Esh Civils, the civil engineering division of Esh Construction, were proud to show off the work currently being undertaken on Sunderland’s Strategic Transport Corridor, Phase 3 (SSTC3) by hosting a site visit for over 20 Civil Engineering students from Newcastle University.
The £35m SSTC3 project, which is being delivered on behalf of Sunderland City Council, involves design, construction and instillation of a 2.5km stretch of highway which is a critical link from the Northern Spire bridge to the city centre.
The project will maximise the benefits of St Mary’s Boulevard and The Northern Spire (phase 1 and 2 of the SSTC project) and will fully open up the regeneration opportunities of development sites in Pallion, Deptford, Farringdon Row and other sites to the south of the river.
During their visit to site, the first-year University students were introduced to Esh Group and learned about social value within the construction industry, including the activities which will be delivered in the local area as a direct result of the SSTC3 project.
They received an overview of the overall SSTC project, including the specifics of SSTC3 and were shown time lapse video of the works undertaken to date where they were able to gain an appreciation of planning and equipment required to undertake a scheme of this size. Students were also able to see the full extent of the scheme via a drive through, before being immersed into the civil engineering project with a guided tour of the site which was led by Andrew Georgeson, Operations Director.
During the tour, students were shown a number of areas which are under construction and were able to stop and observe key points of interest including the EMR piled retaining structure (a CFA contiguous piled wall) and the Pallion Lower retaining wall (a 12m high kingpost FRC structure with associated multi-strand anchors). A variety of earthworks and roadworks were demonstrated during the visit and activities including drainage and kerbing were ongoing which students could also observe.
Throughout 2020, the team on the SSTC3 project hope to host further visits from the University Students, where they will be able to see first-hand the progress being made on site.
We welcomed the opportunity to host first year Newcastle University students studying Civil Engineering on the SSTC3 site. A project of this nature demonstrates to students the various disciplines involved on a scheme of this scale and how the work undertaken links to their chosen degree at a practical level."
