30 ALLIANCES 2018
SMB, the joint venture
between Skanska, MWH and
Balfour Beatty, is delivering
Thames Water's design and
build solutions for AMP6 –
and potentially beyond – as
part of an £800M contract for
AMP6. It is working within,
and is an original member of
Thames Water's 'super'
alliance, eight2O.
The SMB joint venture is
helping maintain and install
water infrastructure such as
pipes, pumping stations and
water treatment works across
Thames Water's network.
All three of the joint
venture partners bring
industry-leading experience
and best practice to the
contract, offering balanced
capabilities across the
portfolio of work for Thames
Water.
The SMB team is drawing
on the sustainability
experiences of each of its
partners, using BIM technol-
ogy to bring whole-life
costing and carbon foot-print-
ing considerations to every
project and programme
option. This has included
trialling the 'Hololens' tool
on SMB Non-Infra projects.
The Hollens creates detailed
holograms of planning
designs, allowing personnel
to inspect the plans in a real
life-size environment, seeing
it from different angles and
vantage points.
The technology has been
used as part of the advanced
energy recovery project at
Crossness, where the team
managed to display the
hologram in a 60m by 20m
barn, allowing people to walk
around it and inspect it. But,
it is also commonly used at
meetings, as the size of it can
be altered to fit whatever
dimensions necessary.
Graham Funnell, design
manager at MWH Treatment,
says: "It makes it more
accessible and it can also
allay some fears about a
project. It makes everything
that more realistic."
SMB
PARTNERS
Skanska; MWH, Balfour Beatty
CLIENT
Thames Water
CONTRACT
Delivering design & build solutions
TERM
Five years, possible five-year
extension
ALLIANCES 2018
Digital
technology
aids design,
says SMB
