GGR Group, the UK’s foremost provider of lifting solutions, has furthered its longstanding association with London’s Crossrail project, by supplying its expertise to the construction of a brand new station at Canary Wharf.

Sitting below a five storey mixed use development known as Crossrail Place, the Canary Wharf station will play a vital role in connecting the financial district in the City of London with the West End and Heathrow Airport.

Surrounded by the waters of the West India Quay dock, the new Canary Wharf station comprises a 250-metre long station box, set 18 metres below water level – a factor that presented contractors on site with a significant logistical and technical challenge.

The construction of the new station has been partially spearheaded by the Lakesmere group, the UK’s biggest building envelope specialist. As part of their involvement, the Lakesmere team were contracted to install a 1.3 tonne ‘performance hood’ louvre ventilation unit underneath a cantilever soffit of the East and West elevations of the station.

This was a particularly complex brief, with the louvre units needing to be installed in two halves at a 54-degree angle, as well as underneath a deep overhang, due to the intricate design of the new station. The unique format of this built meant installation via a traditional tower crane would have been impossible and, having ruled out the use of scaffolding due to cost and time constraints, Lakesmere realised a more versatile solution was necessary.

It was this impetus that led them to contact GGR Group. Indeed, GGR has a long standing association with Crossrail, with more than a decade’s worth of experience in supplying innovation to sites throughout the project. Starting with the build of the Crossrail Tunnelling Academy in 2011, GGR has gone on to supply its sector-leading solutions to 28 pivotal junctures of the Crossrail line, from iconic stations including Bond Street, Paddington and Billingsgate Market, to major upgrades at some of the capital’s busiest hubs including Farringdon and Royal Victoria*.

Drawing on this rich volume of experience, GGR was able to suggest a bespoke solution designed to meet the exact needs of the Canary Wharf station project. The answer was found in GGR’s UNIC mini-crane. Lightweight and flexible, the UNIC mini-crane is the ideal solution for jobs where space and manoeuvrability are limited, which was precisely the case around the Canary Wharf Deck.

Lakesmere group explains: “Crossrail is one of the most significant and complex infrastructure projects ever undertaken in London; a vital link from west to east of the city, comprising 41 stations from Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east to Heathrow Airport and Reading in the west.

“Our involvement with the Canary Wharf leg of the project is both incredibly exciting and multi-faceted. That’s why GGR’s partnership-led approach to helping us identify the right lifting solutions for this job has been so important to us.

“GGR has a long and respected history with the Crossrail project; experience the business used to great effect when specifying products for Canary Wharf. The UNIC mini-crane was a real gamechanger on site. Using them in place of scaffolding, we were able to significantly shorten installation time and reduce installation costs by up to 10 times the initial estimate. But with GGR, it goes beyond product. Their whole team’s deep knowledge of the Crossrail project was invaluable and demonstrates an intricate understanding of what is a uniquely complex development.”

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