In 1991 most thought it imminent, when a Private Bill was submitted to Parliament by British Rail and London Underground. Unfortunately the Bill was rejected in 1994. In 2000, the Strategic Railway Authority conducted a study on the requirements for extra passenger capacity to, and through, London and a year later CLRL was formed. Oakervee was a late addition to CLRL, not joining until December 2005. At that stage there was already the political will behind Crossrail, as long as it was made affordable.RouteThe Crossrail route is 119km long, from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The alignment also includes 21km of twin bored running tunnel through central London (figure 1). A recent addition to the scheme is the inclusion of Woolwich Station, which held the scheme up for almost six months, while this political issue was resolved. Crossrail is needed for the growth of London, to enable the City to remain the financial centre of Europe. London’s population is expected to grow to between 8.5 to 9.0M by 2016, which is actually back to pre-war numbers, but the big difference now is people have much further to travel between their home and place of work; generally either in the West End, the City, or the Isle of Dogs, on an east-west axis concentration. Crossrail is also essential for the continued regeneration of Thames Gateway and Lea Valley areas.Key objectives and benefitsThe legacy promised from the 2012 Olympics is regeneration and Crossrail is needed to help unlock the benefits of the Olympics and achieve this. The scheme will also add 10% to the public transport network and reduce crowding on the tube. It is not just London that will benefit, the whole of the UK should benefit through increased taxes (of at least US$30.6bn) and GDP benefits (of at least US$76bn). The scheme has an overall cost-benefit ratio approaching 3:1. Hybrid BillThe Hybrid Bill provides the power to build Crossrail, planning approval (subject to detailed consents) and the authority to compulsory purchase 7000 parcels of land required to build the scheme. It also provides the framework to manage the project impact; defining environmental minimum requirements and commitments. The House of Commons select committee have allowed a proper hearing of the scheme, including the 466 petitions that were lodged. The scheme has now passed through the Commons, where the Bill was originally deposited in February 2005, and was given the formal go-ahead on 5 October 2007. The motion went to the House of Lords on 25 October 2007, where it now has to go through the process again. Royal Assent is expected during the summer of 2008. FundingInitially, a cautious estimate had been put together for the cost of the scheme. Since Oakervee has joined CLRL the cost has been reviewed, with both a top-down and full bottom-up cost estimates. This process has been lead by a rail operator, rather than an engineer, as the operator would be able to see from the management side – what would work and what wouldn’t. This has also been subject to independent review. The capital cost of the project has been reduced by approximately 20% from that originally envisaged, demonstrating to the sponsors and the Treasury that Crossrail is an affordable project and this has been accepted. Value engineering of the scheme is still ongoing; so far 305 proposals have been explored, classified and rationalised. Value engineering will continue until the scheme is built.RiskA strategic risk management plan has been developed with the key stakeholders of the project and through strong communication between all parties the aim has been to price contingencies out. Extensive risk analysis has been undertaken by CLRL and Bechtel, with the risks and analyses reviewed by 3rd parties and the Treasury to determine the levels of contingency required. There are also a large number of interface risks, including: the Olympics, London Underground, National Rail, Thameslink, East London Line and Thames Tideway interfaces. Memorandums of understandings have been signed with all involved. There are also risks in terms of resources; the Tideway project (p32) is a risk in terms of both design and construction resources, but communications are ongoing at CEO level between the two organisations.Finance and ownershipThe Department for Transport (DfT) included the CLRL bid in the national submission for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, after an independent review had endorsed the CLRL cost estimate and quantification of risk. US$33bn has been allocated for Crossrail; this is not however at today’s money, but at the time the scheme will be built and includes everything, not just the construction cost. The only item not included in this figure is the rolling stock. The overall funding breakdown is confidential, but the cost has been split between the government, Crossrail farepayers and the private sector. It is public knowledge that money has been provided from the City of London, while Canary Wharf Group will build the Isle of Dogs Station and Berkeley Homes will build Woolwich Station. At present CLRL is jointly owned by the DfT and Transport for London (TfL) in a 50:50 split. After Royal Assent it is intended the scheme will become a 100% subsidiary of TfL, but remain a separate company.DeliveryAs mentioned previously Royal Assent is expected during the summer of 2008, followed by enabling works commencing in 2009 and the start of construction in 2010. The first TBM is expected to be launched in 2011, with the overall scheme open to the public from 2017 (figure 2). Up to 24 trains an hour will run through the Central Tunnels, but problems with network capacity mean only 14 trains an hour can continue on past Paddington to the west, where the surface line is shared with the Train Operating Companies (TOCS) and Freight Operating Companies (FOCS).ScopeThe