Machine Control Helps BBRS to Award

KOREC is delighted to announce that at the annual Rail Industry Innovation Awards Ceremony on the 26th June, Balfour Beatty Rail Services received the Innovation award for Small Scale Projects based on their work with a KOREC supplied and supported Trimble Machine Control System for excavation and ballast placement. The award was presented by Lord Adonis, the Secretary of State for Transport, and the audience included Ian Coucher, the Chief Executive of Network Rail. Balfour Beatty Rail Services (BBRS) beat off strong competition to win this prestigious award. This engineering initiative was overseen by BBRS Track Quality Engineer, Mark Rolfe. Successful trials were carried out by Broxbourne Depot at Manningtree and Gospel Oak in May/June last year, under the direction of Russell Pope, the Broxbourne Technical Delivery Manager (TDM) and Project Manager, Tony Owen. Following this success, the focus moved on to Eastleigh Depot who developed the method further at St.Deny's and Wimbledon in the early part of this year.* This technique was progressed by Steve Hooper (TDM), Wayne Makepeace, Martin Cattermole (the Principal Technical Officers) and Robin Bates and George Murrell (the Project Managers) for the two projects. More recently attention moved back to Broxbourne with a further successful installation at Harringay. It is the intention that by the end of next year, all renewals will be carried out using machine control for excavation and ballast replacement. In the meantime Balfour Beatty Rail Services will continue to develop and extend the Trimble system, which has demonstrated better track quality as an end result together with potential cost savings in reduced tamping. Balfour Beatty Rail Services acknowledged and thanked KOREC and plant suppliers Hydrex and Quattro for the support and innovation they have shown in assisting in developing the technique.

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