Member Article

Canal & River Trust harness asset management technology

Software developer fissara has been awarded the contract to provide its groundbreaking field force solution to engineering specialist AMCO, supporting its work with the Canal & River Trust (the Trust).

AMCO is working with the Trust through the Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control and Automation (MEICA) Framework for the maintenance, renewal, upgrade and repair of all of the Trust’s almost 1,000 MEICA assets throughout England and Wales. The Framework contract will run for a period of seven years at an estimated annual value of £3.5m.

The fissara software system will be used by the AMCO engineers as they work on the Trust’s assets to schedule calls, log problems and manage maintenance issues including mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, telemetry, instrumentation, control and automation.

The Trust’s assets include swing bridges, lift bridges, lock gates, sluices, water level and flow monitoring systems and pumping stations. Also included are some unique and complex historic structures such as the Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire, 3 Mills Lock in London and the Tees Barrage in County Durham which will require specialist services.

John Landreth, AMCO contracts director, said: “fissara’s software offered comprehensive functionality and versatility and was instrumental in helping us to secure this work with the Trust. The team understood the project challenges, objectives and values and were able to react quickly to deliver a superb tailored system which will support our engineers in undertaking a wide variety of maintenance tasks over the coming years. We look forward to working with the team on this project and delivering exceptional value for organisations such as the Trust.”

Nick Lawford from fissara commented: “This is a great example of the latest technology being used to service some of the most impressive early civil engineering projects in the world. We are immensely proud to be involved and honoured that fissara has helped AMCO to secure this important framework contract. We look forward to working with them to continue to develop a great system which will enhance efficiency, enable them to deliver a high quality service and maximise safety.”

Simon Bamford, asset delivery director at Canal & River Trust said: “The canals were the engineering masterpieces of their day and, while some of the technology has changed over the years, they still require a dedicated team of engineers to look after them. We’re delighted with the way in which AMCO has understood and reflected our values and we look forward to working with them. The contract will play a major part in what the Trust is trying to achieve: ensuring that our waterways are kept open and running smoothly and improving customer service.”

fissara will also be exhibiting at the All Energy Event at SEC Glasgow from 10th - 11th May.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Coyne .