01.09.06
Hyder wins sustainable water award
Environmental specialists at Hyder Consulting have scooped the top innovation award at the ICE West Midlands Awards 2006, for a pioneering sustainable water engineering design at Tyseley Light Maintenance Train Depot in Birmingham.
Supported by the Birmingham Post and held at ThinkTank at Millennium Point, the international engineering firm beat off regional competition for the innovation award including Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, Moor Street Station, and Wolverhampton University’s New Technology Building.
Network Rail has invested £750,000 in a new under-frame washer system at Tyseley, one of the oldest depots in the country. Supplied by Ceccato SpA in Italy, GallifordTry Construction and Hyder Consulting respectively, built and designed the Works.
John Matthews, director of engineering services said, “We are delighted to have received recognition for our skills in such a high profile way. Adopting a sustainable water development system for this site is already creating greater efficiency in both financial and eco friendly terms. For example it now takes just seven minutes for the high-pressure hot wash of the under-frame of a three-car train. Previously this was a manual task that took 1½hours.”
The importance of conserving water and using it more efficiently cannot be underestimated especially as this year, the UK is already some 63% down on its traditional annual rainfall quota. Originally built in 1840 and developed further in the 1960’s, more than 12 trains undergo maintenance at Tyseley train depot each day.
Simon Bunn, rail director, Galliford Try, added, “The Hyder team is creative and highly focused on environmental issues which is clearly high on the agenda of everybody today both at home and in the workplace. We are delighted to have secured such a prestigious award and look forward to a continued working relationship with Hyder for future projects.”
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