GuardianNetworkT h e m a g a z i n e o f A - o n e + I n t e g r a t e d H i g h w a y S e r v i c e s
In this issue...Transport FocusFirst network visit
ApprenticesThe scheme pays off
Asset ManagementTrials begin
Turning Blue!Using bluetoothtechnologyto managecontraflow
Autumn/Winter2015
Connect with us
www.costain.com
IN HIGHWAYS
MEETING NATIONAL NEEDS
11:16
Network Guardian
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In thisissue...Cover story 6 How Bluetoothtechnology enablescontra-flow trafficmanagement
Foreword from Clive Leadbetter newManaging Director of A-one+ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _3
A-one+ Latest News _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _4
Collaboration: Customer Excellence _ _ _ _ _ _ _8
Collaboration: Industry Excellence _ _ _ _ _ _10
Innovation: Safety Solutions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _12
Awards and Accreditations _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _15
Added Value: Our People _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _16
Added Value: Sustainability _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _17
Highways England Feature – Area 7Asset Trials _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _18
Team Talk _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _20
Fundraising Round Up _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _23
Signing off... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _24
For more information about A-one+ and theservices we provide go to our website:www.aone.uk.com
ForewordWelcome to the first edition ofNetwork GuardianAs the new managing directorof A-one+ re-launching ourcompany magazine was a keypriority for me to share ourjourney, accomplishments andsafety advancements.
I’ve been at A-one+ for 7 years now and I am proud to be a part of a businessthat is underpinned by dedicated and enthusiastic people.
Our culture has always been one of safe delivery and excellent solutions. Wehave always achieved that through communication and improved ourbusiness by learning from best practice.
Network Guardian will demonstrate our successes and shout about theachievements of our colleagues who go above and beyond for the businessand our customers.
The highways industry is seeing the biggest level of investment in its historyand Highways England needs the right supply chain partners in place to makeit a success –partnering is key and we will look at this in detail in theCollaboration section.
We are best placed to think of more innovative ways to ensure that thestrategic road network meets customer demands and expectations, nowmore than ever.
There are challenges ahead.
We will need to make efficiencies but, to my mind, we should always belooking at ways we can do a better job while keeping safety and wellbeingat the top of our priorities, take a closer look in the Safety section to learnabout the new technologies we are embracing to improve safety. We havealso recently won two Highways Excellence Magazine Awards for ourAmbassador Group and Biomass Harvesting Trials, you can read more aboutthese initiatives in Added Value.
There are changes coming in Area 7 and we are proud at A-one+ to be partof the transition to Highways England’s new model, we are wholly committedto supporting the team throughout the process and beyond.
That model is a bold step, one that will bring about as many opportunitiesas it does challenges and we must ensure it is mobilised properly to beeffective.
I would also like to announce the appointment of Mark Schofield as the newGeneral Manager for Area 14. Mark will bring a wealth of experience andenthusiasm into our business and his depth of knowledge will enhance ourservice delivery to Highways England going forward. Mark will commence hispost in January 2016 and I am sure you will join me in welcoming Mark tothe A-one+ family.
Meanwhile we are waiting for the result of the bidding process for contractsin Areas 12 and 4 and looking forward to submitting bids for Areas 14, 13and 1.
Our ambition and vision is to bring A-one+ back up to market share.
By working together, we are confident of success.
Clive Leadbetter Managing Director A-one+
GuardianNetworkT h e m a g a z i n e o f A - o n e + I n t e g r a t e d H i g h w a y S e r v i c e s
In this issue...Transport FocusFirst network visitApprenticesThe scheme pays off
Asset ManagementTrials begin
Turning Blue!Using bluetoothtechnologyto managecontraflow
Autumn/Winter2015
Join A-one+ Linkedin group
Follow us on Twitter @Aone_uk
You Tube A-one+
News
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News
The Lowdownon LitterIn 2014 a record 8,895 bags of litterwere collected in Area 12 and in just thefirst eight months of 2015 that figurehas reached 10,193 which is a 53%increase over the same period last year.
There are a number of factors giving riseto this change so Area 12 spent some timeanalysing customer intelligence on litter tohelp target areas for improvement. Theyhave also been working closely withHighways England as part of theirCustomer Hub meetings to develop acampaign to raise awareness of litter beingmindlessly dropped on the motorways andtrunk roads in the area. The analysis hasprovided us with a clever dashboardsummary showing the number ofcustomer enquiries per month and byroute as well as a year on year comparisonwhich means we can plan in advance toaddress peak periods before they becomean issue.
The data has also highlighted the three tophotspot routes for us to focus ourengagement campaign on as well as pin-pointing areas falling under local authorityresponsibility. The campaign started witha press release widely covered in localmedia in September there are also plansto develop a time-lapse video, partnerwith local authority campaigns, participatein litter picking events in 2016 and look tocollaborate with Keep Britain Tidy.
Did you know?...10,193 bags of litter were collected in2015 which is a 53% increase on 2014
UNIMOG stands for ‘Universal-Motergerat’ which roughly translated means universalmotorised implement machine and is a multi-purpose, all terrain utility vehicle designedwith extreme off-road capabilities. We have opted for a dual-cab model with paralleloperating long arm, enabling work to be carried out both sides of the carriageway whilethe vehicle is driving in the safest direction. Versatile de-mountable equipmentattachments include: a long arm upright strimmer, spin strimmer for barrier posts, groundmowers, debris blowers, chipper and free zone cutter; allowing for year round use.
The vehicle has the highest standard fuel efficient technology and is classed as cleanand efficient; it is registered as a mowing machine but is insured and fuelled for roaduse with a top speed of 56mph enabling it to travel direct to the area of work withoutthe need for a low-loader. The UNIMOG is operated as a mobile road closure whichhas two major benefits for safety and increased productivity. Static road closure putsa minimum of four operatives at great risk working road side and using the UNIMOGremoves that increased risk, the operator is also well protected from impact by sittingat the front while working. In an average shift around 16km are covered by a softestates verge clearing team of at least four: the UNIMOG expects to cover 24km inthe same shift uses only two operatives and can be used day and night increasingproductivity across every level.
Two members of the team; Ian Gozzard and Chris Turner spent at week at South CaveTractors in September with Soft Estates Manager, Wayne Smith, receiving in-depthtraining on the complex machinery and attachments and we intend to train at leastsix other members of staff over the coming weeks so we can use the UNIMOGthroughout the region.
Area 7 is right to be proud of this latest addition to the team. The UNIMOG bringswith it a wealth of advantages namely: year round network versatility, multi-talentedworkforce, increased operational productivity and most importantly a safer workingenvironment for our operatives and safer routes for our customers with the addedbenefit of neat and tidy soft estate areas.
UNIMOG in action
Hard Tackle on Soft Estates
Area 7 has taken bold and decisive action against overgrown vergesand greenery this summer by investing in a UNIMOG following anotherpredictably wet season.
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Highways solutions provider A-one+ inArea 14 worked with haulier CollettTransport to identify a route suitable foreach of the vessels as they weretransported from the manufacturer inCarlisle to a ship waiting at Port of Blyth onthe Northumberland coast.
The largest of the vessels were more than20ft tall, 17ft wide and 123ft long,weighing more than 186 tonnes.
The transportation of the vessels involvedcollaborative working from A-one+ Area 14,including abnormal loads officer Alan Brown,the abnormal loads officer in Area 13, policeofficers from Cumbria and Northumbria,electricity and telephone companies, NetworkRail and local authorities in Cumbria,Newcastle and Northumberland.
The route for the final, and largest, vessel tookthree days to navigate due to the number ofdiversions to avoid roads and bridges unableto bear its weight.
Traffic management officials from A-one+were on hand to guide the loads on key partsof the network, including the A1.
Due to the height and weight of the final load,and in order to negotiate the Gosforth
Interchange, A-one+ worked with Collett tocome up with a solution that meant thevessel could continue its journey safely andwithout causing disruption to other roadusers.
Lane closures were put in place on the A1 andthe central reservation barrier was removed
to allow the load to cross from thenorthbound carriageway and continue northon the southbound carriageway, exiting theA1 via the interchange entry slip.
Each of the loads had to be moved at night,after midnight, to reduce the inconvenienceto the travelling public.
The new framework is designed to encouragecollaborative working instead of being resultsoriented. As part of the transition earlier thisyear Area 12 took part in a trial of the newCollaborative Behaviours Assessment Tool, thetrial was successful, comments were takenaway and since then Highways England NDDhave been discussing with Major Projects howbest to roll this out to all contracts.
