Technical tours

Forth Replacement Crossing | Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier

Forth Replacement Crossing

The Forth Replacement Crossing (recently given the official title of the Queensferry Crossing) is due to open in 2016. The stunning, globally unique bridge forms the centerpiece of a major upgrade to the important cross-Forth transport corridor in the east of Scotland, representing a total Scottish Government investment of £1.325 to £1.35bn (at 2016 prices). The 1.7 miles (2.7km) structure will be the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world and also by far the largest to feature cables, which cross mid-span. This innovative design provides extra strength and stiffness, allowing the towers and the deck to be more slender and elegant.

This major infrastructure project should be of particular interest to systems engineers due to a feasibility study conducted in 2008 by Jacobs Arup into alternative options. Originally this project involved replacing the existing Forth Road Bridge with a new larger capacity bridge. The feasibility study took a wider view of the transportation needs of the local population, and concluded that it would be possible to refurbish and repurpose the existing Forth Road Bridge to carry light rail (extending the Edinburgh tram system over to the other side of the Firth of Forth), buses, cyclists and pedestrians; and to build a new road bridge next to the existing bridge – delivering a saving of over £1.7 billion on the scheme's original estimated cost of £3.2 to £4.2 billion. The implementation of a managed crossing strategy is also expected to dramatically reduce the total cost of the project.

The tour will feature a presentation on the key engineering aspects and innovations, and the history of the project, delivered by senior technical staff at the visitor centre. This will be followed by a visits to several viewing areas which are otherwise inaccessible to the public, providing superb views of the ongoing construction activities – and who doesn’t enjoy seeing large scale engineering in action?
See www.forth-bridges.co.uk/queensferry-crossing.html and www.transport.gov.scot/project/forth-replacement-crossing for more details. Interestingly, one of the key requirements of the Forth Replacement Crossing is that it must allow the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers underneath it.

This technical tour will be hosted by

Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier

The Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy and will represent a step change in capability, enabling the delivery of increased strategic effect and influence around the world.

The Queen Elizabeth Class will be utilised by all three sectors of the UK Armed Forces and will provide eight acres of sovereign territory, which can be deployed around the world. Both ships will be versatile enough to be used for operations ranging from supporting war efforts to providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

The two ships will be delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, an innovative alliance between industry and the Ministry of Defence that was founded to transform the way in which large scale projects such as the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carriers are produced and ultimately delivered. The QE Class is one of the largest engineering projects currently being undertaken in the UK and as such it was going to take more than one organisation to deliver it. In order to ensure that the project delivered the best value for money and the best ships possible to the UK Armed Forces, the Alliance was formed in such a way as to ensure that all partners took collective responsibility and ownership of the project and would ultimately ensure that each would share in both risk and reward.

The Aircraft Carrier Team was originally formed in 2003 and was made up of Thales UK, BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence. Babcock and VT Group joined in 2005, creating the Aircraft Carrier Alliance and the memorandum of understanding for the actual contract was signed the following year. Since then, VT Group has sold its ship building operation to BAE Systems and the remaining support and training part of the business has been bought out by Babcock.

The QE Class Aircraft Carriers will be the largest surface warships ever constructed for the UK and represent a step change in joint capability. The ships will be 65,000 tonnes at full displacement - over three times the size of the Invincible Class aircraft carriers. The first ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to enter service in 2020.

Each of the QE Class aircraft carriers can take up to 40 aircraft, both rotary and fixed wing. It is predicted they will routinely operate with 12 Joint Strike Fighters. Each of the two huge aircraft lifts can move two Joint Strike Fighters from the hangar to the flight deck in 60 seconds. They're so powerful that together they could lift the entire ship's crew!

INCOSE has been in regular contact with the Ship’s Company of the Queen Elizabeth over the past few months, and we regret to inform delegates that they will be unable to go on board the vessel during this tour as they are fitting out ready for their maiden voyage. However, we will have exclusive use of the visitor centre, providing superb views of the aircraft carrier itself and the dockyard which is likely to be a rarely seen hive of activity. Interestingly, one of the key requirements of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers must fit underneath the Forth Replacement Crossing.

See www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk and www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/equipped-for-the-future for more details.

This technical tour will be hosted by