Crossrail scheme involves 90km of modifications to surface railways, with 28 existing stations to be upgraded, 11 of which will be major reconstructions. There will also be four siding locations, one depot and a control centre. Below surface, there will be 21km of new 6m i.d. twin bore running tunnels through Central London, plus a further 7km of sub-surface railway to Heathrow. There will also be nine new underground stations and 14 shafts for ventilation, intervention and escape, although it is hoped that the number of shafts could be cut down to seven through consultation with the stakeholders.The scope also includes all necessary railway systems and a mainline train fleet, which could run up to 58 peak period services per hour.DesignAn Integrated Design Team has recently been formed from the original four MDCs (Scott Wilson, MDC1; Arup/Atkins JV, MDC2; Mott MacDonald, MDC3 and Halcrow, MDC4). The four main objectives of the design are: 1) A design that can be built, operated and maintained safely. 2) Meeting the Sponsor’s requirements. 3) The most economical way of meeting key stakeholder requirements. 4) A programme and target cost matching the business needs.The eventual construction contract strategy was originally foreseen to be Design-and-Build, but through consultation and feedback from the industry, the strategy is now being reviewed to an Engineer’s Design, although this is still to be confirmed. If this change in strategy does occur, the future design is still likely to be through an Integrated Design Team, with the detailed design now the Client’s responsibility rather than that of the contractors. CLRL would prefer to see a single team in one location, preferably with the same players, rather than having to start afresh, but this will need to be done in accordance with European procurement rules, before the detailed design work is awarded. The same goes for the role of delivery partner.Tunnelling strategyOriginally a large number of TBMs were envisaged, but recent value engineering has reduced the anticipated number of TBMs down to seven; with drives from Royal Oak Portal to Farringdon, Limo Peninsular to Farringdon, Stepney Green to Pudding Mill Lane and Limo Peninsular to Woolwich (figure 3, p29). Enabling works at the portals is scheduled to commence in 2009, with the first TBMs entering the ground in 2011 and the last TBMs finishing their drives in 2015.The diameter of the Crossrail running tunnels is envisaged to be 6.0m i.d, which is smaller than the 7.15m i.d. of CTRL, but larger than the 4.35m i.d. of the Jubilee Line Extension (figure 4). The tunnels are within London Clay where possible, except at Farringdon and to the east where the tunnels under the River Thames will be in the chalk. TBMs are seen as the primary source of controlling ground movements, with grouting as a secondary control measure, so the TBMs will have a high-specification. It is likely that EPBMs will be utilised for the Central Tunnels with a Slurry TBM for the Thames Crossing. Talks are also ongoing with London Underground regarding the possibility of carrying cooling pipes through the new tunnels as part of the Cooling the Tube initiative.The cross-section of the platform tunnels has developed from the original egg shaped profile, but the platforms are still up to 5m wide. The central (Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel) platform tunnels are all envisaged to be formed of Spayed Concrete Linings (SCL) and will be 245m long with a cross-sectional area of 95m2. The Central Tunnels and Shaft worksites are all physically constrained and logistics will be a key issue. Where possible traffic congestion will be minimised through material deliveries and spoil removal by rail in the west and barge in the east; 8.5Mm3 of excavated material is predicted to be removed along with a requirement for 1.1Mm3 of concrete.The original crossover cavern beneath the Barbican Centre has now been replaced by leading and trailing step-plate crossovers to the east of Fisher Street.LabourA maximum labour workforce of almost 15,000 is predicted during the course of the scheme (figure 5). There is currently ongoing communication and work with the industry to plan for the required resources with the main skills shortages expected to be at technician level, so the potential for setting up a training academy in East London is currently being investigated; this would provide tunnelling NVQs, construction and engineering diplomas. It is hoped that one of the main legacies from Crossrail will be trained technicians for future tunnelling works such as Tideway, Crossrail Line 2 and other major upcoming tunnelling projects in the UK. It would be fantastic to be able to maintain continuity, rather than having to start all over again, as seen following the CTRL project. Crossrail also goes through some of the most deprived areas of London and it is hoped to be able to use local resources wherever possible.ProcurementThe form of construction contract is not yet fixed, but it is envisaged that CLRL will start talks with contractors early next year. The key is affordability; the budget has been set at US$33bn and cannot be exceeded. Risks will be allocated to those best able to manage them and there could well be Early Contractor Involvement, along with some form of gain/pain share arrangement. The Central Tunnels are likely to form four major tunnel packages; Royal Oak to Farringdon, Limo to Farringdon & Stepney Green to Pudding Mill Lane, North Woolwich to Plumstead and the Connaught Tunnel Refurbishment. In addition to this there is likely to be one construction package per station, both for the central mined stations and the eastern cut-and-cover stations. There are also extensive enabling works for the scheme and forums with major utility companies are ongoing to try and smooth out the demand on resources.