The Behavioural Assessment tool considers arange of behaviours that are desirable amongthe collaborative partners and team members
of Highways England. Highways EnglandCollaborative Behaviours:
• Engaging in collaborative decision-making while being accountable
• Learning from experiences • Working together to maintain H&S andquality
• Providing and enabling collaborativesolutions
• Communicating to collaborate• Working together to maintain mutualrelationships
We are awaiting confirmation of a roll outdate from Highways England, but we do knowit will:
• be run through Survey Monkey• have participants wider and greater andwill include all levels of the business
• ask us about direct working relationships• be compiled and issued by Highways• offer an opportunity to provide evidenceand comment on responses
How are we doing?
The way we measure performance and report against targets will bechanging to align with the new contracts being used by Highways England.
Gas VesselsTen specialist gas vessels, each weighing up to 186 tonnes, setting off on a round the world trip to Azerbaijanwere given a helping hand by A-one+ on the first stage of their journey across the North of England.
Area 7April to September this year we have:· re-surfaced 72.5 lane km of pavements· painted 188699 linear metres of roadmarkings
· fitted 672 linear metres of barriers (vehiclerestraints)
· completed 62323 linear metres of drainage
September Cat 1 Summary153 - 24 hour defects42 - 7 day defects355 - 28 day defects3.36 days average 7 day repair completion
Area 12April to September this year we have:· re-surfaced 61.30 lane km of pavements· painted 23242 linear metres of roadmarkings
· fitted 2839 linear metres of barriers (vehiclerestraints)
· completed 3917 linear metres of drainage
September Cat 1 Summary139 - 24 hour defects24 - 7 day defects92 - 28 day defects4.85 days average 7 day repair completion
Area 14April to September this year we have:· re-surfaced 73.5 lane km of pavements· painted 147070 linear metres of roadmarkings
· fitted 3177 linear metres of barriers (vehiclerestraints)
· completed 8681 linear metres of drainage
September Cat 1 Summary115 - 24 hour defects9 - 7 day defects41 - 28 day defects4 days average 7 day repair completion
Feature
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Our latest trial is no exception, usingBluetooth and Wi-Fi to cut congestion andprovide instant updates to the public, withno human intervention required.
Working with Rennicks MTS, A-one+ iscarrying out the first operational trial of aBluetooth-enabled traffic managementsystem on a resurfacing scheme on the A66near Darlington, in Area 14.
The Bluetrace Journey Time ManagementSystem picks up ‘pings’ from Bluetoothand Wi-Fi enabled phones, sat navs orhands-free sets in vehicles as they travelthrough the works.
That secure, non-personal data is analysedto work out the average journey times forall vehicles and is instantly relayed tomobile or fixed Variable Message Signage(VMS).
The system can automatically updatedrivers about the average journey timesthrough the works, advise them to take adifferent route if congestion is building upand will even put diversions in place if anincident blocks the road.
The system has never been used in the UKbefore and was brought to the country byRennicks MTS, who spotted its potential.
The Bluetooth technology works in allweathers, is more robust and flexible thanAutomatic Number Plate Recognition
(ANPR) systems and is capable of pickingup 1,000 ‘pings’ a minute, with a 98%detection rate.
The collaboration with key supply chainpartner Rennicks MTS came about afterArea 14 ASF IDT manager Hayden Greenhad a chance conversation with thecompany’s sales manager Robert Tait, whogave a lunchtime presentation aboutproducts the company has beendeveloping.
“We had a resurfacing scheme that wasgoing out on a section of the networkwhere we had previously encountered bigproblems with delays and congestion fora similar type of work,” says Hayden.
“I was looking for a means of informingroad users to allow them to make choicesthat would avoid them getting caught upin delays.
Turning BlTechnology has transformed the way the highways industry works and atA-one+ we’ve led the way in developing and testing game-changingequipment.
“We want people to haveconfidence that it does work andthat we’re not just putting outinformation for the sake of it.”
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“There are no overhead signage gantrieson the A66 so I was looking for a quick,easy fix to give road users the informationthey needed. That’s what this system doesin a simple, cost effective way - it was theanswer to all our problems.
“It gives real-time information in an easyset-up.
The resurfacing scheme chosen to testBluetrace is scheduled to last for morethan two months on a busy part of theA66, linking Darlington and the A1(M)with Teesside and the A19.
Although the works are being done atnight under contraflow, the network is stillbusy through to the early hours.
It was agreed that Rennicks MTS wouldwork with A-one+ to test the system forthe first time on a live highway networkahead of using it on the A66 resurfacingscheme.
The team at Area 14’s Enhanced NetworkControl Centre (ENCC) have been testingthe Bluetrace’s monitoring capabilities onthe Newcastle A1 Western Bypass forseveral weeks, but the A66 resurfacing jobwill be the first time the technology hasbeen connected to mobile VMS to updatethe public.
Ian Lee, Area 14’s ENCC manager, said testson the Western Bypass showed thatBluetrace would work well alongside Area14’s 4G cameras, another piece oftechnology we were among the first to use.
“The second stage of testing was to linkthem up to the mobile VMS out on thenetwork,” he adds.
“We put them out on the A66 a week ortwo before the works started so thatpeople would get used to them.
“The idea was that if the Bluetrace ismeasuring drivers’ journeys when thereare no roadworks and reporting the timeit was taking for them to travel a certaindistance every day correctly, then theywould trust it when the job does start andfollow the advice on the VMS accordingly.
“We want people to have confidence thatit does work and that we’re not justputting out information for the sake of it.”
The mobile 4G cameras have also beenput out on the A66 and the surrounding
roads to provide visual data about howmotorists react to the cameras andwhether they do follow the informationon the signs, particularly if it recommendsan alternate route.
Ian adds: “It will be interesting to see howdrivers react to the information on theVMS and whether that changes as theweeks go by and they get more used to it.
“It’s a great system that will work well forus because it’s so flexible. You can move itanywhere, there are no wires, and it hassolar-powered batteries so it’s veryefficient.”
ue!
“It’s a great system thatwill work well for usbecause it’s so flexible
“This technology isexciting, intelligent andcost effective and
demonstrates how weare at the forefront indriving and promotinginnovation to bring outimprovements to safety
and customerexperience”
A-one+ Managing director,
Clive Leadbetter
CollaboratIon
Customer Excellence
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Over the last six years A-one+ has led the way for a revolutionary approach to improving customer satisfactionthrough engagement, data analysis, action planning, collaborative working and partnering; bringing about atangible difference to the experience of the road user and the neighbouring communities. It is hard not to beinspired by the wide ranging, creative and future proof solutions being implemented by our teams on the groundthroughout the networks we service. Let’s look at the challenges we have overcome...
ChallengeEnsuring customer needs arecentral to service delivery
Our team in Area 12 decided to work withHighways England and set up the CustomerHub Team working together to protect andimprove customer experience across all aspectsof service delivery. The group established an 88point Customer Priority Plan for 2015 based onidentified customer needs. Both staff and supplychain partners have engaged with the CustomerPriority Plan to ensure the customer experienceis a journey we travel together.
So far the group has seen the development ofStakeholder relationship plans which we talkabout in detail later. It acts as networkcustodians by checking and challenging network
occupancy to minimise disruption andcustomer impact, delaying closures ifnecessary. It has been instrumental inhelping Highways England refinecustomer surveys through localised trialsand ensuring a joint approach tomanaging HAIL enquiries.
Part of the plan included CustomerRelations Training for over 100 front linestaff and operatives.
All this and much more such as theeffective press coverage for the littercampaign featured on page 4 has all beenachieved through the Area 12 CustomerHub working together to bring about abetter experience for our customers.
ChallengeEffectively engaging with new monitoringbody Transport Focus
Alongside the change for Highways England theindependent transport user watchdog was re-launched as Transport Focus. Area 7 invited theRoad User Director, Guy Dangerfield to meet theteam and carry out a joint road inspection.Transport Focus collects, measures, analyses andpublish findings on issues that impact passengerson the network and we felt it was important tounderstand the perspective of the maintenancecontractor.
Customer satisfaction is a primary focus for Guyand his team and the purpose of the invitationfrom A-one+ was to help Transport Focus gain agreater insight into how things happen on a dailybasis, challenges and opportunities and to developa firm understanding of how we can collaboratetogether with Highways England to make thebiggest difference for road users.
