Opportunity
Improving the passenger experience for the 99M people who use Waterloo Station every year involves much more than the word ‘upgrade’ implies. There is major viaduct reconstruction, a new connection to London Underground, demolition of some sections of platforms and extension of others, construction of a new roof and pedestrian bridge, and a huge amount of new railway infrastructure to be installed.
Solution
Planned possession – December 2016
During this period, our aim was mainly to complete the parts of the project that involved the Waterloo International Terminal (WIT), this included:
- Cables and wires being removed, replaced and rerouted
- Parts of the concourse demolished
- Significant structural work being carried out to connect platforms one to four and the Underground
Some of the trickiest work over Christmas 2016 involved installing two tension cables to support the blue tubular steel WIT arches. These three-pinned arches were restrained by the 50m wide concrete slab spanning between their springing points.
Over this part of the venture, there was also work carried out to supply power to platforms 20 to 24, this was in preparation for services to run out on these platforms during summer 2017.
Planned possession – August 2017
Work carried out during the August 2017 possession has been planned hour-by-hour using building information modelling (BIM). The majority of work carried out on site over this period involves reconfiguring platforms one to eight and realigning track.
Unlike a normal linear construction programme, demolition, construction, installation, testing and commissioning all takes place concurrently at Waterloo Station.
Outcome
As a result of the work that has been completed already, we are on schedule to deliver the £400M investment project by December 2018. Once finished, the WIT will be fully usable for domestic services. If the projected increase in the number of journeys of 40% by 2043 is correct, this upgrade will go a long way to ensure there is a smooth transition to deal with these added number.