Rail safety kept on track

This installation, which saw Kee Systems provide the safety products, forms part of an £89 million project – the East West Railway route – to improve commuter times into London from Bicester and Oxford. 

Working in collaboration with Carillion Buckingham JV, Kee Systems supplied 8,000 metres of Kee Klamp fittings and 10,000 units of BoxBolt. These systems were installed to prevent pedestrian and vehicles from straying into off limit areas and to provide safe access to maintenance teams on either side of the railway line. 

The installation of Kee Systems products successfully met Network Rail’s design requirement for 1250mm high guardrail achieving a 400 n/m design load for the project. A variety of fixing methods were deployed throughout the project, with majority being fixed using BoxBolt onto steel capping beams. All the holes had to be drilled with a magnetic drill to fix BoxBolt. The project also involved the installation of 56 units of Kee Klamp culvert headwalls, using a 114-8 off-set design to help accommodate the varying angles on each individual headwall. 

“This was a large project requiring detailed logistical planning and scheduling to deliver the project on-time,” says Barry Mullen, project manager for Carillion Buckingham JV. “We chose Kee Klamp fittings as they can be installed using a standard hex key, making it quick and easy to install.”

The Kee Klamp range offers versatility and is suited to a range of guardrail applications. Manufactured from galvanised cast iron, the Kee Klamp system securely joins structural steel tube into almost any conceivable configuration across a variety of angles. The BoxBolt range is the blind fixing solution for connecting into hollow sections or where access is restricted to one side only.  This system provides an economical solution to making blind connections when compared with traditional methods such as welding or bolting through.