Guy said of the visit: “How satisfied road usersare with the motorways and trunk roads is keyto Highways England’s success. My visit gaveme a strong sense that A-one+ thinks aboutroad users already but is keen to go further. Ihope my message to focus ruthlessly on what isright for road users, where necessarychallenging historic practices, was helpful toHighways England and the A-one+ team”.
Transport Focus publishes a monthly Road UserVoice newsletter via their website alongside theirresearch findings.
ChallengeEngaging with Freight HaulageIn 2012 and 2013 A-one+ developed a radio campaign with Real,Heart and Smooth Radio’s aimed at road users to raise awarenessof our road workers. We ran a four week campaign airing radioadverts a total of 272 times on 18 stations throughout the UK.The campaign reached 6,869,760 people (based on actual audience figures) with a 12.64average opportunity to listen; this is really impressive as the aim is an average of 3opportunities to listen per person.
The team preparing to jointly inspect the highwaysL-R: Mike Farger – Highways England, Stuart Danks – Highways England,
Grant Bosence – Inspection Manager, A-one+, Doug Coutts -General Manager, A-one+,Guy Dangerfield – Road User Director for Transport Focus, Bruce Martin – Customer andCommunity Relations Manager, A-one+ and Georgette Foster-Bell – Highways England
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ChallengeEffective Partnering with LocalAuthority
The A64 is of huge regional importanceproviding links from national motorwaynetwork to the historic city of York, the townsof Tadcaster and Malton and the coastal townof Scarborough with a route varying instandard from high quality two lanecarriageways to rural single lane through anumber of villages. Average daily traffic flowis 32,000 but this is subject to seasonal flowfrom tourist and event related traffic. Animportant need is safeguarding the visualappearance of the 90km route to protect thetourism generated economy along the way.
This seemed an ideal opportunity to bringtogether the five key stakeholders along theroute; so that’s what we did. The A64Collaborative Maintenance Partnership ismade up of key personnel from HighwaysEngland (manager of the asset), A-one+(contract provider), Selby District Council,City of York Council and Ryedale DistrictCouncil (all responsible for litter picking andsweeping on the route).
What did we do? We developed a number ofobjectives to provide a framework for ourcollective operations teams to work towards:
• Minimise disruption through better co-ordinating of activities
• Reduce cost for everyone by sharingresources
• Sharing intelligence to ensure we meetcustomer needs
Benefits already felt by the partnering include:
• Network Induction Training for localauthority personnel and sharing A-one+sites such as mobile welfare units, tasklighting and working within our trafficmanagement systems. Besides the costsavings of joint working and road userdisruption being kept to a minimum anadded benefit of this is sharing health andsafety best practices.
• The partnership measures the times weshare closures and the volume of workcompleted and this is used to provide 360°feedback to customer using signage andlocal media engagement.
• Enhanced maintenance programmesleading up to major events such as Tour deFrance 2014 Grand Depart.
• Utilising a variety of performance data toidentify trends and target hotspotsreporting a reduction in the number of littercomplaints and consequential investigatingand actioning.
The Collaborative Maintenance Partnershipcan also claim responsibility for a number offinancial benefits sharing traffic managementcosts on158 nights generating direct savingsof £158,000 the consequences of this isindirect savings of reduced customer delaysestimated at £291,6151 this equates to over£450,000 of joint savings per year, multiplythat by the length of a contract
Future-proofing the partnership continuesand we are looking at litter enforcement toaddress root causation and extending ourpartnership approach on routine maintenanceto the capital investment programme.1 applying trusted user-delay calculations
ChallengeDeveloping a future proofcustomer strategy
We knew we needed to up the stakes and createa customer strategy which will help HighwaysEngland achieve their customer objectives nowand for the long term, so we turned to the experts.
A-one+ are new members to the Institute ofCustomer Service (ICS) and we are working withtheir team of professionals in a number of ways.Such as developing a survey to profile feedbackfrom data collected by Highways England andworking with ICS to review benchmarkingstrategies and research that is already in place.Our objective is to develop the framework fora new A-one+ Customer Strategy aligned toHighways England but led by and reflecting thecustomer focussed vision and direction for A-one+ as it spearheads the new era of highwaysmaintenance contracting.
About the ICS:- The Institute of CustomerService is the independent, professionalmembership body for customer service;delivering a number of tangible benefits toorganisations and individuals so that they canimprove their customers’ experience and theirown business performance demonstrating thetangible return on investment and measurableimpact of a positive customer experience.
This is the age of the customer for HighwaysEngland and we have already laid thefoundations with the solutions we have talkedabout here. Working with ICS we will develop aCustomer Strategy creating opportunities for usto engage with customers in new and excitingways and one which will set the tone for thefuture of Highways England customers.
Did you know?...In 2013 there was a 66%reduction, in 2014 a 74%reduction and in 2015
(projected) a 91% reduction ofHAILs from customers on softestate related issues resulting
from partnering.
Sharing resources between agencies alongthe route results in maximisation ofresources, improved cleanliness andreputational gains for the partners. Aimi Brookes, Selby District Council
The Partnership has flourished aswe have understood each other’sobjectives better, and this isalready providing tangible resultsfor our customers travelling alongthe A64 and adjacent communities. Frank Firth, A-one+ Route Guardian
We asked our collaborative maintenance partners recentlywhat they thought of our work together to provide an improvedcustomer experience on the A64. Here’s what they said:
What our partners think...
Seeing the Partnership doing their bit will discouragesome people from discarding their litter in an unlawfuland harmful manner.Russell Stone, Head of Operations, City of York Council
Shared intelligenceenables a coordinated,efficient and effectivepartnership approach toplanned work. Beckie Bennett, Head of Environment andStreetscene, RyedaleDistrict Council
CollaboratIon
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Industry Excellence
Here at A-one+ we’re never afraid to overcomea difficult task.
So when Area 14 were challenged to lay 1,000tonnes of asphalt, as a contractual first, not justfor one shift, but over consecutive nights, westepped up.
A-one+ smashed the target, successfully – andsafely - laying more than 3,000 tonnes acrossthe three nights.
And we did it while saving money, cutting thetime spent on the network by 300% andworking with local farmers to make sure theharvest wasn’t compromised in the process.
Although 1,000 tonnes of asphalt had beensuccessfully laid in one shift before, nocontractor had ever taken on the feat of doing
it for two or more consecutive nights in a row.
But through collaborative working, usinginnovative technology and liaising closely withthe public A-one+ hit the target.
The challenge took place on a resurfacingscheme on the A66 near Scotch Corner, in NorthYorkshire – a key link road between the NorthEast and North West.
The project managers knew that to achieve therequired tonnage three nights in a row, usingonly one paver, they would need to work closelywith the supply chain and iron out any problemsbefore they went on site.
At one three hour meeting with representativesfrom six suppliers and Highways England, thetimeline was broken down bit by bit to make sure
every aspect was considered and risks addressedup-front.
Ideas were brainstormed to find solutions to themany barriers including the man hours workedand the safety risk posed by having increasedvehicle movements on-site.
A 13-hour working window was agreed, from6pm to 7am, to maximise productivity and itwas agreed that the surfacing of side roads anda 1,000-tonne contingency plan was drawn up,detailing the potential time delays associatedwith various events and actions that would needto be taken.
A number of innovative products were alsobrought into the scheme, including theIntellicone Safelane system to warn theworkforce of any errant vehicles and the MT-3000 shuttle buggy, which ensured theresurfacing mat was applied at an eventemperature.
The programme was also reconfigured aftercollaboration with the National Farmers Unionto reduce the impact on local farmers – bycreating an alternate traffic managementsystem we were able to prevent an 11 dayclosure on a key crossroads, cutting it to a single24 hour closure.
Martin Partington, business and safety supportteam manager at Area 14, says: “The depth ofcollaboration enabled the project to be viewedholistically and resulted in greater buy-in amongall parties, bringing about a positive change inmindset from “it can’t be done” to “together thisis achievable”.
3,000 tonnes in three nights
Everyone has the right to go home after a day at work and that’s why A-one+ is serious about protecting our road workers. Our partnering withThe Road Workers’ Safety Forum (RoWSAF) is essential in supporting usand the highways industry to develop improvements and promote healthsafety and welfare.
