Page 34 - Gi June/July 2019

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INDUSTRIAL AFFILIATES NGN TAKES HOME

ROBOTS DEPLOYED TO 52 AWARDS FOR
‘CONSIDERATE’

REPAIR LONDON GAS WORKS

MAINS IN WORLD’S FIRST

NGN’S BIG AWARD WIN
NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS
won a total of 52 awards in this
year’s Considerate Constructors
Scheme (CCS) National Site Awards,
held in April.
The company won awards
for work sites across the region
including Leeds, Huddersfield,
Beverley, Halifax, Pontefract,
Harrogate, South Shields,
Scarborough, Hull, Middlesbrough,
Hartlepool, Newcastle, Carlisle,
Maryport and Wigton.
THE CISBOT IN ACTION The phenomenal medal haul
included 12 gold awards and the
FIRST-OF-THEIR-KIND robots have area to access the main and massively award for the Most Considerate
been deployed to carry out repair work reduce the footprint of works compared Site in the UK award (under £500k)
in London’s gas mains. to traditional methods. Using robots for the company’s gas holder
In what is claimed to be a world first, also allows the gas supply to remain demolition project in Carlisle.
London’s extensive cast-iron gas main uninterrupted. Tim Harwood, Head of
network will be repaired using a fleet of Once inside the gas main, the robot Programme Management for
remote-controlled robots. drills into the bell and spigot joints Northern Gas Networks, said:
Cadent, which operates four of the between pipes, and injects a sealant “Keeping the North of England
eight gas networks in the UK, has into the joint under pressure, extending cooking on gas means our roadwork
partnered with American firm ULC the life of the pipeline by 50 years. signs and barriers are a common
Robotics to develop the world’s first Cadent Head of Operations for London sight around the region.
robots, known as CISBOTs, which are James Harrison said: “Cadent and ULC “We take great pride in making
capable of working inside live gas mains. Robotics are spearheading a robotic sure our sites have minimal impact
Following successful trials, the fleet roadworks revolution with CISBOT. on local communities and the
of four CISBOTs will be used by several “CISBOTs work in the Strand and travelling public, while meeting high
London boroughs, including Camden, the Oxford Street last year was so successful environmental standards and looking
City of London Corporation, the City of that we’re now rolling the robots out after the welfare of own engineers.
Westminster, Hackney, Hammersmith & across our London network, where they’ll “Nobody likes roadworks, of
Fulham, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, help us to do work faster, smoother and course, but if we can design our
Lambeth, Richmond upon Thames, Tower more economically than ever before.” sites in the most considerate way
Hamlets and Wandsworth. Trials beneath the Strand resulted in possible, we can cause far fewer
The CISBOT, or cast iron sealing-bots, repairs to 185 historically leaky joints headaches for our customers.
enter gas mains via small pressurised in just seven weeks. This would have “All our teams are really thrilled
launch tubes, which are purged taken a team of workers nine months. with this latest recognition from the
with nitrogen to ensure there is no Other successful trials have taken place Considerate Constructors Scheme. It’s
flammable gas-air mixture as they go under Oxford Street, Regent Street, and great to see our sites are up there with
into the live mains. Park Lane and more than 5km of gas the very best in the UK.”
The launch tubes only require a small main have been repaired so far.

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IGEMNews_IndustrialAffliates.indd 1 16/05/2019 13:21