News and Press Releases

Alan Auld Engineering have been appointed by Sirius Minerals Plc to develop lining design and sinking concepts for the York Potash Project in North Yorkshire, England. Sirius is still collecting the necessary data upon which to base its decision on the exact location of the minehead for the Project, but in the meantime is keen to advance all design and other matters that would be common to any shaft whatever its location.

This world-class potash project will involve sinking new shafts to well over 1,000 metres through highly varied strata and will require a shaft lining which can withstand high hydrostatic loadings, as well as being able to accommodate strata subject to deformations and time dependant creep.

As Sirius looks to reduce the environmental impact of the York Potash Project, Alan Auld Engineering will provide vital input into the designs and planning concepts.

There have only been two previous conferences on this subject, one fifty years ago held at Olympia, London, in 1959, and organised by The Institution of Mining Engineers, and the second twenty years ago held at Harrogate in 1989 and organised by The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. With the current emerging greater demand for deep accesses to obtain minerals and fossil fuels and the need to store nuclear waste underground, the time is now right to hold another international conference on the subject. Dr Alan Auld is Chairman of the Organising Committee and further details can be obtained via the following link

Conference 2012

The conference, sponsored by the Alan Auld Group, The Society of Construction Law (Mauritius) and Leeds Metropolitan University, will be held in Mauritius from 23rd to 24th November 2011. A distinguished panel of speakers has been confirmed and a copy of the Conference Brochure can be downloaded via the following link.

Brochure 2011

The Alan Auld Group is pleased to announce that the next three year phase of the above project officially started on 1st September 2011 following successful completion of negotiations between the LAGUNA LBNO Consortium and the officers of the European Commission. We will be working as part of a collaborative team of universities, science facilities and industrial partners to advance this exciting project to build a state of the art particle detector in a deep level underground large diameter chamber. The project has many challenges to overcome including constructing a tank to house the large volume of medium needed for the operation of the detector. The Alan Auld Element will be principally Work package 2 (Deep Underground Facility Construction Plan and Costing).

More information is available at laguna-science.eu

Alan Auld has been engaged by major mining consultant Wardrop to provide input into a study for Lundin Mining to review access arrangements and materials handling at the their Neves Corvo Mine in Portugal. This work will review the need for a new shaft or decline and associated infrastructure.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by Canadian Mining Company Cameco to provide technical assistance at their Cigar Lake Uranium mine. This commission will involve a review of the unique segmental tunnelling system used to construct the mine development tunnels and recommendations for improvements and changes to the lining system.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Fraser as a Director based at our new Southampton office, where for the last twenty years he ran local firm Fraser & Partners. Mike is a Fellow of the RICS with over 35 years experience as a chartered surveyor and will broaden the base of our current activities through his experience in the building sector providing project management, design and build consultancy, traditional quantity surveying, CDM and other professional services for owners, investors, developers, and housing associations, and monitoring of projects under construction for funding Banks.

Alan Auld Engineering has entered into a frameworks contract with UK Coal to provide longwall coal face design support services. Modern longwall systems are very capital intensive and often involve a mixture of equipment from different suppliers. AAE will produce full coordinated working drawings for the installation of the face equipment for the new faces at each of UK coal’s mines.

We are pleased to welcome Sharon Hollingsworth MEng Civil Engineering in the position of Graduate Design Engineer. Prior to completion of her degree Sharon had worked for the Company since 2008 on a part time basis as an Assistant Engineer.

We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Jones BEng (Hons) in the position of Senior Civil and Structural Engineer. Paul brings with him extensive industry experience particularly in design and build projects.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by client Prime Development to prepare a temporary works and construction sequence for a new link tunnel between the new hotel deep level basement and the basement car park in the next door property.

We are pleased to welcome Jono Cook MEng (Hons) Civil & Structural Engineering as a Senior Civil and Geotechnical Engineer. Jono brings with him 9 years post graduate experience in geotechnical engineering.

Also this month we are pleased to welcome Joe Anderson MEng (Hons) Civil Engineering in the position of Graduate Design Engineer.

Joseph Gallagher has engaged Alan Auld to design 2 large diameter caisson shafts to be constructed as wet cast RC structures at ground level and then sunk as caissons to form new tanks. This method has been adopted due to the restricted site access and the need to provide support to adjacent structures.

This major project involves the enlargement of the underground station in readiness for the construction of the London Crossrail Project with new access tunnels and ticket halls. The Alan Auld commission involves the CAT 3 checking of temporary works schemes designed by OtB Engineering to facilitate the construction of the new works.