The Forum was established in 2001 and brings together stakeholders fromacross the industry to share expertise and knowledge to improve thehealth, safety and welfare of road workers. It is made up of membersdrawn from UK roads administrations, enforcement agencies, contractors,designers and their associations and representatives from a range oforganisations including government bodies.
Latest priority topics for the group are: reducing increasing numbers ofincursions into works areas, raising standards of occupational health andbehavioural safety, improving driver awareness of road works and moreeffectively communication RoWSAF innovations to local authority.
We have been involved with RoWSAF since around 2007 when A-one+started participating in the trials team overseeing High Level Sign trialsand have not looked back since. Our involvement in sign simplificationhas resulted in a safer environment for both road users and road workersand we have supported the work to eliminate live carriageway crossingssignificantly reducing risk to workers. We have also helped raise the profileof the group by hosting and organising media events one of which wasattended by local TV, radio and newspapers as well as the CEO of whatwas then Highways Agency.
A-one+ recently supported the cause further by facilitating a workshopat the Road Workers Leadership Summit.
What do you know about theRoad Workers Safety Forum?
The re-surfacing vehicles and equipment on the A66
Did you know?...Over the past ten years road workers were killed while working
on motorways and A roads in England*
*source -Highways England
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To achieve the aim of zero harm, it is more important than ever tocreate an environment where we are encouraged to innovate to safelydeliver the services we provide. A-one+ has taken practical stepstowards improving safety and efficiency by working collaboratively withsupply chain and particularly our parent companies. For example:-
Traditional traffic management layouts at road closures use manuallyoperated plastic barriers. The operative responsible for enforcementmanually open the gates to allow works vehicles access to the site.Historically, A-one+ experience a number of near misses wheremembers of the public attempt to enter a road closure, putting the livesof road workers at risk.
For example over the latest five year period, there have been 458 nearmiss instances recorded just in Area 7 where a third party has entereda road closure (see Table 1 below).
Table 1: Figures for Area 7 (correct as of July 2015)
Recently, a gateman was struck by an unauthorised vehicle leading toa RIDDOR reportable incident and this led to an A-one+ working groupto reduce the potential for unauthorised access to restricted areas.
Consisting of members of each A-one+ areas, Colas Traffic Managementand Highway Resource Solutions Ltd (manufacturers of Intellicone) thegroup worked together to identify ways to improve site access controlwith the overall aim of removing manual gate operation at roadclosures.
Working closely with our supplier, Electric Gates Ltd, A-one+ and Colaswe were able to develop a remotely controlled gate, Readi-Guard. Thenew system is being trialled in Area 7 and has been subject to a numberof improvements resulting from site deployment and feedback fromoperatives; such as installation of solar power to sustain longer termworks and the introduction of retro-reflective materials to boost itsvisibility in unlit areas.
Benefits include:· Removing the need for manual operation of gates at site accesspoints;· Providing a substantial deterrent to prevent un-authorised vehiclesfrom attempting to enter work areas that are restricted to thepublic;· Providing increased protection to gatemen and operatives workingwithin the closure.
Taper/Cone Strike Third Party Incursion2011 11 432012 26 762013 22 1292014 17 1292015 81 81Total 157 458
Colas & Solar and Electric Gates Ltd (S&EG) –Readi-Guard Automatic Gate System
The access gates being trialled during a road closure
Costain highways record performance oflast year shows no sign of slowing downand this year we have added the A465,A556, A180, Manchester M60 SmartMotorway and A5/M1 Link schemes to ouralready record workload. We have alsowon two huge new ECI contracts, the M4Corridor Around Newport & Cable staybridge (£1bn) and two sections of the A14(£1.3bn) and secured one of three placeson Highways England's £1.5bn SmartMotorways Framework leading tocontinued work on the M1 corridor
We've also broken the 1000 people mark,
giving good opportunities for our staff todevelop. We are continue to produceindustry leading performance, with ourteams up and down the countryconsistently raising the bar for safety,quality, engineering and value for money.Our health & wellbeing campaigns havereally gained momentum too withacknowledgment from industry awardsand lots of good practice being shared.
Some of our operational highlights thisyear include; successfully installing theworld's largest overfilled pre-cast archbridge at Heysham, the Hammersmith
Flyover Strengthening Project wasawarded the “Special Award for re-engineering London” at the ICE LondonCivil Engineering Awards 2015 , 5Highways England Supplier awardsincluding the M1 Smart Motorways teamwon the Customer Experience Award forrecord outputs and engagement, the ASFCoventry self-delivered Europe's largestgreen bridge and the £120m A8 Belfastdual carriageway scheme was successfullyopened to traffic.
Look out for an update from CH2M inthe next issue of Network Guardian.
What is going on in the world of CostainPARENT COMPANY NEWS
Innovation
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ProblemIncreasing driver awareness
SolutionSelf illuminating PPE
Fhoss – Powered Light PersonalProtective Equipment
This initiative came through our continuousimprovement data-base; the idea being thatwearing something with lights would helpincrease driver awareness of road workers on thecarriageway. This is particularly helpful wherelight levels are low or reflective PPE markingsare lessened through dust produced by nightstrimming.
While this technology is not exclusively used byA-one+, close collaborative working with thesupplier, Fhoss, saw A-one+ develop a tailormade self-illuminating harness for use byoperatives as a supplement to existing PPE
requirements. Using the technology developedby Fhoss, the original reflective tape iscombined, with an illuminated core whichactively emits light. When ambient light is notavailable, or when no light source is detected,the harness, lit by a small battery, appears asthough it is being reflected. This completely
unique, patent protectedtechnology, ensures wearerscan be seen over greaterdistances than when wearingstandard reflective garments.The safety benefits are seenthrough increased protectionof our operatives, improvedflexibility of our range ofsafety wear, fully adjustablefit, lightweight and can beworn in all weatherconditions.
Extensive trials of theprototype have taken placeand changes to the design
were made incorporating a cross on the back toindicate which way the wearer is facing.
Fully supported by Highways England,operatives identified as being most at risk havebeen issued the 200 units initially available.
Our award winning No Strikes ImpactProtection Vehicle (IPV) driver educationinitiative is an industry leading trainingprogramme developed to improve roadworker safety.
Strikes were occurring on average 1.78 timesper year throughout the A-one+ network anddata analysis identified HGV drivers as keystakeholders to engage with.
The Safety Improvement Group was createdand training was developed, tested and rolledout with Norbert Dentressangle. The trainingwas approved with the Freight TransportAssociation and since then has since beenrolled out to a large number of major hauliersand distributors as well as being initiative hasbeen presented to transport authorities in Paris.
Around 30,000 drivers should have receivedthe training by the end of 2015 and we havecollated over 2,000 feedback forms already,providing ideas for improvement. Theinitiative has also been recognised with sixindustry awards.
Go to www.ipvnostrikes.com for moreinformation
Over and above everything else is safety for our road workers and customers. Safety is intrinsically linked throughevery other aspect of what we do and sometimes it is hard to recognise when we are doing something extraordinarybecause it is part of the ordinary for us to be doing it. Our passion for safety and wellbeing brings about many suggestions for improvement and there are a numberthat A-one+ has been instrumental in, either through: creating the idea, developing the design or promoting thesolution. For example: the access gates with Colas and Intellicone, the IPV No Strikes training programme andinvestment in new technology such as the Bluetooth traffic management system and the UNIMOG.
Innovation - Safety Solutions
N STRIKES
www.colas.co.uk
Looking after todayUnlocking tomorrow
We add sustainable value for our customers in our core operating areas of Industrial, Contracting and Asset Management.
• Industrial products and services are the origins of our company. For over a century we have supplied the industry with innovative products and solutions.
• Contracting at Colas extends across the highway, aviation and defence infrastructure sectors. For each, the services are unique and we work closely with our customers to deliver innovative and intelligent solutions.
• Asset Management is a fundamental part of our offering, using techniques that consider whole life costing we help our customers to unlock their network’s potential.
Two of our area teams were recognised withGold and Silver Awards during the ConsiderateConstructor Company Awards at a ceremony inLondon on Thursday 5 November. What makesthis achievement more remarkable is that A-one+ Yorkshire & Humber (Area 12) also walkedaway with the Most Considerate Company in itsclass, fending off around 700 other eligiblecompanies in the UK. The awards werepresented by Peter Hansford, ChiefConstruction Advisor to the UK government,whose role is to provide cross-departmental
coordination and leadership on the UKconstruction industry.
