HS2 Reveals Dramatic Carbon Saving With Ambitious Modular Design For Thame Valley Viaduct
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release on High Speed Two.
This is the first paragraph.
HS2 today revealed the final designs for the Thame Valley Viaduct and the pioneering pre-fabricated construction methods that will see the 880m long structure slotted together like a giant Lego set, cutting its carbon footprint by an estimated 66%.
This is one of the pictures released in this photoset.
This second picture shows a closer view of a pillar and the catenary.
It does appear in these two views that the catenary and the gantries that support it are more elegant than those that tend to be used on most electrification schemes at the present time.
These paragraphs describe how the design saved carbon emissions.
Applying lessons from recent high speed rail projects in Spain, the design team cut the amount of embedded carbon by simplifying the structure of the viaduct so that every major element can be made off site.
In a major step forward for viaduct design in the UK, the team opted for two wide ‘box girder’ beams per span instead of eight smaller beams – to simplify and speed up assembly.
The production of steel and concrete is a major contributor to carbon emissions, with the new lighter-weight structure expected to save 19,000 tonnes of embedded carbon in comparison to the previous design. That’s the same amount of carbon emitted by one person taking a flight from London to Edinburgh and back 70,000 times.
It would appear that saving weight and using less steel and concrete can save a lot of carbon emissions.
I once got a bonus at ICI because I saved ten metres on the height of a chemical plant. My boss said, I’d saved nearly a million. by using a mathematical model on an analogue computer to show that a vessel in the plant wasn’t needed and this eliminated a complete floor of the plant.
How much concrete and steel has been saved by High Speed Two on this viaduct, by making it more basset than Afghan hound?
Ever since I watched the building of Crossrail’s Custom House station, I have been in favour of off-site construction.
I wrote about it in An Express Station and am pleased to see it being used on High Speed Two.
Design Contract Awarded To Extend Railway Arches Low Line Concept
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Plans to revamp the railway arches running through Wandsworth and Lambeth to create an extension of Southwark’s “low line” have taken a step forward after a contract was awarded to a design agency.
The extension would create a continuous walking and cycling route from Battersea to London Bridge, to connect communities with the creation of new spaces alongside the viaduct.
It looks to be an interesting concept with lots of possibilities.
The Crossrail Article That Everyone Must Read
This article on Ian Visits is entitled A Sneak Preview Of London’s New Elizabeth Line Railway.
As the title of this post indicates, Ian’s article is very much a must read and it gives everybody something worthwhile to look forward to, after what has been the worst two years of many peoples’ lives.
The Crossrail Opening Date
There are a few more tests to do and Ian says the line could open a few weeks after Easter. With the Bank station upgrade apparently going well as I reported in Final Tunnelling Gets Underway On Bank Station Blockade and likely to open in mid-May, I wonder if TfL would prefer that the two projects opened at different times for management and operational reasons.
Easter is the 17th of April, and two weeks later is May Day, with the Bank Holiday on the Monday.
If they can do all the tests, there would be good reasons to open Crossrail on the first of May.
- It’s a different day to the opening of the Bank station upgrade.
- They would have two clear days to get Crossrail open.
- A lot of people will be going to Central London.
- Other Mayors would have organised a party.
- A Bank Holiday would give the new infrastructure a proper test with real passengers and lots of children.
- Crossrail could also help to cover for a late-opening Bank Station Upgrade.
If I needed to bet on it, my money would be on an opening on Sunday, the first of May.
The Bakerloo Line Link At Paddington Station
Ian writes this interesting paragraph.
Something though that was added to Paddington station after the funding was approved was a new direct deep tunnel link from the platforms to the Bakerloo line. London Underground contractors built the link, and Andy Lord suggested that they are considering opening up the link before the Elizabeth line opens fully as it would help with offering step-free access for Bakerloo line customers.
Many people find getting to Paddington difficult, as I do from Dalston.
I typically use some roundabout and slow routes and most end up with arriving at Paddington on the Bakerloo Line.
Opening the link early would have the following effects.
- It would make things a lot easier for me and probably many other passengers.
- It would add passengers to London’s least-used Underground line.
- It would add capacity to the Bakerloo Line station at Paddington.
It would also give a piece of the infrastructure, a good soak testing with real passengers and may flag up some changes that needed to be made to details like signage.
Opening The Liverpool Street and Moorgate Pedestrian Link
In London’s First Underground Roller Coaster, I described this link, which I believe will be used by more than just rail passengers.
I feel that like the Bakerloo Line Link at Paddington station, that this link could be opened early.
Conclusion
I can’t wait for Crossrail to open.
Penge East Station – 11th March 2022
When I wrote Advance Warning Of Brixton To Beckenham Junction Rail Closure In July, I realised I’d never been to Sydenham Hill station.
So when I visited Sydenham Hill station this morning, I decided to take the train through Penge Tunnel to take some pictures of Penge East station.
Note.
- The station is a Grade II Listed Building.
- It has been well-painted since I last visited.
- It would be very difficult to make the existing bridge step-free.
I think this station could be difficult to incorporate into a Penge Interchange station.
But it would be a shorter walk along the platforms to a lift and stairs to the high level platforms, than the current one to Penge West station.
A Plea From Michael Portillo
In the latest episode of his Great British Coastal Railways – Helensburgh to Connel, Michael Portillo made a plea to train makers.
Travelling along the scenic West Highland Line, he asked train manufacturers to build a train with a glass roof.
Levelling Up – The Marks & Spencer Way
When I first moved to Dalston, there were three convenient Marks and Spencer stores within a few bus stops.
- Angel, which is a basically a food store with a floor of clothes above, where my grandmother used to shop before the First World and C and I used to shop in the 1970s, when we lived in the Barbican.
