BT TUNNELS
London

TONY WARREN LIMITED

Client  Satisfaction

British Telecom

Brown & Root

ThyssenKrupp

£1,500,000

Major modernisation of 17 lifts

Client:

Commissioned by:

Lift Contractor:

Lift Value:

Scope:

Unfortunately, the Official Secrets Act prevents us telling you too much about this unusual project. 60 years old, below the Underground and with little modernisation carried out on them in most cases, the condition of these lifts was, to say the least, poor. In addition, they were very non-compliant with current health and safety, firefighting and disabled use standards. They had received little use over the years, the main duties of several of the lifts being to carry drums of cables.

They needed major modernisation to a standard suitable for a very damp environment, however time constraints prevented full surveys being carried out on all the lifts before the tender specification was issued. The solution was a ‘shopping list’ of possible requirements, eg pit ladders, guarding, to allow competitive prices for these to be obtained and ‘called off’ later  as required. Five of the lifts were also adapted to be firefighting lifts.

The logistics of providing escorts for the tendering lift contractors carrying out their surveys during the pre-tender period prevented all lifts being viewed, as the timing of these and their widespread locations were too difficult a problem to solve easily. The compromise was to show the tenderers the ‘one off’ lifts and two typical Cable Drum Lift in a central location, and schedule the remaining lifts in terms of travel, entrances, load, etc. It was necessary to wear asbestos protection clothing in the tunnels at the time, so surprised Londoners were treated to the sight of 11 white suited engineers walking over the Thames between sites.

© 2010 TONY WARREN LIMITED