London Underground Warehouse Relocation

The Challenge

The Tube lines Transplant Stores which is responsible for storing numerous spare parts for the maintenance and repairs of trains had to relocate from their current storage area (in the main depot building), into a purpose-built warehouse between two tracks at the Ruislip site.

Unusually, the site they were moving to was around 25% smaller than the current site they were operating out of. However, the new warehouse now had a 9-metre high roof compared to its current 4-metre offering.

To add to the dilemma they needed to store the train’s wheelsets that could no longer be stored at its current Earls Court Depot (Lillie Bridge), as this was soon to be demolished. The only practical solution was to relocate the large wheelsets to the new Ruislip warehouse.

The new store needed to accommodate both large palletised products and small to medium-sized hand-pick items.

STS Storage Systems Ltd was awarded the contract as an approved supplier for London Underground and its subsidiaries having been benchmarked alongside other tenders.   

The Solution

The only way that the various elements could be accommodated was to design and shoehorn all the items into the new warehouse by using the available floor space allocated, along with the 9-metre high roof. 

 This was achieved by installing: 

· A heavy duty-free standing mezzanine floor

· A mobile shelving system

· A high bay pallet racking system

· A longspan shelving system on top of the mezzanine

Tight Installation Programme

The initial warehouse build started in spring of 2014 and was plagued with issues in relation to the ground it was being built on. A World War 2 Bomb, disused tunnels, underground rooms and voids were discovered which caused long delays.  All of this meant by the time STS Storage Systems Ltd were required on-site in September 2015 London Underground were under immense pressure to complete by December 2015. With a dedicated Project Manager working alongside our best installation teams who in turn worked closely with the Site Management and main contractor, we were able to achieve this tight installation programme.

How We Achieved It!

Mezzanine Floor

• Single-tier mezzanine floor
• 9.6kn/m2 loading
• BRE 437 digest
• Up and Over the safety pallet gate 
• Mesh edge protection around the perimeter 
• Anti slip vinyl floor

Mobile Shelving

• Hand operated mobile system
• Closed bays in galvanised finish
• Designed around the mezzanine columns

Pallet racking 

•  7.5 metre-high frames
• Design incorporated an extendable framework
• Timber decked, to accommodate varying pallet quality and size
• UK manufactured system 
• Anti collapse mesh system backing onto the mezzanine floor

 Longspan Shelving

• Storage for medium-duty/slow-moving stock
• Spreader plates, to allow large loads on mezzanine 
• ïUK manufactured system