Transcript

Logistics

Narrator

Heathrow Terminal 5 is currently Europe’s largest and most complex infrastructure programme.At 260 hectares, the T5 site is about the same size as London’s Hyde Park. However, it is physically constrained in its location between two of the world’s busiest runways, with existing terminals to the east, Europe’s busiest motorway interchange to the west and a local residential community.Within this space, 36 different work areas handle construction of terminal buildings, tunnels, support services, road and aircraft stands. The project needs a reliable and efficient supply of materials daily, but there is very little room to store materials on site.Environmental considerations have also been taken into account to minimise congestion that could be caused by the volume of site traffic and deliveries.To meet these challenges, T5 has implemented innovative logistic solutions that include as much off-site prefabrication and reassembly as possible, two off-site logistics or materials consolidation centres, web-based production control software, and a single well-managed entrance and exit plaza.Examples of off-site prefabrication include lining segments for seven of the project's nine tunnels, wall units for two new river channels, roof cassettes for the main terminal building and fully equipped building services modules, the largest of which are 130 tons.Prefabricated units are sometimes delivered directly to site when they arrive by rail or road at the nearby Colnbrook Logistics Centre, which was designed and built to purpose by BAA. Bulk materials such as cement, pulverised peel ash and aggregate are brought in by rail, stored for up to a few days and delivered to site when and where required.Colnbrook also boasts the state of the art rebar facility for fabrication of steel reinforcement into pre-assembled cages. The factory offers a safe weatherproof environment which at peak has produced 500 tons of rebar per day.A second consolidation centre, Heathrow South Logistics Centre, has a further rebar facility dedicated to the automated manufacture of pile cages needed for the heavy civils phase of the construction programme. As the T5 project moves from the civils phase to buildings and fit out phases, this consolidation centre will be used primarily for the assembly of materials into work packages ready for delivery to site.The well-equipped entry and exit plaza can, at peak, cope with one delivery every thirty seconds. Key to all this activity is the web-based project flow software, this is used to control the work flow across the project and to ensure that the exact quantities of materials are delivered to the right places at just the right times. No waste, no delays. No need to store materials on site.BAA logistics strategy is: to respect the community, to look after the environment by minimising traffic movements and eliminating waste, to create safer working conditions, to control quality and to improve the reliability and efficient use of materials.This approach is delivering productivity levels that are an unprecedented 15-25% higher than a typical UK construction site. With such a complex construction programme, this logistics strategy will ensure that Terminal 5 opens on time in March 2008.