November News!

It’s hard to believe that yet another year is racing to a close as we teeter perilously close to the beginning of the festive season.  As this exceptionally cold November draws nearer its end, things are definitely heating up in the SVM office with plenty of projects waiting to be gift wrapped for Christmas. 

SVM have proved incredibly popular this month with lots of new projects cropping up in a flurry of pre-Christmas excitement!  We have been asked to look at further 650V power supplies in Wellingborough and Sharnbrook; Edinburgh Waverley Station has a double whammy of concourse lighting design and refurbishment of the toilets;   Shore supplies continue to be a big issue with new projects in the Leeds and Inverness areas; and new AFA schemes have begun at multiple sites across the central belt.  Retail surveys have been undertaken at Stirling and Dundee stations; while we have begun to look at lub oil issues and footbridge lighting at two other Railway properties in Craigentinny and Falkirk respectively.  Design surrounding depot protection is due to start any day now; CRE duties have arisen at a Glasgow Depot; and design works have been requested at a rail yard in Inverness.  Away from the Railway we have been asked to provide some electrical design advice for a water treatment site in the Cupar area and mechanical support for both a residential property in Chapelhall and a food and drink hub in Greenock.

Leading the pack in November are surveys at multiple LNER properties along the East Coast of the UK; railway design in the Bristol area; renewal works from Blair Atholl to Dalwhinnie; and rationalisation works in the Carstairs area which got off to a flying start this month.  Works for Scottish lighthouses including EPCs, surveys, controls, turbines and renewal issues surrounding the mercury baths supporting Fresnel lenses are all progressing well as are water compliance issues at multiple railway sites in Glasgow.  Plenty is happening at Glasgow Central Station with retail supplies and DBs/LCPs design continuing, while design for staff accommodation at Ayr and Arbroath stations and bridge design at Stirling are well in hand.  We are still providing design advice for FED power supplies projects and remain involved through the final stages of the containment works for the Glasgow Subway.  Works for the successful introduction of the new roll out of Caledonian Sleeper stabling facilities is progressing well while HEP East works, the Highland Mainline extension programme; Banavie swing bridge; and underframe wash works in Inverness continue to keep us busy in the north of the country.  Across England we remain involved with the station concourse works at Doncaster; further stages of works for the escalators at Birmingham New Street station have been progressed; and the shore supplies project at Allerton is drawing to a close.  Don’t forget that we still continue to service a host of smaller scale projects across the UK railway covering several areas such as potable water supplies, shore supplies, fuel road design, drainage works, HST servicing, modular accommodation, temporary bonding, compressors; boiler replacements; car park services design, CETs, EVCP design, retail enhancements and Access for All works.  In the commercial sector we are maintaining excellent representation with design works for the lighting at two of our clients’ offices; bridge design in Goole, Glasgow’s Tidal weir and provision of technical reinstatement advice at St Andrew’s University.  We continue to provide advice following a fire at a luxury hotel in the Scottish countryside and, much closer to home, an iconic hotel in Glasgow’s city centre.  Water distribution issues are ongoing in Bearsden as are works associated with EVCP installations in Blantyre; while office refurbishment works continue to be a staple with designs underway for premises in Finnieston, Liverpool and East Kilbride.;

The party season got off to an early start with this year’s IRSE Scotland dinner at which SVM hosted two tables and were well acknowledged on the night!  It was a fantastic evening and an essential part of SVM’s calendar so many thanks to all organisers who made it such an enjoyable and valuable event.  If you’d like to claim a seat at SVM’s table for next year (and you have consultancy/rail experience) please submit your CV to Elise McLean, elise.mclean@svm-glasgow.co.uk and get the party started!