January 2010

Summary of our Current Contracts

§    Anglian Water:  Dave Burkill and his team continue to provide 24/7 service to AW and this now covers areas in Grimsby, Lincoln, Boston and surrounding areas.

 

§   Leicester CC:  Jason Bartlett, Steve Crawford & Derrick Preston have been kept busy by the bridges team of LCC carrying out refurbishments to Britton Street, Old Mill, Stoughton Drive and Bow Bridge together with the removal of Bowstring Bridge in Leicester.

 

§    Mark Hedges and Bob Shankster have also been involved with the bridges teams of both Warwickshire CC and Leicester CC as well as successfully undertaking our first ever contract with Centro at Hampton-in-Arden.

 

§    Rothamsted Research:  David Lavery assisted by Paul Dunleavey continues to secure additional works for this new client.  The  original contracted works have now been extended to almost treble the original scope, so well done to Dave and your team.

 

§    Cambridge HOK:  Steve Fisher along with Martin Coupe have now completed the infrastructure works in Histon for NIAB and  Steve (and team) has also recently completed the replacement footbridge at Claverdon for Warwickshire County Council.

 

§    Leicester Tigers:  Scott Martin along with Jason and other members were involved in carrying out junction improvement works as part of the development at Leicester Rugby ground.  This challenging contract certainly got our name noticed as anyone who saw the scheme boards can vouch for!

December 2009 review

CECA Awards

Congratulations to Dave Burkill (Anglian Water Framework Manager) who was one of the finalists for the CECA Site Manager of the Year Award.

Special Olympics

August 2009

We have taken delivery of nine new Caterpillar excavators from Finnings UK as replacement for older machines. These new machines bring our fleet size upto 35 including 24, 20, 14 tonne and 3 - 8 tonne mini excavators.

Dan Danaher said "The Plant hire side of our business has had a very difficult time over the past twelve month. We have had the purchase of this machinery on hold for the last six months, as we needed to wait and see how the market settles. It has not been until recently that we have seen some signs of stabilisation, which has given us the confidence to go ahead with the purchase of this additional machinery. We do have a policy to replace the machinery every three years, however we delayed the purchase of this new equiptment until the market looked like it was going to stabilise."

     

July 2009

                                                   Leicester Tigers                    

We have been awarded a contract to improve the pedestrian routes, traffic signals and signs and routes to the Leicester Tigers Welford Road Rugby Ground.

Scott Martin our Senior Site Agent says that, " The works are required to be fully completed for the opening day of their new stand which is on the day of their first home match for the season aggainst Newcastle Falcons."

                                        

Sue Southam was appointed as our QUENSH Co-ordinator on 5th May.   She will be responsible for monitoring  our management systems and procedures to ensure compliance with the three standards of QUality, ENvironmental and Safety & Health making modifications when necessary.   She comes with a wealth of experience, gained whilst working for a construction materials supply company and an industrial manufacturing company, in facilities management as well as environmental auditing, health & safety management, human resources and training.

April 2009

Institution of Civil Engineers EMMAs

We won silver at the 2009 Institution of Civil Engineers EMMAwards at their Annual Gala Dinner with our submission partners of Capital Shopping Centre and BSP Consulting for the Restoration of Parliament Street Bridge in Nottingham.  The Judges said in giving us a 'high commendation'. The excellence demonstrated here has been in the delivery of the solution in a high impact environment.

Ian Gilbert, the Contracts Manager said after being involved in such an extensive project, we are very pleased as we were up against some very strong competition from seven other submissions in and around the East Midlands.  Being recognised by our peers for our work is a great honour and everyone at Danaher & Walsh is delighted with the result.

Blackpath Footbridge, Rugby

            

The final link of the Blackpath Footbridge at Rugby Railway Station was lifted into place in the early hours of Sunday 1st March uing a 500 tonne mobile crane during a rail closure of the West Coast Mainline.                 Our Senior Site Agent, Steve Fisher, and the Bridge Designer, Peter O'Connor of Warwickshire County Council were both pleased with how smoothly the installation of the 40 tonne steel bridge was completed in 45 minutes from lifting to final positioning.

Feb 2009

Leicester City Council have awarded another project using our Framework Partnering Contract for civil engineering works and repairs to highway structures.    This latest scheme is for the strengthening and restoration of the Grade II structure "Old Bow Bridge" which carries City bound traffic on St Augustine Road where it crosses the River Soar. The bridge has been damaged and suffers from corrosion brought about by the action of water and in particular winter gritting with salt.    The works started in February will take until September to complete with traffic restrictions and lane closures as necessary.  To minimise inconvenience and disruption the in-bound City lanes will only be closed In the school summer holidays with both inbound and out-bound traffic using out-bound bridge in single lanes    The restoration will require the complete removal of all the tarmac road surfacing, shot blasting the steel structure back to clean bare metal, repairing and strengthening the steel and protecting with a high quality paint.   A new concrete deck will be constructed between the concrete laid thirty years ago under the road and the parapets with all the concrete then being completely waterproofed using a spray applied waterproof membrane.   Finaly footways and road will be re-laid using original slabs, setts and cobbles wherever possible and practicable with the final part of the restoration being the cleaning of the iron parapets and their re-painting in black with white infill panels to emphasise the original crest on the white background.