Managing Director for A-one+ Clive Leadbetter,said: “We are delighted to achieve recognitionfrom Considerate Constructor with Gold andSilver Company Awards which demonstratesdedication and commitment that goes above andbeyond, but even more thrilled to be presentedwith overall winners of Most ConsiderateCompany in the UK especially as this is the firstyear working with the scheme in Yorkshire.”
This is the latest in raft of industry-widerecognition for A-one+, which carries outmaintenance and repairs on motorways andtrunk roads on behalf of Highways England. Justlast month they were multiple winners at theHighways Magazine Excellence Awards wherethey were the most successful company on thenight, scooping two highly prestigious awardsfor their Ambassador Group and HighwaysEngland’s Biomass Harvesting Trial as well asbeing short-listed for two other categories. Theannual event was hosted by TV personalityGaby Roslin who presented the awards; thesewins demonstrate the company’s commitmentto tackling the skills shortage as well as beingenvironmentally sustainable.
This latest achievement is on the back of whatis looking like the most successful year yet forindustry acknowledgement which has seenfurther recognition for corporate responsibilityand industry innovation from the Green AppleAwards, Institute of Civil Engineers andChartered Institute of Highway Transportationas well Construction News awards.
Highways England Service Delivery TeamLeader, Roger Wantling, said: “These arefantastic achievements for A-one+ for amajority of projects in the Yorkshire & Humberarea and we are thrilled that their successes arebeing recognised on both a local and nationallevel.
“We work closely with A-one+ in the region ona range of projects and services, and lookforward to continuing that work with them onproviding an ever improving service for ourcustomers.
A-one+ Triumph as Most Considerate Company in UK at Annual Awards
A Considerate Company!
Awards
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The A-one+ team proudly accepting their Most Considerate Company and GoldAwards at the Ceremony in London
L-R: Frank Firth (Senior Supervisor), Stuart Myers (Area Works Manager), KarenGaunt (Customer & Community Relations Manager), Andrew Sharp (Programme
Delivery Manager) and Paul Swann (Area Manager)
The Considerate Constructor Scheme is an independent,non-profit-making industry organisation founded toimprove the image of construction. Registration isvoluntary and in doing so you agree to abide by the Codeof Considerate Practice. There are three main categorieswhich are overseen by the scheme: the general public, theworkforce and the environment and it is monitored andregulated through independent assessment byexperienced professionals.
The benefits are: industry, local authority and governmentendorsement, demonstrating commitment to the higheststandards, assessment and benchmarking performanceand accreditations and awards.
For more information on Considerate Constructor andHighways Magazine Excellence Awards go to:http://www.ccscheme.org.uk/index.php/ccs-ltd
What is Considerate Constructor?
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A-one+ was the only highways company on thenight to win multiple awards and was highlypraised by the panel of expert judges forworking to tackle industry-wide issues.
We took home trophies in the Most InnovativeHighway Authority Project/Scheme of the Year,for Area 12’s Biomass Harvesting scheme andthe Institute of Highways Engineer (IHE) Teamof the Year for the A-one+ Ambassador Group.
We were also shortlisted in two othercategories at the glittering ceremony inLondon’s Lancaster Hotel, with colleagues fromAreas 7, 12 and 14 enjoying the ceremonyhosted by Gaby Roslin.
A-one+’s winning nomination for the MostInnovative Highway Authority Project/Schemeof the Year, jointly with Highways England, wasfor our work to manage 1,800 hectares of softestate by converting low grade timber towoodchip as part of the biomass projectproviding low carbon fuel .
What the judges said: “A great idea which iseco-friendly and can be transferable to otherhighways maintenance schemes.”
The project reduced the amount of carbondioxide created by our operation, managed theland for the benefit of the environment whilealso providing an income from the sale of theproduct.
Our second victory came as our AmbassadorGroup, also based in Area 12, was named theIHE Team of the Year.
This group brings together registered STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)Ambassadors and those interested in careerskills development and promoting engineering.
In the space of a year the team has seen thenumber of ambassadors working with thescheme grow from four to 16, working withschools and colleges in STEM subjects to raisegeneral awareness of career opportunitiesavailable in the wider construction industry.
What the judges said: “The team tookcommunity liaison to a new level and dealt withsome industry-wide issues at a programmelevel rather than relying on good will ofindividuals.”
Adding to our successful evening at the HMEAswere our shortlisted entries in a further twocategories, showing the breadth and depth ofinnovative thinking and collaborative workingacross A-one+.
• Award for Environmental Sustainability inthe Highways Sector category, for workacross the MAC in Area 12 to apply theprinciples of sustainable construction toenhance the highways environment.
• Highway Industry Product of the Year, Area14 putting forward the Ecolite-TH2 – asustainable alternative to traditional temporarylighting that doesn’t sacrifice the light qualityor performance that the industry needs.
This double win is “highly significant” andmeant that we were the most successfulcompany on the night it also demonstrates thatA-one+ and our parent companies are majorplayers in the highways maintenance andconstruction industry.
A big thank you to all who contributed to theawards whether drafting papers, or working onthe projects.
It was double delight for A-one+ with two resounding victories at the prestigious Highways MagazineExcellence Awards in October.
Double Delight for A-one+
Awarding body Ceremony Category Subject Outcome/placing
Chartered Institute ofTransportationConstructing Excellence
June 2015
Sustainability Highly Commended
Leadership & PeopleDevelopment
STEM Ambassador Group Highly Commended
Institute of Civil Engineers(ICE)International CSRExcellence Award
June 2015 Winner
Construction NewsRISE Awards 2015
September Sustainable Development Biomass Project Highly Commended
Biomass Project Highly Commended
Other recent successes
L-R Gaby Roslin host, Sarah Gregory, Brian Statham, Emma Skilbeck, Emma Ring,Ann Barratt and Brian Dunn accepting the award from the sponsors representative.
Added Value
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Jumping throughHoops!Skills development is encouraged through theJunior and Mid-Level Professionals UKNetwork (JuMP) which is run by a self-contained voluntary network of colleagueswithin A-one+ and CH2M (a parentcompany). It was created in 2012 to attract,develop and retain the best talent in theindustry and supports junior and mid-levelstaff through their professional development.
An annual panel is formed who agree,organise and are responsible for delivery anumber of initiatives throughout the year.Members are free to select events to tailortheir own development. Successes andlessons learned are recorded to ensurecontinuous improvements for the membersof the network. Being a member providesaccess to opportunities, events, andqualifications as well as exposure toexperience outside their day job. This is anexcellent way sharing skills and up-skillingindividuals as well as creating confident co-workers sharing best practice throughout theindustry.
Our people are our prized asset. We strive to keep them safe using the ideasthey bring to the table but we also support their individual careersaspirations and progression in tandem with encouraging our staff topromote the industry to young people.
Our people
National Women inEngineering Day 2015A-one+ are always keen to supportwomen into engineering as a professionand this year our office in Normantoncelebrated National Women inEngineering Day by holding a number ofprofile raising activities.
• A lunch-time quiz based on women inengineering
• Showcasing an Unconscious Bias videothroughout the day in various offices
• An internal poster campaign highlighting ourown A-one+ women in engineering and theircontributions to the business
• Entering and winning a photo competitionwith parent company CH2M ‘what doeswomen in engineering mean to you?’
• Ambassadors and senior managers worespecially designed t-shirts demonstrating theircommitment to encouraging more womeninto engineering.
Following numerous visits to schools the groupbased in Area 12 decided to offer their colleaguesthe opportunity to invite their own children towork providing a day of work experience as wellas the opportunity to learn about careerprospects within the industry.
The invitation was sent to all employees forchildren aged between 9 and 16 and a total of 18attended the day which started with spendingsome time at their parents’ desk. The daycontinued with a brief tour of the Normantonoffice which led to a welcome and presentation
meeting in the canteen where they also receiveda safety induction and a breathalyser test, whichthankfully they all passed. The remainder of theday included an insight into computer aideddesign (cad); traffic management, sign layout andapplication and controls.
After lunch the group had a tour round someplant, machinery and traffic management layout.The day concluded with the children tasked withdesigning a bridge from paper and a competitionto see whose structure could hold the mostweight with certificates provided to the wholegroup by Roger Wantling from Highways England.
Apprenticeships are really important forsupporting young people and our industry andwe are proud to have a good number workingwith us currently throughout the network areas.
Our Normanton offices in Area 12 recentlywelcomed four young apprentices to theindustry. The apprentices all aged between 17
and 18 live in Pontefract and Thorne and joinedus in September. They are all studying one dayper week at college or through our parentcompany Costain and will be training in CivilEngineering, Finance and BusinessAdministration. Area 7 has Daniel Walker andAndrew Simpson both training as Watchmanand due to be taken on soon.
Apprenticeships
Area 12 Apprentices - L-R Natalie Moran (Finance), Skye Crawford (Business Administration),Joel Moore and Sam Beardon (Civil engineering)
Ambassador GroupsOur award winning A-one+ Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) Ambassador Groupis chaired by Ann Barret HR Director and is designed to promote STEM in local schools. Groupsizes in network areas are plentiful and made up of a wide range of members from across thebusiness. A-one+ support the group by facilitating and formally supporting the group and grantingpaid leave of absence to staff to participate in ambassador activity. The groups take part in anumber of activities such as Institute of Civil Engineers Careers Fairs, STEM school visits, Womenin Engineering (WISE) school and university visits and Considerate Constructor working groups.
Bring Your Child to Work Day
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Driving Sustainability the A-one+ way. A number of initiatives and new ideas are being implemented and developedto meet objectives against recycling and reduction of carbon emissions. A dedicated Sustainability Integrated Working Group in Area 12 isresponsible for delivery against contractual performance, let’s find out whatwe have been doing there.
Sustainability
Improving Water Vole Habitat During a recent ditch and drainage scheme,environmental assessments confirmed thepresence of water voles; a protected species.Working with Natural England we followed anapproved method of working in order to protectthe water voles and have since completed over90km of ditch re-profiling where surveys haveidentified a 50% increase in the water volepopulation.
Living LandscapesLiving Landscapes is a working group establishedand chaired by; Highways England, RegionalDirector, Vanessa Gilbert, HE Environment Team,Natural England and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.It was established to see if could improve softestate maintenance to create better habitatsand corridors, allowing wildlife populations tomove around the country more easily and widentheir breeding prospects.
A Living Landscapes Workshop identified specificHighways England priorities for future schemesin our region as being grassland managementrestoration/creation, wetland management andwoodland management/creation.
Biomass TrialsOur award winning Biomass trials have beenundertaken, harvesting green estate for biomassproduction. These trials will help determinewhether it is economically viable for HighwaysEngland to extend green state harvesting forBiomass as a national initiative. Investigationsdetermined there were 160 woodland plots over1 hectare in size and extracting this timber wouldyield in excess of 4,000 tonnes of biomass.
After identifying a number of sites harvesting ourspecialist supply chain partner Ashlea wasretained to carry out the works. Over a five weekperiod some 19.4 hectares of woodland wasthinned by 50% to generate 1657 tonnes ofbiomass product which we think is a huge success.
Biomass production contributes towards aclean energy from a natural resource and islikely to provide cost benefits in how wemanage the soft estate.
Area 7 set itself a target to achieve 96% recycling and plans to achievethis through effective on-site waste segregation and adopting WRAPprotocol which allows us to send a large quantity of road planings forrecycling.
During the first half of this financial year we have met the recycling targetsfor both network and scheme waste. For quarter 1 (April-June 2015), wehave sent 99.6% of scheme waste and 98.04% of depot waste forrecycling whereas in the subsequent quarter we managed to achieve100% recycling of scheme waste and 98.07% of depot waste. In the last
6 months 38,409 tonnes of waste has been generated and in only 92.72tonnes has not been recycled equating to 1.05% waste to landfill.
We also aim to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emission from activitiesby 5% every year using previous year performance as baselinemeasurement. Already this year we have achieved an average 45%reduction in carbon emission. We will explore in more detail how thesereductions were achieved in the next issue of Network Guardian.
Spotlight on Energy SavingHow did we achieve 412t C02 reduced carbonemissions and 20% energy savings in just onearea?
Balancing Lighting with Traffic by adjustingstart times and midnight switch off, utilisingtraffic data to match lighting with traffic flow.
LED Lighting where possible, installing 230wLED lanterns to replace 250w units delivering a15% energy/Co2 saving. LED lanterns also havean extended design life and reducedmaintenance needs. Where possible we are alsousing solar energy to power LED lanternsreducing demand on national grid.
Idle Vehicle Timing - it was calculated that thefleet was wasting £450 per week in fuel throughstanding idle. To change this a programme oftool box talks was delivered and within weeks asignificant reduction was recorded. Idling fuelconsumption reduced by around 90%,equivalent to a saving of £100,000 over the lifeof the Area 12 contract.
Recycling reviewHow did we reach 76,000t waste recycled orre-used and 11,000t of recycled aggregatesutilised
• recycled plastic kerbs• re-use aggregate, recycled glass safety mesh• energy saving lighting systems,• re-pave • improved traffic management • renovating safety fence beams• installing office and depot energy saving
measures• reduced vehicle idling• participating in climate week challenge• Sustainability presentations in local schools
ENVIRONMENTAL
Did you know?Woodchip harvested: 1440 tonnes
Firewood harvested: 216 tonnes
Total biomass: 1656 tonnes
Area of woodland thinned by 50%:194,000m2
Total area of Area 12 woodland plots greaterthan 1ha: 212ha
Projected tonnage from Area 12 suitablewoodland plots: 18,000tonnes
Approximate value of biomass in Area 12assuming £30/t= £540,000
Did you know?Reducing waste to landfill6,000t waste recycled or re-used
Promoting re-use and re-cycle of materials11,000t of recycled aggregates utilised
Waste recycling and carbon emission at Area 7
Re-profiled ditch working
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Three core objectives were identified for the trials:
Creation of an Asset Management Plan (AMP) to identify a long-termprogramme of renewal works, over a thirty year period based on assetdeterioration models. This will be used to help plan the long term needs of assetsand negotiate funding settlements with government more effectively.
Identification of new asset performance measures to allow definitive, numericalmeasurement of asset condition that can be used as part of deteriorationmodelling or assessing contractor performance in managing the asset.
Identification of new innovations incorporating the use of technology toeffectively survey asset condition removing human subjectivity, supplementingexpertise for decision making and helping and drive efficiencies.
Implementing and Monitoring a Trial StrategyA partnership board was created to govern the joint project and budget, withrepresentatives from Highways England and A-one+ sharing responsibility foragreeing the strategy of the trials managing resources. The board met monthlyand produced an annual report showing progress against objectives, highlightingsuccesses re-establishing the direction of the strategy and recommendation offund allocation.
Area 7 Asset TrialsIn 2012 Highways England (Highways Agency as was) introduced a new contract framework for contractors called theAsset Support Contract (ASC). The aim of the ASC is to provide value for money through focusing on outcome basedasset management and moving away from the more prescriptive method within the Managing Agent Contracts (MAC).The ASC aligns with the ambition and need for complete transparency and commercial understanding of project pricingthrough agreed schedule of rates on top of lump sum duties.
Following this, Highways England identified a need to further refine the base methodology within ASC to promote aculture of asset management excellence in service providers. The Area 7 contract was extended by two years to allow A-one+ to undertake a series of trials to help Highways England investigate ways to pro-actively assess long term fundingneeds to sustain improved asset condition.
A-one+’s unique advantage of being a JVCo meansthat we can call upon our three parent companies;CH2M, Colas and Costain to facilitate innovations aswell making use of our existing relationships withsupply chain partners to bring about the skills neededto deliver the aims of the project.
We worked together with:
• COLAS specialist pavement team to produce a 30 yearpavement plan
• CH2M Asset Management Division on all other assetgroups
• Costain Technology developing a 30 year technology planand
• specialist supply chain partner Carnell to forminvestigating methodology for drainage.
Our relationship with specialist supply chain partners is integralto developing new industry innovations to collect and manageasset data.
The project developed and implemented:
• FastTrack highways drainage survey with Carnell providingthe necessary inventory condition data to populate theAMP and measure asset cost at a faction of the traditionalcost
• Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) laser scanner with IBI’sRouteMapper Group to assess vehicle restraint systems,undertake drainage assessments, provide contouring and
Routemapper software in action
Collaborativ e Partne
“The asset management trials in Area 7 haveallowed us to investigate and test someinnovative techniques; increasing ourknowledge of the condition of our assetsacross the East Midlands, several of thesehave now been adopted as good practicenationally. Perhaps more importantly it hasbuilt up an increased appetite for assetmanagement as a key driver in highways
management, establishing the groundwork forwhat is good practice in practical assetmanagement in Highways England.”
