Client: Blackfriars Bridge
Type of works: supplied 33 Steel Mesh Barriers.

The redevelopment of London’s Blackfriars Station represents one of the most challenging civil engineering projects of the last decade with the project team faced with the logistical challenges of being on a city centre bridge spanning a major river and featuring live railway lines and four busy lanes of road.

With the safety of the large number of site operatives plus pedestrians and river users a priority throughout the project, leading safety at height solution provider, Combisafe International was called upon.

To provide protection during the construction of the station, approved Combisafe installation specialist Safety Net Services has provided 33 Steel Mesh Barriers.

Attached to the steel frame of the new building they provide edge protection and debris containment protecting workers at height and on the trackside. The constrained site also means that all equipment has to be craned up to rail level from floating barges and the barriers installed using rail mounted cherry pickers.

Offering protection for the river traffic below, 18 units of the Combisafe Safety Net Fan were specified across the central arch of the bridge. With a projection of 3 metres, the Safety Net Fan is tested to comply with EN1263 and will absorb falls from up to 6 metres. The mesh density of the fall arrest net is 60 x 60mm and is delivered laced together with an extra fine 20 x 20mm debris net as standard. The combined net is able to catch and contain considerably smaller particles of debris and therefore offers complete protection to the river traffic.

Elsewhere, the Steel Mesh Barrier is proving to be the ideal safety solution for civil engineering sub contractor Kilnbridge who require edge protection during the construction of the new reinforced concrete box structure for the South Station.

Customer Testimonial

‘Combisafe have worked closely with us throughout the project to ensure we have robust equipment in place to provide edge protection to our access systems and for versatile temporary staircases between levels during construction’. Don Macfarlane, Bouwdirecteur, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering