Location
Gorsey Lane, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 0RP
Client
Marshall CDP
Gorsey Point is a new commercial development located on Gorsey Lane, approximately one mile from Widnes town centre. The 16-hectare site is located within the Widnes Waterfront area, a significant regeneration scheme that is transforming 145 hectares of low-quality industrial land into new commercial, residential and leisure facilities on the banks of the River Mersey.
The site is in close proximity to the new Mersey Gateway Bridge project which recently opened to provide a new six lane bridge linking Widnes and Runcorn and the M62 and M56 motorway network.
The former manufacturing site has been cleared to provide ‘oven-ready’ development opportunities and Marshall Construction is now constructing a phased development of warehousing and offices totalling approximately 700,000 sq ft of space.
The site’s former industrial role has resulted in a legacy of contamination and, despite the thorough remediation of the site, care must be taken to ensure that any residual pollutants remaining underground do not leach out into the environment.
In particular, potentially aggressive petrochemical residues must be prevented from compromising the site drainage system and entering local watercourses.
Because of the need to protect against potential pollutants, the client specified the use of precast concrete drainage pipes fitted with nitrile rubber seals. Nitrile rubber, also known as nitrile butadiene rubber, is a synthetic rubber derived from acrylonitrile and butadiene. It is notable for being highly resistant to oil fuel and other chemicals.
Marshalls Civils & Drainage was awarded the contract to supply the drainage products. These comprised concrete nitrile-seal pipes in various sizes from 375mm, 450mm and 675mm diameter.
In total, Marshalls Civils & Drainage has supplied 141 pipes totalling 352.5 linear metres. In addition, approximately 50 related pipe components, such as nitrile rockers, spigot and socket pipes for each pipe size have also been supplied.
The value of the contract was £77,000 for the Nitrile pipe requirement alone, plus an additional £45,000 for all other core products.
The seals are manufactured for Marshalls by a specialist company located in the Netherlands and because they are specified very infrequently, Marshalls offers them as a bespoke service. This necessitates extended lead times to allow the bespoke seals to be made, shipped to UK and incorporated into the pipe manufacturing process. Close liaison with the supply chain was therefore essential on this project to ensure the 14-week lead time cause no disruption to the build programme. Efficient teamwork allowed site activities to be rescheduled to accommodate this lead time without causing any delay.
Tom Slattery, Project Manager with main contractor Marshall Construction, said: “The pipes had to be nitrile sealed because of the contamination on the brownfield site. Everything went swimmingly – the pipes were no different to installing ordinary pipes; the only consideration was the long lead-time. “We were fully aware of this from the beginning and were able to make allowances in the build programme. Marshalls kept us fully informed at all times and by working closely with our supply chain we were able to plan and execute the installation smoothly and without any hiccups.”
The site is in close proximity to the new Mersey Gateway Bridge project which recently opened to provide a new six lane bridge linking Widnes and Runcorn and the M62 and M56 motorway network.
The former manufacturing site has been cleared to provide ‘oven-ready’ development opportunities and Marshall Construction is now constructing a phased development of warehousing and offices totalling approximately 700,000 sq ft of space.
The site’s former industrial role has resulted in a legacy of contamination and, despite the thorough remediation of the site, care must be taken to ensure that any residual pollutants remaining underground do not leach out into the environment.
In particular, potentially aggressive petrochemical residues must be prevented from compromising the site drainage system and entering local watercourses.
Solution
Because of the need to protect against potential pollutants, the client specified the use of precast concrete drainage pipes fitted with nitrile rubber seals. Nitrile rubber, also known as nitrile butadiene rubber, is a synthetic rubber derived from acrylonitrile and butadiene. It is notable for being highly resistant to oil fuel and other chemicals.
Marshalls Civils & Drainage was awarded the contract to supply the drainage products. These comprised concrete nitrile-seal pipes in various sizes from 375mm, 450mm and 675mm diameter.
In total, Marshalls Civils & Drainage has supplied 141 pipes totalling 352.5 linear metres. In addition, approximately 50 related pipe components, such as nitrile rockers, spigot and socket pipes for each pipe size have also been supplied.
The value of the contract was £77,000 for the Nitrile pipe requirement alone, plus an additional £45,000 for all other core products.
The seals are manufactured for Marshalls by a specialist company located in the Netherlands and because they are specified very infrequently, Marshalls offers them as a bespoke service. This necessitates extended lead times to allow the bespoke seals to be made, shipped to UK and incorporated into the pipe manufacturing process. Close liaison with the supply chain was therefore essential on this project to ensure the 14-week lead time cause no disruption to the build programme. Efficient teamwork allowed site activities to be rescheduled to accommodate this lead time without causing any delay.
Client comments
Tom Slattery, Project Manager with main contractor Marshall Construction, said: “The pipes had to be nitrile sealed because of the contamination on the brownfield site. Everything went swimmingly – the pipes were no different to installing ordinary pipes; the only consideration was the long lead-time. “We were fully aware of this from the beginning and were able to make allowances in the build programme. Marshalls kept us fully informed at all times and by working closely with our supply chain we were able to plan and execute the installation smoothly and without any hiccups.”
