What’s happening


Partnering with universities helps businesses increase profits


Businesses working in partnership with further and higher education institutions stand to benefit from a total increase in annual pre-tax profits of £150 million and significant numbers of new jobs as a


result of support provided by Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), a new report has shown.


Led by the Technology Strategy Board,


KTP accelerates business innovation by facilitating collaborative partnerships with further and higher education institutions. According to the latest KTP annual report, businesses participating in the programme during 2009/10 report the creation of more than 1400 new jobs, in addition to improved profits. The report also cites a 26% rise in KTP project numbers during 2009/10 compared to 2008/9 – itself a good year for the scheme.


The introduction of the shorter KTPs – which run for between 10 and 40 weeks – has provided a new way for companies to access the expertise available within academic institutions, with more than 250 projects initiated following their launch in July 2009.


A new bridge in one weekend


In just one weekend a brand new District Line rail bridge was installed over Cambridge Grove between Ravenscourt Park and Hammersmith Tube stations, and the old 80 year old bridge was removed at the same time.


The heavy nature of the specialist lifting equipment required the road to be levelled and a total of 280 tonnes of stone was imported to raise the road level by 1.7 metres. The new bridge deck required the construction of 21 metre deep piled foundations and special engineering trains and equipment were used to install the new track, sleepers and ballast.


The new 85 tonne steel and concrete bridge deck with two main girders which were 15.5m long and 1.5m high were


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constructed in Newport, Wales in a specialist factory which also built the floating contoured aquatic roof for the Olympic Aquatic Centre.


The new bridge is the second on the network to have a special acoustic mat placed onto the new bridge deck which has significantly reduced the noise of the running trains.


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