mill Stream. However, this project would include significant environmental constraints associated with these watercourses as it runs alongside a special area of conservation.
A true multidisciplinary effort—our technical design, bridges, archaeological, landscape, ecological design, acoustic, air quality, and environmental management teams worked to obtain a range of consents. Proximity to the River Avon meant working with the Environment Agency, Natural England, and the local authority to minimise the ecological impact on the local habitat and address construction challenges. In particular, wildlife considerations, including salmon migration as well as otter and bat mitigations, were successfully navigated—achieving zero harm and a net gain to biodiversity.
Detailed building information modelling (BIM) and 3D/4D modelling helped the overall design coordination, including critical service clash detection, a constructability review, and visualisation for stakeholders and the construction team.
With this extensive road widening project—a part of the Regional Delivery Partnership—the A31 segment at Ringwood and Verwood will improve safety and provide more capacity to improve journey time reliability for the road user without negatively impacting the surrounding environment.
With 4.1-gigawatt capacity, Berwick Bank Wind Farm is one of the largest offshore wind opportunities in development in the world, and a key part of meeting United Kingdom Government’s offshore wind ambitions.
We were brought on to provide engineering design for the cable routes and onshore converter station, enabling power generated offshore to connect to the National Grid distribution network. To be sensitive to local constraints, our work explored multiple routing options for the cables. It included developing conceptual layouts of the converter station designed to minimise the need to export surplus materials while maximising sustainable drainage opportunities.
When complete, identifying and confirming the optimum grid connections will enable Berwick Bank to supply enough renewable energy to power Scotland’s households twice over.
Barton Park is the largest residential development undertaken in Oxford in the last generation. A joint venture between Oxford City Council and Grosvenor (BOLLP) and located to the northeast of the city centre, the development consists of residences, commercial units, community sports facilities, and a school. Our job? Multidisciplinary support to the main contractor (CA Blackwell) during the tender stages, ultimately leading to the project being awarded.
We provided support for the onsite delivery through the design and build contract. The first phase of housing is currently on sale with the marketing suites open to the public since September 2017. A number of units have been sold, and the first of the dwellings are set to be occupied soon. The development also includes future-proof solutions intended to allow versatility as time moves on, such as incorporating 20% on-site renewable energy generation.
It is with great satisfaction that we can see the development edging closer to completion and providing a much-needed new and modern community in Oxford. Barton Park is one of the first demonstrator sites for the NHS Healthy New Towns programme and is set up to explore how the built environment can support healthy lifestyles.
Yorkshire Water, working in collaboration with Stantec and other stakeholders, has created the UK's first ever smart water network. It incorporates a real-time informed hydraulic digital twin that works to further improve the essential water supply service provided to the community of Sheffield.
Utilising state-of-the-art digital twin technologies, digital water meters, sensors, advanced analytics, and telecommunications channels, the pilot will revolutionise the way Yorkshire Water manages leaks and interruptions to supply in the future. Through integrating almost 4,000 live data streams across an area covering over 20,000 properties in Hadfield, West Sheffield, the model enables simulated impact assessments and improved customer awareness. As a result, analysts in Yorkshire Water can prioritise repairs instantly, enabling leaks to be repaired quicker and reducing water lost. The project has efficiently reduced leakage by 32% in district metered areas with high intensity sensors and smart meters, and by delivering these efficiencies reduced CO2 emissions by 42%, delivering major environmental and social benefits for the community.
Following the success of the pilot, Yorkshire Water is expanding the smart water network to cover all of West Sheffield taking in 84 District Metered Areas—making it the largest smart water network in the UK.
We worked with Transport Scotland to develop its new National Transport Strategy. The aim? To set the strategic direction for transport and provide a framework for all transport policy and investment decisions to be made at national, regional, and local levels.
We gathered evidence and undertook analysis to understand the key challenges facing transport in Scotland now and over the next 20 years. We worked collaboratively with stakeholders to develop policies that could help achieve Transport Scotland’s four Priorities: Promotes Equality, Takes Climate Action, Helps Our Economy Prosper, and Improves Our Health and Wellbeing.
The Strategy was published for national consultation. Following the consultation, the responses were analysed and we amended the Strategy to reflect a number of suggestions from the public and a wide range of public, private, and third-sector organisations.
The Strategy was published in February 2020 and will help create a more inclusive society which provides opportunity for all—while also responding to the Scottish Government’s declared climate emergency and helping to achieve the statutory target of net zero emissions by 2045.
When Urban & Civic was looking to create a mixed-use, nature, heritage, and community-led redevelopment of the former Alconbury Airfield near Huntingdon, they looked to our multidisciplinary team for help.
Alconbury Weald is being developed in phases to deliver 6,500 homes and three million square feet (278,709 square metres) of employment space. From the early concept stage and securing outline planning permission, through to supporting the delivery on-site, we have provided engineering, transport planning and environmental services to allow the early delivery of enabling infrastructure needed to serve this new community, including integrating surface water drainage within the urban landscape to create a gateway feature to the residential site entrance. Our team also contributed acoustic studies as part of the environmental impact assessment to support the planning submission.
The community at Alconbury Weald continues to grow, with over 800 homes occupied on-site, and planning and design for the next phases on site continuing, including the delivery of a Country Park within Grange Farm.
