Paddington Crossrail: Design of Precast Props Over Entrance

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Whilst at Robert Bird Group David designed the 9 metre x 1 metre diameter permanent precast concrete props over the entrance escalators at Paddington Crossrail.  They were designed for vertical casting in precast concrete, and allowed installation at formation level prior to excavation.  A key design challenge was the inclusion of a bolted connection at one end which allowed for final positioning at the far end, whilst still transferring full prop load. This detail was critical to successful installation and coordination with follow-on wall cladding panels.