East Midlands Awards 2009 of The Institution of Civil Engineers

Entries have submitted to East Midlands Awards 2009 of The Institution of Civil Engineers in two of the categories.   Jointly with Leicester City Council we have entered the restoration of King William Bridge as a small project and have submitted with BSP Consulting of Nottingham the restoration of Parliament Street Bridge as a major project. The Award to the winners will be made by Jean Venables, President of The Institution of Civil Engineers at the Annual Dinner on April 24 which is being held in Leicester.

Dec 2008

Birmingham Airport security enhancements completed in time for the Christmas Getaways

We completed the safety and security enhancements at Birmingham International Airport in time for Christmas. The airport required security to be improved to main the terminal buildings following the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport in 2007. One metre high decorative bollards which conceal high strength tubular steel posts, have been installed around the road edge of the main walkways outside of the terminal buildings creating a pedestrian only circulation concourse. In conjunction with the installation of these security measures the opportunity to improve the convenience for travellers was achieved by the re-siting of the coach points nearer to the terminal buildings, with new sheltered canopies at the waiting areas. The car park, nearest to the terminals, has an extra 200 available spaces with a dedicated coach park being provided alongside Herald Road for use whilst waiting for arrivals. Ambassador Road was re-aligned and extended under the Rail Air Link Bridge to join Comet Road and has made it much easier getting to and from the terminals for all travellers. Scott Martin, our Senior Site Agent on site said, "The main priority for this project was to increase passenger safety, but it was also important for us to improve their experience of the airport. We are extremly happy to have completed this project on time, within budget and with minimum disruption to Airport users." With work now completed the airport is fully functioning and ready to welcome passengers for the Christmas rush.

Nov 2008

CECA Annual Dinner

Mark Hedges, one of our Senior Site Agents scooped top prize in the Civil Engineering Contractors Association Site Manager of the Year Awards at CECA Annual Dinner at The Hilton Metropole, Birmingham on Friday 28th November. Having made it to the final shortlist of six for the second consecutive year, Mark overcame tough competition from representatives of National Contractors to collect the trophy, certificate and substantial cash prize. The scheme Mark submitted for the competition was for a 1.3m bridge strengthening and refurbishment project on Parliament Street in Nottingham. The bridge built by The Great Central Railway in the early nineteen hundreds had been seriously damaged over many years by affects of winter salting and increasingly heavy traffic loadings. The works were completed ahead of programme, within budget and with only minimal inconvenience to business, traffic, pedestrians and others using this exceptionally busy City Centre throughfare. The Client commented that "Mark has excellent communication skills, with his strengths being that he explains things very well in layman's terms, listens and takes on board their comments and actively pre-empts possible future complications". The project was registered under the Considerate Constructors scheme and in all audits undertaken achieved overall ratings in excess of normal expected compliance levels.                               "CECA Midlands Site Manager of the Year 2008"

Oct 2008

New Starters

Steve Crawford joined us at the beginning of October having worked in the Midlands for more than 20 years on construction projects. He started on "the tools" where he gained valuble practical experience and by grasping of opportunities as they arose progressed into team leading and supervision of the works. He will be working for us as a Works Supervisor on our highway and infrastructure projects.

Julie Alcock has taken up the challenge of hiring out our comprehensive excavator fleet to contractors throughout the Midlands, following her internal transfer  on the 1 December  from the Accounts department where she worked as one of Ria Green assistants.    The hire fleet includes 24 tonne to 1 tonne 360 tracked excavators as well as JCB 3CX Backactors, 7.5 tonne tipper trucks, vans, pick-ups and small equipment.

Sept 2008

To celebrate the completion of the restoration of King William Bridge Ian Gilbert, our Contracts Manager, presented the project design team from Leicester City Council with framed photographs of the finished works. Abul Tarafder, Princi pal Engineer Bridges, said, "It is on rare occasions we restore old historic structures like King William Bridge. Danaher & Walsh Civil Engineering carried out the work with exceptional care and attention to detail which would make the original builders proud. We certainly are."

Further Improvements at Birmingham International Airport

We are starting a 14 week 1.5 million scheme to improve the traffic circulation and provide safer pedestrian access to the Passenger Terminals from the current layout as shown on the photograph. This is a further phase of enhancement to the Airport where we have been working continually since 2004.

