Halcrow designed the 4.4km extension to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) that enables airline passengers and airport visitors and staff to get to City Airport from the centre of London in just 22 minutes, and from Canary Wharf within 14 minutes.
The airport’s owner believes this will help to reduce car journeys by an estimated half a million a year.
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Video filmed in 2005
Halcrow was appointed as lead designer for the new line, which includes 2.9km of elevated track and four new stations. Each station serves existing or planned schemes that will act as catalysts for future developments. The elevated station at City Airport provides a multimodal transport interchange, integrating the DLR with the airport, local buses and taxis, and gives access directly to the airport terminal building.
Halcrow was responsible for all aspects of design, including mechanical and electrical works, building services and structural design, geotechnical advice, track work, signalling and train control systems, telecommunications and SCADA, rail systems and station architecture, in association with the project architect. Our pedestrian modelling team modelled passenger flows in an around the station, and our traffic management and highways teams managed all associated highways works.
At an early stage in the design, value engineering workshops were held to investigate alternative design proposals and to select the optimum design solution. As the design developed the contractor’s planners and site management team worked alongside the design team to develop construction methods, phasing, and temporary works designs so that good buildability was inherent in the final design.
The design was successfully delivered to a challenging programme, and Halcrow subsequently provided construction supervision and support during the testing, commissioning and handover of the completed system.
Geotechnics
The geotechnical elements of the work included:
- the design and interpretation of ground investigations
- the design of deep CFA bored pile foundations supporting the viaduct spans
- retaining walls for station excavations and superstructure at Woolwich Arsenal
- review and assessment of deep de-watering systems to facilitate excavations at tunnel approach structures and at launch and reception chambers