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Client: Morgan Sindall Infrastructure on behalf of Network Rail
Scope
Key features of work-scope:
Grade 1 listed building with a historically important structure that needed a sympathetic solution to loading structural members.
Complex scaffold design solution to mitigate roof loading issues.
Scaffolding access solutions were required to minimise impact on pedestrian flows as far as possible, especially on platform areas.
Liverpool St station is considered to be subterranean with compliance to strict fire requirements for an underground station which needed to be adhered with.
The installation, movement and removal of multiple mobile suspended scaffolding protection platforms to facilitate the replacement of the roof cladding system. The scaffold was to be suspended from the internal roof steelwork to all four spans with exiting roof walkways providing access.
The primary works, logistics and scaffolding were undertaken during normal working hours. The works above the platforms and train lines were completed during planned possessions including an eight-day closure of the mainline station during Christmas 2024.
Sept 2024 to May 2026
Role Undertaken By Palmers
Creating a safe, business as usual, environment within a major London railway station whilst enabling
overhead cladding replacement works to the roof to be undertaken without interruption to the day-to-day operation of the London terminus’. The brief was to provide a lightweight suspended protection platform to maintain the safety of the railway and station users during the work to replace the roof cladding. As with all railway stations constructed in the 19th century, suspending loads from the fabric of the building must be carefully considered to ensure elements of the building fabric framework are not overloaded. This was a challenge that Palmers Scaffolding and RDG Engineering were familiar with having completed similar work at Paddington station, St Pancras, Kings Cross and others.
Using the Palmers aluminium “Bridge Panel” frame system a series of lightweight, robust, suspended
protection platforms were designed and erected during station possession periods. These were to traverse the full length of London Liverpool Street Station Train Shed roof using 50m long protection platforms.
Launched from an erection gantry to the north of the train shed and rolled out into the roof to provide
protection allowing work to be carried out to the train shed roof above whilst the station remained open and fully operational.
Each of the four spans in the train shed have their own suspended protection platform which can move
independently but could also be brought together to cover the full width of the trainshed. This versatility
ensured optimisation of roof works such that the suspended platforms can be moved independently to the location where work was being undertaken. Equally where protection may be required across the whole train shed at one time all the suspended platforms can be brought together to provide a full 30m of overhead protection across the trainshed in an east/west direction.
This approach also enabled a full layer of protection to cover any overhead works in the east/west transept location in the train shed.
Apart from the versatility of the “bridge-panel” beam system the success of the project also relied on the
bespoke platform roller system specifically developed by Palmers Scaffold and enables the large span
suspended platforms to be effortlessly moved through the train shed.
Since 2004 Palmers have been providing complex suspended aluminium access systems in major London
railway stations including Paddington Station, St Pancras Station, Kings Cross Station and Marylebone
Station. Palmers continue to work closely with their clients to ensure that the right engineering solution found to ensure structural loading requirements are met.
Palmers were best placed to deploy the use of their aluminium bridge panel system which gave the flexibility through the crossover spigot to install clusters of longitudinal beams to span both the length and width of the decks and allow loading to be taken at the strong points in the existing roof steelwork. Along with other Palmers bespoke system elements and pressed metal decking to keep weight to a minimum this this was key to being able to design and build a suspended working platform that met all the requirements for safety at a major London station and be within the roof’s loading parameters.
Network Rail Bespoke Contract – NEC4 Option A
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