Crossrail’s route passes under the City of London Douglas Oakervee (left) Gordon Brown (centre), Ken Livingstone and Ruth Kelly (right) Questions from the Floor
Professor Bassett (University College London) noted that 14 trains per hour terminate at Paddington and that these trains would be a job to turn around. He asked whether the option of taking some of these trains north to Watford had been considered?
Oakervee responded that a lot of options had been considered, but the timetable slots with National Rail are very limited. It was noted that this may improve with future upgrades, but CLRL are currently providing the best service that they are able to.
Mike McConnel (Retired) asked how has confidence been gained with the programme durations and budgets, and secondly how had a cost benefit ratio of 3:1 been achieved?
Oakervee responded that Bechtel are the current delivery partner and with their database of London projects they had independently come up with a very similar answer to CLRL. In terms of the cost benefit ratio, Oakervee stated that most projects come in at a ratio of 2:1, so 3:1 is quite high, but some economists have even come up with to 5:1 for the Crossrail scheme, with the additional benefits that the scheme brings, so 3:1 appears to be a good base case.
Antony Umney (OTB) noted that architecture had been a key issue on the Jubilee Line Extension and asked what approach is being taken on Crossrail?
Oakervee stated the aim is to get the architecture right (and hopefully win a few prizes), but CLRL will not be spending a fortune on architecture. Architects are already working alongside the engineers in the IDT and a lot of attention has already been given to the subject.
Martin Knights (President of the ITA / Jacobs) asked that with two huge tunnelling projects planned to occur at the same time, Crossrail and Tideway, what measures are in place to resource these projects?
Oakervee noted that a lot of planning is ongoing, with CLRL and TWUL working together. It is envisaged many international contractors will be interested in both projects, hopefully working alongside British firms. It was also stated that a number of Chinese contractors have already visited the UK to find out more about these upcoming jobs.
Barry New (GCG) asked Oakervee what he envisaged to be the key engineering challenges on Crossrail and secondly what are the views of the stakeholders on these challenges?
Oakervee noted that the Government has already spent £400M (US$830M) on developing the scheme, so a lot of excellent engineering had already been done, with a wealth of knowledge built up over the last 20 years. The major challenges are seen to be skills shortages and logistics; with the first, the hope is to leave a legacy behind of a trained skill base for the future. The key engineering challenges are mainly with the stations; the stations vs the developers. Oakervee noted that mechanisms are however in place and CLRL are working closely and collaborating with the developers.
Shani Wallis (Journalist) asked whether there was no way that Crossrail could have been in place for the Olympics?
Oakervee responded that CLRL understands that Crossrail was never needed for the Olympics, the infrastructure that is required is instead the upgrade of the East London Line and the upgrade of the signalling on the Jubilee Line.
Concluding, Bob Ibell, chair of the meeting, thanked Oakervee for a very interesting, open presentation. Ibell noted that it sounded like the project had been a triumph of communications to date and offered his congratulations on this.
Ibell also highlighted that one of the key issues is the probable labour force for this project are still currently at school, so hopefully a legacy of this project will be a newly trained workforce; this is also a current key BTS initiative of the Training & Education sub-committee.
Rapporteur: Nathan Wilmot
Fig 1 – Crossrail’s alignment Fig 2 – Summary programme for the Crossrail scheme Fig 3 – Tunnelling strategy, including portals, shafts and contract information Fig 4 – Running tunnel comparison Fig 5 – Predicted labour workforces required through the project
