Experience
Our experience
Temporary works is a scope that sits at the intersection of several of our disciplines, and it is one we have invested in accordingly. Our temporary works design capability spans civil infrastructure, building construction and demolition and dismantling, and the solutions we deliver benefit from the mix of mechanical, maritime, structural and heavy lifting engineering we have in-house.
Capability areas
We cover the full span of temporary works design that sits beneath complex construction and demolition programmes.
Construction and demolition sequence analysis
Constructability studies and reviews
Mothballing, demolition and dismantling plans
Heavy lifting and haulage planning and engineering
Cofferdams and temporary retaining structures
Construction bid assistance
Failure analysis
Temporary foundations and piling
Ground investigation and preparation
Marine construction engineering
Piling and sheet piling frames and platforms
Rigging solutions and lift studies
Scaffolding and staging design reviews
Special-purpose machines and launching systems
Temporary construction facilities
Temporary propping
Practical and cost-effective
Temporary works are a direct cost to the project, so design decisions have to balance safety and buildability against the real money that sits behind them. We focus on producing solutions that are both robust and economic, which usually means working closely with the contractor's team to understand what equipment, labour and sequencing are actually available on the ground.
What this work involves
Temporary works carry the same loads as the permanent structure and get a fraction of the design attention, which is why they account for a disproportionate share of construction incidents. The engineering is genuinely harder in places: the structure changes shape as the job progresses, the load cases move with the sequence, and the design has to suit the plant and labour that are actually available on that site in that week.
We design the propping, retention, platforms and lifting arrangements that sit beneath construction, demolition and dismantling programmes, and we analyse the sequence itself so that the structure is stable at every stage rather than only at the start and the end. Because structural, geotechnical, civil and marine engineering all sit in-house, a scheme that needs a cofferdam, a piling platform and a lift study does not need three consultants.
Construction and demolition sequence and stability analysis
Temporary propping, retaining structures and cofferdams
Piling platforms, frames and temporary foundations
Heavy lifting, rigging and haulage planning
Scaffolding and staging design review
Constructability studies, buildability review and failure analysis
How we approach it
Temporary works are a direct cost to the project and produce nothing that survives it, so every kilogram of steel has to justify itself against the risk it removes. We work with the contractor’s team early to understand the plant, the crew and the sequence they intend to use, then design to that rather than to a generic arrangement that will be redesigned on site anyway. Where a proposed method is not safe we say so plainly and offer an alternative, which is usually cheaper than the conversation that follows an incident.