Aug 2008

Bedford, Church Square

Work started in July on the public realm improvements to The Church Square, Bedford. The scheme which has a construction value approaching half a million pounds is due for completion in September. The existing surfacing is being replaced with a very high specification paving, new street lighting and street furniture. Mature containerised trees and shrubs are going to be planted which it is envisaged will create an exceptionally pleasant square.

July 2008

New Look Irthlingborough

The project which started on 14 January was completed in June. The High Street and Town Square are far more pedestrian friendly and provide an environment which is expected to attract more people to the Town where shops can flourish. Simon Evans, Chief Executive of North Northants Development Company, says: "We are delighted that this important project has been delivered on time and believe it will set the standard for future improvements to Irthlingborough Town Centre".

June 2008

King's William Bridge, Leicester

The project was started in February this year and was successfully completed in June. The job was to strengthen and repoint this 17th Century Bridge which is a Grade II listed building. The bridge was given its name from its use in 1696 when it was widened in order to carry the coach and horses of King William III over Rothley Brook on their way to Bradgate House to visit the Grey Family. In order to complete this job, the work involved repointing in traditional soft lime mortar the parpets, arches and cutwaters following restrengthening remedial works as well as the replacement of cobble stone paving on a lime mortar bed.

                                              

April 2008

Leicester Business Awards - Judges say it went 'to the wire!'

The results are in and the Judges said that it was a very, very close call, 'to the wire' in fact. They were impressed with our investment in our people and the fact that we credit our success as a business to their success and ongoing development. The winner of our category "Success through People Award", also won the supreme accolade of "Leicestershire Business of the Year" ; so if you are going to be a runner-up you can't do better than it being to the overall winner!. Our Congratulations go to Westleigh and a very special thanks to everyone who supported and helped in our application.                                        "Success Through People Award"

March 2008

Opening of Science Park Road

The new road to the Space Centre, in Leicester and Abbey Science Park was opended on St Patrick's Day.       The opening was commemorated with the planting of a tree by Neil Morris Chairman of the Leicester Regeneration Company, Ross Willmott the Leader of Leicester City Council and Bryan Jackson of the East Midlands Development Agency.   Following the official opening Dan Danaher presented a photograph of the scheme to Neil Morris and to           Guy Higgins of Ingleby Developments.

Feb 2008

Leicester Business Awards - Judges Visit

26th February 2008 Paul Blake & Eileen Richards as part of their judging process, visited our Head Office site to meet some of the people who have contributed to our success in reaching the Awards Final. The winner will be announced on 18th April at a ceremony at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester.

Jan 2008

Success Through People Recognised

We are one of three companies to reach the final of the sought-after Leicestershire Business Awards in the Success Through People category. To be short listed to three, we successfully demonstrated to the judges how our ongoing success has come about through effective and efficient developement of our people. Dan Danaher comments "This nomination is a fantastic achievement for the company. We have a long established commitment to training and ensure that our people are provided with every opportunity to grow and develop, which in turn has more than contributed to our ongoing success." The winner will be announced at ceremony held at Leicester's De Montfort Hall on 18 April 2008 - Watch this space for further details!

Loughborough Play Areas

Irthlingborough Environmental Improvement Scheme

The Irthlingborough Environmental Improvement Scheme started on 14th January 2008. The overall objective of the scheme of works is to create an attractive town square at the heart of Irthingborough that is full of character, provides a focal point for residents and visitors and sets a precedent for the future of urban renewal for the whole district. "This scheme will deliver a real step change in the quality and accessability of public realm in the town centre, making it a genuine hub for community life in Irthlingborough.

Dec 2007

CECA Site Manager Of The Year Award

Jason Bartlett receiving his highly commended 2nd place award from Dan Danaher.He also received a cheque value of 250 from CECA as well as one from The Company. The Scheme Jason submitted was for the Reconstruction and Refurbishment of Redhill Flyover and Watermead Way Bridges on the Leicester Ring Road for the City Council which by his management and organisational skills was completed three months early.

Plant News

10 New JCB Backhoe loaders have recently been ordered, with 5 due for delivery in December and the other 5 to be delivered in the New Year.

Oct 2007

SME CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Aug 2007

Charles Street Bridge

The Charles Street Footbridge which has not been used since 1997 was removed on Bank Holiday Sunday in an operation which started before daybreak. The bridge was lifted out in one piece using a two and a quarter million pound crane capable of lifting five hundred tonnes. Charles Street, which is being regenerated as part of Leicester City Council's public realm improvements, again has a clear open street scene last seen in 1973.

June 2007

Vehicle Upgrades