- Moorgate, which is a small department store, with a medium-sized food department in the basement, which I use regularly.
- Hackney, which was a very small department store with a poor food department, was convenient as on some of my journeys, I would get a bus home from outside the store.
Over the last ten years, more Marks and Spencer stores have sprung up, Archway, Camden Town, Dalston, Eastfield, Hampstead, Liverpool Street, Old Street and West Hampstead, which I use occasionally, as they are on routes home.
This morning I went to the eye hospital in Colindale and coming home, I got a 32 bus to Brondesbury for the Overground.
As I needed some food, I had various choices of journey home.
- Get off at West Hampstead and do my shopping there, and then get back on the train.
- Get off at Hampstead Heath and do my shopping there, with a light lunch in le Pain Quotidien.
- Get off at Dalston Kingsland and do my shopping there, with a bus home.
- Get off at Hackney Central and do my shopping there, with a bus home.
Unusually, I chose the last option and got a big surprise.
I had been worried that Marks and Spencer in Hackney would close, but now it has been turned into the most upmarket Marks and Spencer food store, I’ve ever seen.
- It’s more Knightsbridge. than Hackney
- It’s large and spacious.
- There are large ranges of tea and coffee, that you normally don’t see in the store.
- The decor is localised to the store.
- It is only about a hundred metres from Hackney Central station and fifty metres on the flat from my bus home.
- It’s even just called Marks & Spencer Food
Now that’s what I call levelling up!
Could Universal Hydrogen’s Concept Create A Hydrogen-Powered Single-Aisle Airliner?
Universal Hydrogen are making some of what I would consider the right moves.
Hydrogen Supply
Universal Hydrogen have signed a supply contract with Fortescue Future Industries for the supply of green hydrogen.
The deal is described in this press release on the FFI web site, which is entitled FFI And Universal Hydrogen Join Forces To Decarbonise Aviation.
Collaboration With Airbus
There is an article on BusinessWire, which is entitled Universal Hydrogen Announces New Engineering Development Center Located In Toulouse, France, The Heart of European Aviation.
Toulouse is the home of Airbus.
The Capsule Concept
The capsule concept could be universal.
These are widths of various planes and trains.
- De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 – 2.52 metres – Internal
- Airbus ATR 72 – 2.57 metres- Internal
- Airbus A320neo – 3.7 metres – Internal
- Boeing 737 – 3.53 metres – Internal
- Class 800 train – 2.7 metres – External
- Class 66 locomotive – 2.65 metres – External
I suspect that if the design is correct, then one size of capsule can be made to fit a variety of applications.
Application To Regional Aviation
I discussed this in Flybe Appears To Be On The Way Back.
I believe that De Havilland Canada Dash 8s and Airbus ATR 72s could be converted to hydrogen.
Road Transport
Surely, the capsules would be too big for road transport in the UK and many other countries.
But they would probably be ideal to deliver hydrogen to bus and truck depots and filling stations for hydrogen vehicles. They would just be plugged in and then could start dispensing the fuel.
Decarbonation Of Diesel Locomotives
Consider.
- The cross-section of a diesel locomotive even in the UK, is larger than that of a regional airliner.
- Most of the space in the body of a diesel locomotive is taken up by a large diesel engine.
- Fuel ells or a small gas turbine could be small compared to the diesel engine.
- Most existing diesel locomotives have electric transmissions.
I believe that many diesel-electric locomotives could be converted to hydrogen power and some could use Universal Hydrogen’s capsules.
Zero-Carbon Backup Generators
Many pieces of important infrastructure, like data centres, hospitals and large railway stations have backup generators.
Universal Hydrogen’s capsules could provide hydrogen for zero-carbon backup generators.
Universal Hydrogen’s Ideas For Single-Aisle Airliners
In the Product page on the Universal Hydrogen web site, there is a section, which is entitled Single Aisle / Narrowbody, where this is the first two sentences.
The majority of aviation emissions are produced by the single aisle (also known as narrowbody) fleet, dominated by the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families of aircraft. Both Boeing and Airbus are likely to develop a replacement for these venerable models for entry into service in the mid 2030s.
Alongside the text is this graphic, which compares various airliners.
Universal Hydrogen are proposing that Airbus stretch the A321, so that hydrogen capsules can be fitted in the rear of the fuselage, so that the aircraft has similar proportions to the Boeing 757.
Read the full text on the Product page of the Universal Hydrogen web site.
I can see that if they could prove the concept with the Regional Airliner, they could develop the two concepts shown in the graphic.
Conclusion
This is a simple, but very exciting project.
Southeastern’s Class 707 Trains
A few days ago, I had my first ride in one of Southeastern‘s Class 707 trains.
Other than a change of colour, they seemed little different to when they were working for South Western Railway.
Note that the orange grab-handles have been retained.
Shocks Away! RAF To Fly Electric Planes
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Times.
The RAF is evaluating the Slovenian-built Pipistrel Velis Electro for use as a training aircraft. I learned to fly in a Cessna 150 and the Pipistrel Velis Electro seems to be a modern reincanation of that and similar classic designs.
- It seats two normal people side-by-side.
- It has a high wing.
- It has a fixed tricycle undercarriage.
- It is built from composites, whereas the Cessna was aluminium.
- It seems to have been carefully designed.
- It has full certification.
I would love to have a flight in one.
As the Danish Air Force are already using the aircraft for pilot training, I suspect that it might suit the RAF.
But then there are quite a lot of battery-electric under development and there may be a better one.
But there is no denying that the Pipistrel Velis Electro is a good aircraft to start the procurement process.
The Anonymous Widower 