Andrew ButterfieldHighways England
Asset Delivery Manager
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profiling of the carriageway surface to identify flow paths andareas of potential ponding
• Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) with IBI Group to assesswaterproof membrane condition on structures. These GPR surveysare undertaken at traffic speed significantly reducing costs andcounteracting road worker network exposure.
• Advanced Mobile Asset Collection (AMAC) with DBI, a highlyaccurate automated mobile system measuring retro-reflectivityas well as creating a comprehensive inventory of signage, roadmarkings, studs and lighting.
Project BenefitsThe improved asset data collection and management, performancemeasuring and long term asset management plan will provide:
• Efficiency savings estimated at £50M (10%) of capital expenditure, byrationalising schemes into larger cross asset projects
• Improved customer value and efficient delivery, reducing road userdelays, equating to a £1.4M saving over a five year contract period (basedon AMP’s produced so far and the amalgamation of works that comesfrom long term planning)
• Delivery of the right scheme from the outset to provide the best wholelife cost solution
The trials have already resulted in the following efficiencies and savings:
• 220km of Fast Track drainage surveys successfully completed and theperformance data collected shows that it is 3.0 times faster than traditionalmethods, provides an average of 56% in cost savings and could save over£50M if all motorways and trunk roads were surveyed in this way
AMAC surveying and automatic data collection has saved £30,000 inunnecessary traffic management on one gantry signing scheme alone
£100,000 per annum has been saved in site visits after our inspectors’ trialledMobile Mapping Systems surveys. It has also resulted in a significant reductionin risk to inspectors and is better for the environment with reduced use ofvehicles. This has increased productivity by 500%
The 30 year Asset Management Plan uses deterioration modelling to predictfuture maintenance requirements allowing long term funding to beestablished and maintenance to be carried out before the asset failure, whilealso allowing whole life cost assessment to help inform strategy. This approachoffers better value for money and better visibility of overall asset conditioncompared to benchmark acceptable standards, additional there is less call forroutine maintenance, and interventions.
Highways England and A-one+ are continuing to work together and A-one+have developed an executive summary to form part of Highways England’sCommunication Strategy along with associated policies and procedures forAMP’s
This new approach will position Highways England at the leading edge as anintelligent asset manager and demonstrates the value of our A-one+ team asa service provider creating innovative solutions.
Advanced Mobile Asset Collection (AMAC) vehicle
rship Working
Mobile Mapping System survey vehicle
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
An overview of the whole project
Fast Track drainage in action
Team Talk
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We are really proud of our Grit nominees well done to you all andcongratulations to the quarter three winners from all network areas.Area 7 - TeamNetwork Team AMI Emergency Works M1 Jct 25-28Dale Mawby, Mick Howes, Darren Brown and Network team - IPV strike A1 Southbound Marston
Area 7 - IndividualAndy Smith - significant contributions for traffic management safetyWayne Smith - fundamental support preparing proposals for additional lump sum funding
Area 12 - IndividualNeil Ashcroft, Operative Tactical Incident Response Team
Area 12 - TeamTactical Incident Response Team
Area 14 - TeamThe ‘Work Experience’ team – Emma Hughes, Christine Davies, Laura Broad, LorraineMacDonald, Sue Lawson, Ken Moody, Kevin Balmer, Peter Dix, Ray Hall, Adam Flynn andMeryl Sayer for their support in putting together a work experience programme with aweek’s notice for a student from Darlington College.
The ‘National Women in Engineering Day’ team – Jenna Allen, Lauren Parsons, Becky Allen,Stephen Larkin, Graeme Watt and Vicki Henderson for their work in putting together,photographing and organising a newspaper article an event to mark this occasion.
The Highways Inspectors – Chris Flory, Gary Naylor, Dave White and Stuart Graveling fortheir work in identifying a number of find and fix operations they could carry out themselvestherefore reducing site visits and workload in other areas. This team won the team award.
Area 14 - IndividualAlan Gray – for managing a situation whereby a large number of people came to lay flowersat the scene of a fatal accident when works were going on. Alan won the individual award.Steve Luke – for writing a submission for the Ground Engineering Awards, showing passionand enthusiasm and also presenting this to a panel of judges.
The next Annual Grits awards will be taking place soon, look out for details nearer the time!
What’s happening in Area 7?In February 2015 Highways England announced to Area 7 employees that they were embarkingon a new era for highways maintenance and this meant that they will be taking managementof the asset in house. This means that the team currently working in Area 7 will be placedunder TUPE Regulations to transfer employment to Highways England or a new contractor asof July 1 2016.
What does TUPE mean?TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)Regulations 1981.WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF THESE REGULATIONS? The purpose of the Regulations is to protectemployment rights when employees transfer from one business to another. The terms andconditions of employment of the transferring employees are maintained when a businessor an undertaking is transferred to a new owner. The employees’ continuity of service ispreserved as well as the original terms, but the previous employer’s benefits relating to oldage, invalidity or survivors under occupational pension schemes are not transferred.
Since the announcement was made the Area 7 Transition Team has been working closelywith Highways England to ensure a smooth changeover on 1 July 2016. We have establishedan Employee Representative Group to ensure that we communicate with all affectedemployees. The group deals with all aspects of the TUPE implications of the changes; lookingat new offices, dealing with queries. HR are working closely with Highways England toensure that accurate information has been provided to the bidders for the Maintenance andRenewal and Design contracts so that individual TUPE terms and conditions are protected.
In October we offered employees the opportunity to have a confidential meeting with anexternal consultant to talk about the process we are going through and how they feel aboutthe future. We hope that this will provide useful feedback to help with the transition process.
Welcome to newstartersMark Ashwell – Highways Technician
Kyle Lawson – Highways Technician
Bliss-Bold – Quality Manager
Dayle Robertson – Graduate QS
Ashley Walker – Graduate Engineer
James Lister – Assistant Engineer
Eddie Gardener – Highways Maintenance Operative
Rob McKenna - Highways Maintenance Operative
Shamina Miah – Cost Capture Assistant
Darren O’Gorman – SHE Officer
Gareth Clydesdale - Highways MaintenanceOperative
Sarah Woodward – Technical Administrator
Rhonda Lockwood – Insurance Assistant
Joshua Mayo – Engineering Undergraduate
Alex Vickers – Engineering Undergraduate
Alex George – Industrial Placement
John Holt – Industrial Placement
Mark Humpage – IDT Project Manager
CongratulationsDarren Calderbank promoted to Lead Operative inthe Area Team
Jenna Allen – promoted to Assistant Engineer
Andrew Gregory – promoted to Engineer
Ben Lavelle – promoted to Assistant Engineer
Karen Barker – promoted to Insurance Manager
Shaun Freemantle, Simon Maxwell & Wayne Brown– promoted to Team Leaders
Rachel Young – role change to ContinualImprovement and Behavioural Communicator
Well doneChristian Smith, Colas Operative recruited andseconded into Area 12 Team Network Operations Team.
Emma Ring, Technician seconded to work on theCostain A160/A180 Immingham ImprovementProject for approximately 6/12 months
Qualificationscompleted in the lasttwelve monthsA14 Scott ParkerBSC in Civil Engineering
A12 Dave CooperBtech Diploma in Civil Engineering
A12 Laura KendrewYear 1 of HNC in Construction and the BuiltEnvironment
A12 Jodie SquiresYear 1 of HNC in Civil Engineering
A12 Sean LomasYear 1 of HNC in Civil Engineering
A12 George FarmerYear 1 of BTech Diploma in Civil Engineering
Recognition
Network Guardian
John Stebbing, Structures VM Senior Engineerand his wife Becky on their wedding atMalcesine Castle in Lake Garda on 7 September.
Ben Lavelle and his partner Sam on the birth oftheir son Felix John Lavelle. Felix arrived on 6September weighing a healthy 7lb 8oz.
Stephen Curtis, works at Sandiacre Depot,married wife Kerrie on 29 August at 3pm atNottingham Council House, the happy couplehoneymooned in Benidorm.
Hassan Rahman married his wife MomotazAhmed on 26 August at Crystal Plaza,Birmingham during a traditional seven day Asian
ceremony consisting of two pre-wedding partiescalled Mendhi’s and culminated in a postwedding party called the Walima. Hassan andhis new wife have returned from Marrakech andBarcelona since the wedding but are lookingforward to their official honeymoon in Maldivesnext year.
