28 May Battersea Power Station: Phase One
Unfortunately, like many others, our business had ceased for a period of time, Covid-19 had been in full force and many of our specialist welding engineers had been furloughed during these uncertain times.
However, we did try our best to contend with this deadly virus, leaving only a small team of coded welders and the two managing directors of Task Welding at work, producing a range of pipe work and structural steel brackets for the NHS Nightingale Hospital as well as small contracts to keep us moving forward.
Now, two months after we had suspended all our operations for London site welding projects, we are back in full force, with a large team stronger than ever, and eager to get back to our exciting Northern Line Extension Project, the Northern Line Extension will improve transport links and public spaces in the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea area, a designated regeneration area on the South Bank.
Pre Covid-19, Task Welding was called into Battersea Power Station in February 2019. Our role while working alongside the London Underground and the Transport for London engineering teams, was to produce and qualify a team of coded welders to an array of welding procedures, thicknesses, positioning and material (Carbon steel S355), building welding procedures from the ground up, job-specific to each part of the project.
Working within the framework of EN1090, we began with the welding coordinator and a team of six qualified coded welders for coded welding to run preliminary testing of material and welding positions. Challenges we faced were confined spaces and welding at height, meaning increased IRATA training had to be undergone to achieve access.
Due to the nature of this project, all welding is subject to 100% non-destructive examination, which includes visual, magnetic particle inspection and ultra-sonic testing. This also imposes its challenges due to the technician access to inspect welded joints and components. We therefore work with local non-destructive testing companies to achieve these goals and ensure quality standards are adhered to.
With the extension of the Northern Line, there will be up to 25,000 jobs and 20,000 new homes could be created as well as journey times from Nine Elms or Battersea to the West End or the City will, in some cases, be less than 15 minutes. The extension is supported by the Mayor of London and Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark councils.
