Case Studies - Tyne Tunnel

When one of the escalators in the Tyne Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel broke down the operators called in experts from SDV Escalators Limited to get it working again.

Jeff Shaw, engineering manager for the operators Tyne Tunnel 2 said, “It’s a very difficult job. The machinery is heavy duty and some of it was probably designed under Victorian principles. Being of that age, there are no spare parts for the machines. So if you find a fault you have to repair it or get it manufactured.”

SDV Escalators’ specialist skills, knowledge and experience facilitated a successful repair of this historic escalator, one of four in the tunnel.

Each of the escalators has 306 original wooden steps. At the time of their construction the escalators were the highest single-rise escalators in the world with a vertical rise of 85 ft and a length of 200 ft.  They remain the longest wooden escalators in the world.

The Tyne Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel runs under the River Tyne between Howdon and Jarrow. Opened in 1951, there are actually two tunnels running in parallel, one for pedestrians, and a larger tunnel for pedal cyclists. The tunnels are 900 ft in length, and lie 40 ft below the river bed.  At its peak, around 20,000 pedestrians and cyclists a month used the tunnel.

Case Studies – Sunderland Escalator

Sunderland’s city centre railway station has its first ever escalator.  Installed by SDV Escalators it serves to transport people from the platform to the concourse.

This type of heavy duty public service escalator has traditionally been supplied by very few companies in the UK because of the specialist specifications.  SDV Escalators were approached with this project by one of the UK’s largest construction companies looking to introduce an element of competition into the market and find an alternative supplier of these machines.

SDV rose to the challenge and arranged for a specification compliant escalator to be designed and manufactured.  The escalator was transported directly into the station by rail, and installation work was carried out during the night to minimise disruption at this busy station.

The escalator complies fully with all relevant legislation and was independently witness tested by one of the UK’s leading consultants, and CE Marked on completion of testing and commissioning.

The escalator was installed as part of a £6.9 million refurbishment of the 129-year-old station.  Further refurbishment of the station will see new ceilings, walls, floors and lighting put in to transform the platform areas, with work due to continue into early 2010.

Nexus, which owns and manages Metro is investing in modernisation with the aim of improving the quality of life and fortunes of everyone in Tyne and Wear by creating better transport networks.

Case Studies - Leekes Furniture Store, Wolverhampton

This particular project SDV were presented with a tight deadline to meet set by the customer. This meant there was not enough time to order an escalator direct from the manufacturer and thus had to execute a different approach.

An escalator that was in stock at SDV's warehouse was subsequently sold but had to be modified such that a section was removed in order to effectively decrease the overall height rise of the machine. The 'cut & shut' process is a highly specialised proceedure but thankfully the skilled engineers of SDV successfully undertook the project and delivered the unit to the customer ontime. The slideshow below shows the different stages of the project.