Health and WellbeingManaging stress Managing stress was the focus of the 2015 European Weekfor Safety and Health at Work held at the end of October andwe thought it would be an ideal time to raise awareness ofwhat to look for and ways to get help if you or someone youwork with might be suffering with stress at work.
Indicators of stress range from emotional symptoms such as moodswings, loss of motivation, negativity to mental symptoms like an inability toconcentrate, confusion, poor memory and can include changes from normal behaviourfor example; eating more or less, increased dependency on smoking, drugs or alcohol,affected sleep patterns, erratic attendance and timekeeping.
These symptoms could be linked to other conditions and if you are concerned aboutyourself please seek advice from your GP and if you are concerned about a colleaguetry and convince them to see their GP.
We are in the process of implementing a number of colleagues as Mental Health FirstAiders as an additional support at work for colleagues suffering with work place stressalthough they will be on hand to offer guidance you should always seek formal diagnosisand advice from your GP.
For more information on the focus of this year’s campaign go to https://www.healthy-workplaces.eu/en
Investors in DiversityWe are well underway working towards theInvestors in Diversity framework to demonstratethat we are an inclusive organisation. Inclusionto us means that everyone is equal, no matterwhat their gender, race, beliefs, sexuality, orother differentiators.
Following analysis from the survey data we identified areas that we are really good at.For example; we offer flexible working and reasonable adjustments to working situationsor environments for individual staff members. However, it also highlighted some areasfor improvement. Focussing on improving these areas will make us a better organisationand a better employer and the accreditation will support A-one+ winning future workas inclusion is increasingly important to our client.
Your HealthHealth checks have been carried out throughout the year including: diabetes/bloodpressure, flu clinic with flu vouchers being provided, hydration and sun awareness withUV beads being offered to prevent risk to sun damage and mini DIY MOT road-show.Healthy living events and fruit Fridays have been introduced encouraging healthy eating,team building and breaks from work.
In addition staff based in Area 14 have been encouraged and sponsored to participate inthe Global Corporate 100 Day Challenge, an initiative which aims to improve bloodpressure, weight, cholesterol and lifestyle through changing behaviours as a team at work.
Social Committee Area [email protected] [email protected]
Golf Days
Haunted Investigation at Sherwood Foreston Friday 2nd October 8pm – Midnight.
Christmas Mosaic Class3 December 6.30 – 9pm.
Christmas PartyDecember 15, Roundhouse, Derby
Area [email protected]
York Family Race DaySeptember 6
Night at the DogsSheffield October 9
Christmas Party4 December, Village Hotel, Tingley,employees and partners
Area 14CharityAndSocial:Aone.uk.com
Summer Garden Party
Christmas Party18 December at the local Rugby Club Arena
Announcements
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John and Becky Hassan and MomotazFelix Stephen and Kerrie
22
We approach projects a little di�erently.
Because at CH2M, we believe no challenge is unsolvable.We’re excited by tough challenges. We combine the best ideas in water, transportation, energy, industry and the natural environment to tackle your most pressing infrastructure and natural resource needs. We create new pathways for human progress. And breathe new energy into every community we touch.
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A
grand total of
£861 was raised by our
three areas for Macmillan
nurses. £113 was raised by Area
7, £216 by area 14 and a
whopping £527 by Area 12. A
brilliant effort from everyone
who took part.
Iain’sUltra MarathonChallengeIain Brackenridge, Area 7’s Environmental Advisor is
running the Marathon des Sables (MdS) in April 2016. For those
who don’t know, the MdS is a 251km (156 mile) ultra marathon
through the Sahara desert and is often dubbed 'the toughest foot
race on earth'.
Undertaking something this immense is normally associated with raising
money for a good cause and he is not about to buck that trend! He has chosen
to raise money for a group called MapAction. They are a great organisation
that specialise in providing mapping for humanitarian emergencies. The work
they do is amazing and a side of humanitarian aid that people often don’t
see.
Iain has set up a fundraising page(http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/IainBrackenridge) and would
greatly appreciate any donation that you could provide. Even if
it is just a £1, it all helps. I would also ask you to forward
this link on to your family, friends & colleagues. The
more people who know about this, the moremoney I can hopefully raise for thisworthwhile cause.
Costain150 ChallengeYou may all be aware of the Costain 150 Challenge
taking place throughout the year which aims to mark the
150th anniversary of the company by raising an outstanding
£1million for Costain Charitable Foundation’s four dedicated
charities; British Heart Foundation (BHF), Macmillan Cancer
Support, The Prince’s Trust and Samaritans. Events included:• BBQ and Formula 1 Area 7 Challenge• Debbie and Sam’s Tuck Shop • Great North Run – Claire Rowbotham, Matthew Skins and
Abdul Shafi • Easter Eggs
• Woolly Hat Day • Halloween Pumpkin Challenge
Network Guardian
23
Fundraising round upEach of our three areas put a huge amount of effort into supporting a number ofcharities both locally and nationally as well as for our parent companies. There is aan on-going calendar of events which help foster a family feel to the company aswell as raising much needed funds for a variety of organisations and initiatives.
Area 12 has as it’s main charity the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and also supports a numberof other initiatives raising a total of £2403 this year.
Area 7 has raised around £1500 throughout the year through various activities and hasconnections with a local homeless organisation called Reachout. Collections of clothing,food, toiletries and blankets are made throughout the area and delivered quarterly,providing much needed necessities for people without a home.
Area 14 has raised £1149.67 for British Heart Foundation and £360 for Comic Relief.
All our network areas opted to support Macmillan this year with a coffee morning on 25September successfully raising £861 in total.
Children
in Need is being
supported again i
n 2015
with a raft of activi
ty
including; The Big
Brunch,
Bucking Bronco r
ide,
Christmas craft stall, cake
sale, Tombola and
raffle prizes.
Staying Safe in Winter
Signing off
25/26 NovemberHighways UK Conference andExhibition at Excel, LondonThis is a brand new event bringingtogether the people responsible forplanning, developing, managing andmaintaining the network of roads thatwe work on. The event incorporates anexhibition, conference learning, industrybriefings and keynote speakers over thetwo day and A-one+ has sponsored thepress lounge.
Follow news and views from the event@HWYSUK on Twitter to find out whathas been happening.
JanuaryInvestors in DiversityWe will be implementing a guide to aspart of our aim to be an inclusiveorganisation and a site visit from PaulHolder, Highways England’s CustomerExperience Manager
FebruaryWebsite launchWe hope to be ready to launch our allnew company website.
KEEPING the road network safe and moving when the snow and ice hits eachwinter is one of the toughest challenges we face at A-one+ each year.
But thanks to our winter teams across Areas 7, 12 and 14, we’re prepared for whatever theBritish weather throws at us.
Across the three areas our fleets of gritters and snow blowers have been overhauled andthousands of tonnes of salt has been stockpiled.
The Area 7 NCC, based at Evo Park in Nottingham, and Area 14’s ENCC at Blaydon, nearNewcastle, take the lead in monitoring the forecasts and producing treatment plans acrossthe three areas.
Our new forecast provider, MetDesk, offers detailed predictions of how much snow is expectedin a particular location which means resources can deployed before the weather even hits.
Area 14 has invested in new brine production plants for its depots, each of which has a tankholding 22,000 litres of brine.
With the 12 gritters on the network using 1,200 litres on a typical treatment route, the newtanks mean a steady supply of high salinity brine across winter.
In Areas 7 and 12, which share winter planning from Nottingham, the biggest challenge willbe the introduction of Smart motorways on the M1 and M62, when All Lane Running willbecome operational – meaning no hard shoulder.
Key for Area 12 will be the designated red routes - the M62 High Trans-Pennine Route, theM1 and M18 and the A628 Woodhead Pass – some of the busiest roads in England.
Area 7 has been given a two hour target for completing each of its gritting routes, includingthe M1, M6 and A1, down from three hours previously allowed. New routes have beenidentified and tested to meet these targets.
No-one knows what winter will bring, but A-one+ is ready for anything. What did youthink?...We hope you liked this magazine andthat you were informed interested inthe articles. If you any feedback aboutthis issue or have an idea for somethingyou would like us to consider for thenext edition due in April/May 2016please contact the [email protected]
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