Masonry arch bridges still form the backbone of the UK's transport infrastructure; approaching 50% of bridge spans on the UK rail and regional highway networks are masonry. However, a number of prominent failures suggest we may be at a tipping point - brought about by a perfect storm of the increasing age of the structures, new traffic loading demands, climate change effects pushing structures to new limits and severely restricted maintenance budgets. To respond to the challenging times ahead there is a need to develop a much greater understanding of how real bridges behave, moving beyond traditional 2D idealisations and identifying the extent to which bridges are capable of 'autogenously healing' under cycling loading. This is important as, currently, bridge engineers faced with a damaged bridge simply do not have the tools needed to make informed assessment decisions, and may needlessly strengthen or demolish a structure even if it could, in reality, be repaired at comparatively modest cost. The goal is to provide those responsible for the management of bridges with a powerful suite of analysis modelling tools and a robust overarching multi-level framework capable of being applied to the diverse population of masonry arch bridges in-service today (i.e. undamaged, damaged and repaired). To achieve this a team of experienced researchers with complementary expertise has been assembled. Medium and large-scale experimental tests will be used to develop and validate analysis tools of different levels of sophistication, with high-level, high-fidelity models, capable of simulating the actual masonry bond and material response, used to calibrate novel intermediate-level and lower-level tools suitable for rapid practical assessment.

In Europe, the total value of sewer assets amounts to 2 trillion Euros. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that water collection systems in the USA have a total replacement value between $1 and $2 trillion. Similar figures can be assigned to other types of buried pipe assets which supply clean water and gas. In China alone 40,000 km of new sewer pipes are laid every year. However, little is known about the condition of these pipes despite the pressure on water and gas supply utility companies to ensure that they operate continuously, safely and efficiently. In order to do this properly, the utility operator must identify the initial signs of failure and then respond to the onset of failure rapidly enough to avoid loss of potable water supply, wastewater flooding or gas escape. This is attempted through targeted inspection which is typically carried out through man-entry or with CCTV approaches, although more sophisticated (e.g. tethered) devices have been developed and are used selectively. Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the UK is a world leader in this research area, these approaches are slow and labour intensive, analysis is subjective, and their deployment disrupts traffic. Moreover, because these inspections are necessarily infrequent and only cover a small proportion of the pipe network, serious degradation is often missed and pipe failures occur unexpectedly, requiring emergency repairs that greatly disrupt life of the road and adjacent buried utility infrastructure. This Programme Grant proposes a radical change in terms of buried pipe sensing in order to address the issues of pipe inspection and rehabilitation. It builds upon recent advances in sensors, nano- and micro-electronics research, communication and robotic autonomous systems and aims to develop a completely new pervasive robotics sensing technology platform which is autonomous and covers the entire pipe network. These robots will be able to travel, cooperate and interrogate the pipes from the inside, detect the onset of any defects continuously, navigate to and zoom on sub-millimetre scale defects to examine them in detail, communicate and guide any maintenance equipment to repair the infrastructure at an early sign of deterioration. By being tiny, they do not present a danger of being stuck, blocking the pipe if damaged or run out of power. By being abundant, they introduce a high level of redundancy in the inspection system, so that routine inspection can continue after a loss of a proportion of the sensors in the swarm. By making use of the propagation of sonic waves and other types of sensing these robots can monitor any changes in the condition of the pipe walls, joints, valves and lateral connections; they can detect the early development and growth of sub-millimetre scale operational or structural faults and pipe corrosion. An important benefit of this sensing philosophy is that it mimics nature, i.e. the individual sensors are small, cheap and unsophisticated, but a swarm of them is highly capable and precise. This innovation will be the first of its kind to deploy swarms of miniaturised robots in buried pipes together with other emerging in-pipe sensor, navigation and communication solutions with long-term autonomy. Linked to the related previous work, iBUILD (EP/K012398), ICIF (EP/K012347) and ATU's Decision Support System (EP/K021699), this Programme Grant will create the technology that has flexibility to adapt to different systems of governance globally. This work will be done in collaboration with a number of industry partners who will help to develop a new set of requirements for the new pervasive robotic sensing platform to work in clean water, wastewater and gas pipes. They will support the formation and operation of the new research Centre of Autonomous Sensing for Buried Infrastructure in the UK and ensure that the results of this research have strong practical outcomes.

High-speed rail lines, at ever increasing speeds and distances, are in development both in the UK and world-wide, but up-front capital expenditure can potentially be a major inhibiting factor both to the client and also in the eyes of the public. Cost reductions for these lines could be achievable if the initial costs of the physical construction, the duration of construction and the land take could be reduced. All three of these costs can potentially be reduced for embankments if the industry were to move towards a novel embankment replacement system. In addition embankment replacement systems could significantly improve the performance of the track structure as the dynamic properties of the contained material can be better controlled. However, such technology requires significant performance evaluation and the development of appropriate design guidance before UK industry can justifiably implement it in a project. This project therefore aims to evaluate and produce design guidance for two novel embankment replacement systems as a means to potentially reduce the cost of constructing new high-speed railway lines (particularly in urban environments) and improve the overall track behaviour and hence passenger experience.

