Maintenance
go through chalk, plants can cause ‘root jacking’, where lumps of chalk become loose, as roots find their way below the surface, allowing water to follow. ‘We have to try to minimise the impact
of whatever environmental conditions operate in the locality,’ says Kuzemko of May Gurney’s work on embankment stabilisation. ‘We are always trying to reduce the impact on local communities, because you could potentially be moving significant amounts of material around. ‘And obviously, as with everything in
the railways, it’s a question of how safely we can do it. With regards to engineering innovation on embankments, not a lot has happened recently, it’s how you deliver the techniques that are fairly established. Our expertise is being able to do it as quickly as possible and with as cheap a technique as possible.’ When it comes to animal populations,
they have to be handled sensitively too. ‘We use various netting techniques to keep some of the infestation of badgers and rabbits off. We have to move them, we can’t go in and cull them!’ jokes Kuzemko. ‘We have to environmentally re-house them.’
Smarter signalling support
Network Rail has developed a more streamlined system to maintain signalling, which it is rolling out across the network. Reliability Centred Maintenance of Signalling Equipment (Rose) involves creating bespoke maintenance programmes for each signalling asset, where before, signals were serviced on the
An engineer inspects a signal
same cycle regardless of usage, location or age. The programme already incorporates
100,000 signalling assets – around 40 per cent of the total number. It allows engineers to draw up a maintenance plan that is appropriate to a signal’s usage, environment and condition, enabling maintenance teams to make the best use of their time while they have access to the tracks, keeping line closures to a minimum. Steve Featherstone, Network Rail’s
maintenance director, said: ‘Big gains are being made by working smarter in the way we do maintenance. Using the experience and knowledge of our engineers to develop maintenance regimes, which focus on reducing and removing the causes of failures saves time and frees up resources that can put to more effective use.’ Rose was developed in the aviation
industry and is now accepted as best practice in other industries including nuclear and petrochemical.
Giving off all the right Signals
• Mimic Panels • Control Panels • Fully Wired Location Cases • FSPs (Functional Supply Points) • DNO & Points Heating • Fishplates • Treadles
For all your engineering and signalling needs contact Henry Williams on Tel. +44 (0) 1325 462722
Email.
info@hwilliams.co.uk Web.
www.hwilliams.co.uk OCTOBER 2010 PAGE 27
Network Rail
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