Gatwick Station Project – A Couple of Weekend Possessions in November

30th November 2020

At a time when most of us were safe in our homes, dry and warm while the wind and rain raged outside, the Gatwick Station project team were carrying out essential redevelopment work over two consecutive railway possession weekends in November.

With a scope of work which would have been difficult to deliver under any normal circumstances, the Kilnbridge team has worked closely and collaboratively with their Costain counterparts to complete the phase two demolition works safely and successfully.

Costain is redeveloping this strategically essential airport railway station to provide a substantially modernised and enlarged station concourse and improve access to safer and wider platforms below. Kilnbridge will be assisting them with the structural steelwork installation activities during 2021.

Planning, preparation and enabling works have been ongoing during the Covid-19 summer of 2020. During that time, additional possession opportunities on this critical national infrastructure project became available, this would then enable the works to be carried out sooner than the planned Christmas period.

The project team, with assistance from the wider Kilnbridge business, completed the preparatory works; including in-house temporary works design, lift planning, plant and waste management and procurement activities.

The scope of the phase two demolition works included, the removal of two overbridges that span between platforms 4 and 5 and all the above platform structures on platforms 5 and 6.

These were to take place over two 52hr weekend possessions in November.

All lines possession at Gatwick Airport Station are extremely rare, therefore substantial in-house designed temporary works protection screens were installed to safely segregate the demolition works from the travelling public on the open platform, only a few metres away. The bridge removal works were then followed immediately by the excavation and removal of Platforms 5 and 6 down to track level, situated between the long link bridges which allow public/passenger access between the Upper Forecourt Road and Gatwick Airport's South Terminal Building.

Kilnbridge would like to preface that the Gatwick team followed all COVID-19 safety guidelines on site.

Above shows Platform 4 and 5 (and 6 to the far right) at Gatwick Airport Station prior to the commencement of intrusive works.

The above shows the canopy and escalator structures on Platform 5/6 prior to their removal during November 2020.

On the first-weekend possession, platform 4 and 5 tracks were securely covered with polystyrene and timber to provide a suitable working platform for the demolition plant and equipment. The southern overbridge, platform 5/6 lift shaft structure and plant room can be seen in this image.

The perfectly sized demolition plant can be seen accessing the work area in the above images. This serves to demonstrate some of the engineering management, planning and close collaborative working with the Kilnbridge Plant team, critical for a successful outcome.

The southern overbridge was safely demolished by the 50T Kilnbridge machine. Note the temporary works is propping the tower on the left, which supported the bridge once it was separated from the remaining structure.

With works drawing to a close on the opening weekend (and with the southern overbridge no longer in position), the delivery team prepare for the next weekend by carefully removing and storing the infrastructure protection system which will be required for re-installation over the following weekend.

The Kilnbridge Plant Brokk 400 safely removing part of the northern overbridge during the second-weekend possession opportunity.

The Kilnbridge 50T excavator dismantled the Northern overbridge structure in stormy weather.

All three Kilnbridge demolition machines removed platform 5/6 structures and processing the arising waste materials on Sunday morning.

At 19:30hrs on Sunday evening, the team carried out temporary works removals and a huge clean-up operation in preparation for trains arriving at 05:30hrs on Monday morning.