The proposed research is part of a long-term research agenda to develop High Value Manufacturing (HVM) products with longer functional life and lower whole life cost. The research will deliver to the recently published national strategy on 'engineering services' and a 2025 vision - achieving our goal of 20% reduction in whole life cost with 20% increase in availability during the life of a product across more than £20bn of UK manufacturing sector output. A White Paper on 'Making Things Work. Engineering for life - developing a strategic vision' (Cranfield University, 2015), recognised that the UK has a declining 5% share of a rising global market in 'service and support' that currently exceeds £490 billion. Over 50% of the revenue comes from export. The global market will grow to £710 billion by 2025 [IBISWorld Industry report on Global Engineering Services, 2015]. Despite this there are around 107,000 people working in the "sector" in the UK with average wages 1.5 times those in wider manufacturing [Office of National Statistics (ONS) Data, Dec 2014]. Today more than 50% of revenue in the aerospace and defence sectors comes from the service contracts. For example the Rolls- Royce 'Total Care' contracts and related support activities. The contracts would never have been so successful without underpinning 'through-life performance' research. Both the Foresight Report on 'The Future of Manufacturing: A new era of opportunity and challenge for the UK' (The Government Office for Science, London, 2013) and the White Paper portray the importance of developing engineering services and support capability but recognise there is little underpinning science and good practice available to the extended service supply chain needed for UK competitiveness and productivity. This platform grant will contribute to an increase of around 3% (a total of 8%) in the UK's share of the global market. The aim of the platform grant is to sustain a world leading team with strategic research capability on through-life performance improvement, including complex in-situ degradation assessment technologies. The team between Cranfield and Nottingham Universities have worked together over the last ten years. They have a very strong portfolio of current research projects and publication record, this research will develop the team as an international centre of excellence in 'through-life performance improvement'. This is the only research group internationally focusing on this area in respect of HVM. The grant will accelerate career of the world-class researchers and support them to become internationally leading researchers. Current research capabilities still focus upon single degradation modelling and assessment. There is however, a significant lack of knowledge and models for compound degradation (e.g. the interaction of more than one failure mechanism; corrosion, fatigue and the role temperature plays in modifying the degradation processes). The research will take on a challenge to study and model compound degradations for mechanical components, give feedback on the degradation to design and manufacturing and develop instrumentation to assess (i.e. measure size and depth) the degradations in-situ, including in in-accessible areas. Understanding degradation science better (both single and then compound) is essential to extend the life of mechanical components and therefore availability of the HVM products. In-situ assessment of the compound degradation through very small service access holes will reduce the maintenance cost significantly. The research team will be supported by partner organisations: Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Network Rail, SMD Ltd, HVM Catapult, XP School. They will directly benefit from the research along with other 500 HVM Companies.

The Football History for Inclusion project was initiated to address the needs of those educators who witness, in their day-to-day, instances of exclusion and who wish to help their pupils engage in meaningful conversations about inclusion and develop social and civic competences. In particular, the project set out to enable these educators to use football history, which is widely beloved and known by the general public, as a door opener to grab pupils’ attention and make complex concepts easier to grasp.The project consortium was composed of: (1) EuroClio (NL), an International NGO which has 30 years of experience in project leadership and management, as well as a large network that includes relevant stakeholder and members of the target group of the project; (2) the Anne Frank House (NL), an internationally renowned foundation who has great experience in developing engaging educational materials that help countering antisemitism among youth; (3) Eintracht Frankfurt Museum (DE), a museum that uses local football memorabilia, tangible, and intangible heritage to develop workshops for schools to discuss concepts such as antisemitism, the holocaust, and diverse and multicultural societies; (4) Evenzo Consultancy (NL), a consultancy with relevant expertise in the field of communication and community engagement, which throughout the project held the role of curating and maintaining a high-quality and multi-tiered communication campaign; (5) Fare Network (UK), an organisation experienced in the generation and launch of initiatives aimed at the prevention of racism and racist behaviors in connection to football; (6) the Romanian Football Federation, which brought to the table their expertise in the development of successful campaigns to engage national minorities, promoting their inclusion. Additionally, a core team of 30 volunteer educators was formed to create 30 approaches for non-formal education settings and 30 exemplar learning activities.During the reporting period there have been 8 transnational partner meetings. The first meeting served as an introduction to the project, and helped partners develop a common vision on all Intellectual Outputs, including the roles and responsibilities and the time path, and a common understanding of the specific terms and language used in the project. The purpose of the second through fifth meetings was to prepare future joint sessions and to provide feedback to the draft materials developed by team members. The sixth and seventh partner meetings focused on adapting the project design to account for the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The eighth and final meeting was dedicated to evaluating the project, discussing in particular what lessons partners could learn for future improvement of their (joint) endeavours.There also have been 5 short term joint staff trainings: The Netherlands in February 2019; Romania in May 2019; Germany in November 2019; The Netherlands in February 2020; Online in September 2020. The last meeting was not originally envisioned in the project plan, but was added and held online to provide support to members prior to the beginning of the new scholastic year, especially in relation to the planning of online activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional one-on-one meetings between partners and team members were held throughout the project. Finally, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the project at the moment when national trainings were set to begin, several partners were able to organise dedicated “Football Makes History” trainings. Three of these were design to share project outputs and experiences with practising teachers and took place online in English, German, and Dutch in April-June 2020, while two took place in the fall of 2021 and were dedicated to discussing the role of football history as a tool to promote inclusion with football associations and policy makers. These took place in person, in The Netherlands and Romania.The project produced a variety of intellectual outputs: a Needs Assessment; a Toolkit consisting of 30 educational approaches to use football in non-formal education; 24 Lesson Plans, 6 Source Collections, and 1 teaching strategy design to use football in the (history) classroom; Policy Recommendations on the way forward; and an ambitious Public Awareness Campaign, including social media presence, the creation of engaging video content, and the launch of the website footballmakeshistory.eu.