1st October 2013, Aaron Morby, Construction Enquirer
BAM Construction has formally broken ground at its £30m scheme to build an operating centre for Network Rail.
The contractor will construct a three-storey building in Basingstoke that will act as a signalling control centre for the Wessex region.
It is one of a dozen being built by Network Rail across the country as part of a new way to signal trains. They will eventually replace more than 800 signal boxes and other operational locations currently in use around the network.
BAM construction manager Chris Edwards, who last year delivered Network Rail’s flagship national centre in Milton Keynes, will oversee the Basingstoke scheme.
The 13,600 sq m facility will also include internal and external training facilities, as well as office space for rail staff. It forms part of Network Rail’s strategy to consolidate and future proof its operating centres across the UK.
BAM aims to sign up local suppliers where possible and aims to work with local schools to involve pupils in the project.
Its civil engineering arm BAM Nuttall will install a 60m-long pedestrian bridge to be built over the railway line to improve access routes.
BAM Construction is also currently on site at the Engineers Triangle development in York, where it is building another Network Rail operating centre and training facility.