The Victoria Station Upgrade Project in London is a major urban tunnelling project to reduce congestion at the station during peak hours. Scheme designer Mott MacDonald has engaged Alan Auld Engineering as specialist design subcontractors to carry out the detailed design to RIBA stage E and F of elements of the proposed new tunnel works for the VSU project, including permanent works design and detailed temporary works and construction sequencing. This work will include the design of a new platform access tunnel which will be constructed between the existing station tunnels of the Victoria Line. It will be designed to support the station tunnels during construction as well as long term permanent design case loads. In addition the commission includes the permanent and temporary works design and construction sequencing for a number of new openings from new tunnels to existing tunnels. The work will include extensive 3D FE modelling of the ground and tunnel behaviour during construction.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by Salins, owner of the Varangeville Salt mine near Nancy in France to prepare new designs as well as update previous designs for underground contingency water sealing bulkhead dams. The work includes construction programme and budget costs.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by client Prime Developments the developer of this prestigious project to facilitate a solution to a major logistical spoil handling problem during the construction of the 30m deep multi level basement of this building in central London.

Alan Auld Engineering has been awarded a contract by Canadian shaft sinking contractor DMC Mining Services Ltd to carry out the detailed engineering design of the shaft liners for the new Jansen potash mine, shaft sinking project in Saskatchewan. This major project is the first complete new potash mine to be constructed in Saskatchewan since the early 1970s and we are pleased to be associated with this important project for mine owner BHP Billiton. The two shafts will be sunk at 6.5 diameter to a depth of over 1000m using ground freezing for water and strata control. Our scope of works will involve the design of a number of different lining types to seal off the difficult water bearing strata above the Prairie Evaporites, including hydrostatic concrete and composite steel and concrete to a depth of 700m. This commission continues our involvement in major mine access design projects around the world.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by HSEC to carry out shaft inspections and condition surveys of the three access shafts at this mine.

Working with an international tunnelling contractor Alan Auld Engineering has completed a detailed construction study for a planned major tunnel project. Our brief included a detailed review of construction methods, programme and schedule as well detailed budget costs and concept designs for the tunnel lining.

Alan Auld Engineering has been awarded further thermal and structural analysis of the proposed freeze wall design on this major shaft sinking project. This commission will look at proposed changes to the freeze wall diameter and the effect on the Blairmore strata. This work is being carried out for specialist contractor British Drilling and Freezing Ltd.

Alan Auld has been awarded a contract by British Drilling and Freezing Ltd to provide detailed thermal and structural design of a liquid nitrogen artificial ground freeze for a TBM recovery project in Manchester. This project involves the deep freezing of surface superficial deposits including saturated peat to enable a tunnelling machine to be retrieved into a recovery shaft.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by Compass Minerals to inspect and review the condition of the access shafts at their salt mine operations at Goderich in Ontario and Cote Blanche in Louisiana, USA. This work is part of the company’s long term planning and upgrading of it assets and the work will include recommendations for remediation to extend the working life of the mines for the long term.

Alan Auld Engineering is pleased to announce that we have been engaged by Sheffield University to carry out further finite element analysis for their project proposal for the design and construction of a deep level particle physics experiment at the Boulby Potash Mine in North Yorkshire. This analysis involves 3D F.E. modelling of the proposed chamber, as well as other large diameter chamber design options using the high end modelling programme ANSYS.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by the contractor Vinci/BAM Nuttall to prepare temporary works schemes for this project to construct new tunnels and ticket hall at this major London Underground Interchange Station. This station is being enlarged in readiness for increased passenger traffic caused by the construction of the new Crossrail tunnel project. Our commission involves the preparation of temporary works schemes for the necessary underground demolition work at platform level.

Contractor Amco have engaged Alan Auld Engineering as a framework contractor to design a number of small works civil engineering schemes as part of their framework contract with the Environmental Agency. The works have been varied and include flood protection and riverbank works as well as trash screen installations. This commission continues our long association with contractor Amco and is a continuation of our work on Environmental Agency Projects..

Alan Auld Engineering have been engaged by Cementation Canada Inc as their specialist shaft designers for their feasibility study work on the Chuquicamata copper mine project in Chile. This mine is one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world and, as part of the long term development plans for the mine, Cementation are carrying out a feasibility study as part of a project team led by Hatch for client Codelco. This study is intended to plan for the development of a major underground mine to further extract from this substatial ore body.

