Morgan Est and Vinci land £1m bill after piling rig hits track

Two construction firms have been ordered to pay £1m in compensation after a piling rig fell across the London/Tilbury/ Southend passenger and freight railway lines at Aveley viaduct, Thurrock, Essex, during construction works on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL).

Morgan Est PLC (Morgan), of Rugby, and French contractor Vinci Construction Grand Projets (MVjv), were ordered to make the payment to both Network Rail and the owner of the piling rig following the incident on 12 May 2003.

Both companies were also fined £15,000 for breaches of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, in that they failed to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their safety. City of London Magistrates' Court also ordered them to pay £2,500 costs following their appearance on Tuesday.

The two companies had formed a joint venture to build Contract 310, namely, 11.4 km of the CTRL between Ripple Lane freight yard in Barking and Dagenham and the West Thurrock Marshes in Thurrock. 

The piling rig fell over while it was being tracked along the piling platform. The chassis and mast landed on the live rail track, bringing down a 25,000 volt overhead catenary. 

There were no trains in the vicinity and no injuries were sustained to site or other workers.