Tyne & Wear Metro £70m Gosforth depot

We are pleased to be working with PLS Civil Engineering and site agent Kenny Mathieson on the new £70m depot that will be the base for the Tyne and Wear’s Metro’s new maintenance and repair activities.

The Metro is capable of nearly 40 million passenger journeys per year, so it is an essential piece of infrastructure and part of everyday life in the North East.

The current Metro depot building built in 1923 is not suitable for the new rolling stock that will arrive towards the end of 2021, a new temporary depot is currently being used near Howdon in North Tyneside, whilst the current depot at South Gosforth is re-built.

NTS (UK) Designed and supplied a clear span excavation 12m x 9m, using a combination of 6m long TKL605 sheets piles and the System 80 Heavy Duty Hydraulic Brace. It is a propped cantilever excavation and the sheets were driven in place using a Movax by a specialist piling contractor.

Entry and egress to the temporary works is made from the NTS ladder platform along with a davit arm rescue system if required.

The excavation will in time house the Wheel lathes that will be used to reprofile the new fleet’s rolling wheels, without having to dismount the wheelset from the vehicle.