Buckingham installs Tubosiders largest UK water management system
Two more Tubosider stormwater systems recently fitted by Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd (BGCL) at major sports venues include the largest attenuation tank ever constructed by Tubosider for a UK client.
With a capacity of 12,800 cubic metres (over 430,000 cubic feet), the record sized tank is also unprecedented in function, providing drainage and irrigation to a total area of 110 acres.
As contractor to this first phase of the project, BGCL has had to carry out extensive and complex land regeneration work to prepare the site for development and make safe the environment. The site is on brownfield land formerly housing a large chemical works, with chemicals, tars and other contaminants all needing to be remediated, treated or removed.
BGCL’s experience with similar projects, including various Premier and Football League clubs, would prove extremely invaluable when it came to installing the giant system.
Senior project manager Steve Foster said: “The client had initially specified an ‘egg crate’ type system, but given the parameters of size and depth of fill, BGCL undertook a risk and commercial assessment for the depth of cover (up to 5m) and depth of crate (3m).
“After substantial investigation we proposed an alternative Tubosider solution in terms of technical merit, programme, maintenance and cost. BGCL has worked on schemes for football stadia and large distribution centres that have utilised the same product or similar, such as Brighton’s Amex stadium. Tubosider has definitely been the most efficient and pro-active.”
The Tubosider system now installed is the largest of its type ever designed and pre-fabricated for a UK client. Situated below the heart of the sports complex, it connects with all the playing areas to provide both drainage and irrigation – 4,600 cubic metres of attenuation and 8,200 of rainwater harvesting.
The 2.8m diameter steel tanks are also Magnelis coated, a superior system using an alloy of zinc and magnesium which gives better corrosion protection against aggressive environments. Given the ground conditions and the irrigation system being used by the client, this was one of the various technical challenges which had to be met.
“The substantial depth of cover was one thing we were conscious of, as I mentioned, but also the aggressive type of water being stored, with a high content of fertilisers,” says Steve Foster.
Besides their long service life, more than equal to the design life of the project, Tubosider’s pipes and tanks are all BD12 Highways Agency accredited and have high loadbearing strength.
Despite the wettest summer in 160 years, the whole tank was delivered and installed by the September 2012 deadline which BGCL had been set, for Tubosider the completion of a project which had been prepared for many months ahead.
“All in all Tubosider has been excellent,” concludes Steve Foster. “They have covered the design parameters and justification for the choice of products, and achieved a tight programme which has changed because of other processes on site to which it is linked.
“I would like to thank the Tubosider team, from the procurement and design right through to their flexibility on the commercial side and their flexibility and dedication in terms of delivery. It’s not all been plain sailing, the logistics have been trying, yet we still achieved it.”
Ends
Article supplied by:
Tubosider UK Ltd
Tel: 01744 452900
Email: sales@tubosider.co.uk
Web: http://www.tubosider.co.uk