Example work

The challenge. Permanent braced-bay steel had to be omitted at two plant towers so generators could be installed — but that bracing formed part of the frame's lateral stability, leaving columns unrestrained at the top level. The specialist lift contractor's plan then identified a clash between the generator lift envelope and the remaining tower steel, and disagreed with the proposed leave-down strategy.

The temporary works requirement. Demonstrate stability of the frame at every stage of the works; replicate the omitted lateral load path with temporary bracing without overstressing permanent members; and turn the omitted bay into a designed lift corridor kept clear of the full lift envelope (generator, rigging and operational clearances).

Information worked from. The permanent works engineer's structural drawings and imposed-loading plans, the lift contractor's lift plan and section views, gantry loading plans and the project correspondence trail.

The approach. A formal design-review report through controlled revisions: every comment from the permanent works engineer (a tier-one international consultancy) answered and closed out in a tracked schedule; the lift-envelope clash resolved through a designed corridor strategy; a staged temporary bracing scheme with a documented remove-versus-retain decision; and a full working methodology, site risk assessment and revised ITP with hold points.

Where it landed. The strategy was accepted in principle by the permanent works engineer, and the developed scheme — staging, bracing and lift corridor — was issued for delivery, with contractor duties under the contract and CDM 2015 explicitly preserved.

Limitations: project details anonymised for commercial confidentiality; design subject to the project temporary works procedure and competent checking throughout.