Arup and East West Railway Company (EWR Co) have been shortlisted in the Design Efficiency category of New Civil Engineer’s Techfest Awards 2022. The award nomination recognises the development of a pioneering approach that utilises survey information and remote-sensed data to enable the mapping of ecological habitats, allowing for better environmental design from the outset.
Arup, the sustainable development consultancy, developed the innovative technology to help EWR Co meet its Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) objectives, including preservation of irreplaceable habitats. The digital tool interprets habitat data collected remotely and automatically generates a baseline biodiversity score at project inception. This is continuously refined as the project progresses, by ongoing environmental field surveys.
A Red-Amber-Green status map is created from the data allowing easy identification of high-value or rare habitat locations. Having this map at the design stage of the project allows design solutions to be developed that ensure existing biodiversity features are avoided. Irreplaceable and other high-value habitat types are then retained alongside the scheme design. Proposed new habitat creation is located where it will maximise biodiversity gain by connecting to and supplementing the best existing habitats.
The new technology maximises efficiency at the design stage, saving the project both time and money, whilst contributing to the EWR biodiversity objectives. It will help inform the decision on the preferred route alignment for the next section of the railway, connecting Bedford to Cambridge, and will help ensure BNG targets are met or exceeded.
Vanessa Hilton, Head of Environment, EWR, said:
“I am extremely proud that our pioneering use of technology to safeguard Britain’s best quality habitats is being recognised by the industry in this award shortlisting. It is testament to the creative thinking and environmental commitment of the joint EWR, Arup team.
“Enabling the biodiversity of habitats to be rapidly calculated earlier in the design process means design teams can evaluate different route options more quickly. This will hugely improve design decisions, allowing us to proactively plan around important ecological areas protecting and enhancing our natural surroundings.”
Luke Casey, Associate Ecologist, Arup, said:
“Arup is an industry leader, working with a wide range of clients on major innovative design projects of the highest risk and impact. Among those, large infrastructure projects present a major challenge in terms of mapping ecological baselines early enough to inform the initial stages of design, yet this is where there is most opportunity to shape positive environmental outcomes.
“Our innovative approach combines cutting-edge remote sensing techniques, knowledge of biodiversity net gain metrics and digital automation to quantify likely impacts upon biodiversity. This is a step change in the use of digital biodiversity tools to inform design, which will enable designers to make decisions that preferentially avoid impacts upon biodiverse habitats and to maximise opportunities to deliver meaningful gains.”
The Techfest Awards will be held on 24 November, 2022.
Notes to Editors
- Standard approaches to quantifying change in biodiversity using metrics typically focus on intermittent audits at fixed stages of project development. Calculations take weeks, causing delays to the close-out of each stage, while audits are also often delivered at too late a stage to truly influence the design. This compromises the delivery of biodiversity objectives because irreplaceable and other high-value habitats cannot be reasonably compensated.
- Habitats with negligible biodiversity value refer to land that is of hardstanding, for example buildings and roads. The other categories (Low, Medium, High, Very High and Irreplaceable) are DEFRA-defined categories that represent the increasing relative biodiversity value of the habitats contained.
- Arup devised an innovative, automated workflow that enables BNG tracking throughout the design stages and calculates live BNG scores within just a single day.
- EWR has made voluntary commitments to achieving measurable gains in biodiversity as part of its environmental principles. The EWR environmental principles include, but are not limited to:
- Protecting your farmland – protecting soil resources and agriculturally important land
- Contributing to the fight against climate change – designing, constructing and operating in a way that helps us with our aim to be a net zero carbon railway
- Protecting you from flooding – working carefully to make sure your water sources are protected, and that we don’t cause any increase in flooding through our construction or operations
- Sourcing responsibly – sustainably sourcing what we need and reducing our waste to get the best maximum use out of everything we buy
- Protecting species – delivering biodiversity net gain by approaching development so biodiversity is left in a better state than we found it
- The Techfest Award shortlisting - Best Use of Technology: Design Efficiency
This category recognises teams using technology to drive efficiency and productivity in the design stages of a project. This may be through automation, digitalisation or improving processes and methods that bring a step change to the construction and civil engineering industry. The technology must be being used on a specific project (as a trial or as an integrated part of the project) between January 2021 and July 2022.
About the East West Rail project
East West Rail intends to create a new direct connection between Oxford and Cambridge. Serving communities across the area, it intends to bring faster journey times and lower transport costs as well as ease pressure on local roads.
East West Rail is planned to be delivered in three Connection Stages:
- Connection Stage One: Oxford to Bletchley and Milton Keynes
- Connection Stage Two: Oxford to Bedford
- Connection Stage Three: Oxford to Cambridge
Network Rail was responsible for developing the first part of the East West Rail, connecting Oxford with Bicester, and is a partner in a construction alliance to deliver Connection Stage 1 of the project, where East West Railway Company (EWR Co) and Network Rail are acting as the Department for Transport’s joint sponsors.
EWR Co is now developing the route to enable services to run to Cambridge via Bedford and plans to seek statutory powers under the Planning Act 2008, following a period of extensive consultation.
About East West Railway Company
East West Railway Company (EWR Co) was set up by the Secretary of State for Transport in 2018 to develop East West Rail, a railway with customers and communities at its core.
We have a mission to innovate and challenge the status-quo in the rail and construction industries, leading to a more efficient and cost-effective project delivery, and a great experience for passengers and the communities we serve. Our vision is delivery of a safe and secure railway that is better for the customer; cheaper for the taxpayer; delivered quicker than before and is greener for the environment.
Our distinctive outlook and commitment to doing the right thing for our customers and local communities runs through everything we do and every decision we make.
About Arup
Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of 16,000 designers, advisors and experts working across 140 countries. Founded to strive for humanity and excellence in everything that we do, we collaborate with our clients and partners, using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world.
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