AI create firm foundations for new HS2 college
Aggregate Industries all aboard with McDermotts to create National College for High Speed Rail
AGGREGATE Industries have provided the platform for the newly created National College for High Speed Rail, located in the centre of Birmingham.
The college, which welcomed students for the first time in September 2017, is a new three-storey building on Birmingham Science Park, and includes hundreds of metres of rail track and space to host a full-size 25-tonne Eurostar power car.
Part of the £52 billion HS2 investment, Aggregate Industries were awarded the contract to supply concrete for the landmark development by McDermotts, the Birmingham-based groundwork and civil engineering company.
The project saw Aggregate Industries deliver 1,500 cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete for the groundworks of the college, which will train the thousands of skilled workers required for the HS2 rail link.
Terry Doherty, commercial director at McDermotts, commented: ‘With a project of this prestige and scale, it was very important for us work with a concrete supplier who not only has the knowledge of the complex requirements of the rail industry, but also the capabilities to provide the vast quantities needed within the given deadline.
‘The team at Aggregate Industries didn’t disappoint and provided the seamless service you’d expect from a market leader; we look forward to working with the business again in the future.’
The ready-mixed concrete used is EN 206 and BS 8500 compliant, providing reassurance to the architects and contractors that it has been produced to the highest standards and does not contain ingredients that could affect the durability of the material or corrode the reinforcements.
Danny King, concrete general manager at Aggregate Industries, said: ‘The National College for High Speed Rail is one of the first completed projects of the new HS2 railway. It was great to work with McDermotts on this high-profile development that will kick-starts years of construction as we work toward making the vast ambitions for HS2 a reality.
‘Having a strong local plant network meant we could meet the requirements of the project to ensure McDermotts could complete the project on schedule, ready for the first students this September.’
The National College for High Speed Rail is the second recent educational project for Aggregate Industries in Birmingham. The company has also supplied 4,000 cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete for the slip-form construction, groundworks and concrete frameworks of Birmingham Conservatoire’s new, state-of-the-art, £57 million teaching and performance facility, which will also open in the autumn of 2017.