Alan Auld Engineering are working with mining contractor Amco and scientists at Sheffield University to develop working concepts for a proposed large underground excavation at the Boulby Potash Mine to house a new European particle physics experiment. The Laguna project (an acronym standing for Large Apparatus studying Grand Unification and Neutrino Astrophysics) requires the excavation of domed chambers typically 80m in diameter and 50m high at 1500m depth to house liquid argon at -190°C. Long term underground structures of this size are rare and Alan Auld Engineering are pleased to be involved in this ground beaking work. The commision will include concept designs for the excavations and rock support together with construction sequencing, programming and costings.

Alan Auld Engineering have been successful in bidding for the design of a major ground freezing scheme to enable the sinking of two new deep mine shafts for the Jansen potash mine project in Saskatchewan, Canada. These shafts when completed will be over 1000m deep and ground freezing will be used to sink safely down to around 530m. This process will enable the notoriously unstable sands and gravels of the Blairmore water bearing strata to be sunk through and sealed off. The commission will be carried out for the specialist freezing contractor British Drilling and Freezing and will involve thermal modelling of the ice wall growth using state of the art software.

Following previous site investigation and survey work by Alan Auld Engineering at an old cast iron lined service tunnel in northern England we have been awarded a further contract to procure and install remote real time monitoring equipment to enable the asset owner to develop a plan for the long term maintenance of the tunnel.

After completing the new winder tower and commissioning the temporary sinking equipment Cementation Canada Inc have commenced shaft sinking of the new 800m deep service shaft of the Picadilly potash mine project. Alan Auld Engineering is currently providing design support on this project and currently we are designing the main shaft loading stations required for the proposed main potash mining horizon, some 800m below ground.

Following the successful completion of repair and stabilization works to the historic furnace ventilation shaft at the National Mining Museum the Alan Auld Company has been engaged to design a structural glass and steel cover to this shaft to allow visitors to walk across the top and look down into the recently restored shaft. This new feature once completed will add to the visitor experience at this historic site.

The Alan Auld Company has been engaged by Joseph Gallagher Ltd to provide a full temporary works and materials handling design service on this major upgrade project at Farringdon station in London for main contractor Costain. The project includes the construction of a tunnel heading beneath platform one to provide space for a new enlarged cable management system (CMS). This tunnel will be constructed by excavating immediately beneath the foundations of the existing platform. The excavation, as well as the platform structure, will be supported using steel frames and support beams. The tunnel will run almost the entire length of the platform and due to very restricted access we have also designed a bespoke mucking gantry that will be erected behind the platform to lift spoil up to street level above for disposal.

The Alan Auld Group Ltd is pleased to announce that the services of all its subsidiary companies are available to clients in East Africa, Madagascar, the Seychelles, and Mauritius through our partner KDS Consulting. More information (pdf).

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan to independently review the contractor’s proposals for sinking a new third shaft at the Scissor's Creek (Rocanville West) potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada. This review will cover the design of the lining and the contractor’s proposals for sinking and lining through the difficult Blairmore water bearing strata. This latter consists of weak un-cemented material under extreme water pressure and requires the use of ground freezing and the installation of cast iron tubbing to seal off the water.

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by Specialist tunnelling contractor Joseph Gallagher Ltd to carry out detailed design of a 100m long, 3m diameter service tunnel approximately 20m deep in the London clay to connect a major London Hotel with a new extension building situated nearby. This tunnel when complete will provide a conduit to carry M&E services between the two buildings and will be accessed at each end by means of a shaft sunk through each of the building basement slabs. Primary support for the tunnel excavation will be by means of shotcrete with a permanent lining of reinforced concrete cast within the temporary shotcrete shell.

Coldwell Reservoir New Spillway - Temporary Works

July 2009 - ongoing

Alan Auld has been engaged by major water industry contractor JN Bentley Ltd of Skipton, Yorkshire to provide temporary works support during this contract. Due to the location of the new spillway along the length of the toe of the dam and the deep nature of the excavations major piled excavation support is required with heavy steel framing. We have provided temporary works designs as well as sequencing drawings for this project and assisted the contractor with his tender submission and during the tender negotiation process.

Nuclear Waste Repository Access Study

May 2009

Alan Auld Engineering has been engaged by Parsons Brinckerhoff to carry out a study of shaft sinking and lining design options as part of an overall review of suitable sites for waste storage in the UK. As specialist shaft designers and with close links to the international contractors active in this field Alan Auld were tasked with providing generic shaft lining designs for different geological models and input into the overall reports, including programme and risk considerations.