Background

The Great Blakenham incinerator plant is a joint initiative between Suffolk County Council and waste management company SITA UK. This energy-from-waste facility uses the household and business waste left after recycling, burning materials which would otherwise go to landfill, and generates enough electricity to power 30,000 homes.

Challenge

Although operations carried out at the plant are largely industrial, the appearance of the building itself including the suspended, glass fronted office section required hard landscaping to increase overall aesthetics, as well as providing a SuDS solution to ensure safe and practical surface water removal in the car parking areas. Additional drainage products were required for the access roads used by HGVs delivering waste to the plant.

Solution

For the pedestrian approach to the front entrance and offices, Marshalls Keyblok concrete sett paving was specified in two contrasting blended colours, providing an aesthetic alternative to more functional block paving. Keyblok is highly durable, with a chamfered top surface profile, and is suitable for use in almost any loading application.

For the car park, Marshalls Priora was installed, with two colours providing clear demarcation between the parking bays and roadways. Marshalls Priora has a ten year pedigree in providing SuDS solutions, featuring a patented nib on the edge of the blocks creating voids through which water falls into a specially prepared subbase, ensuring effective surface drainage.

Beany Block, Marshalls original combined kerb and drainage system, was installed on access roads within the site and on the through road to the delivery area passing under the suspended building section. Beany combines excellent surface drainage capability with large flow capacity, making it more cost effective than traditional kerb and point drainage.

Benefit

Combining the ever popular aesthetics of Keyblok block paving with a source-control SuDS solution, Priora not only looks great but also mitigates flood risk, removes surface water and improves water quality - without the need for additional linear drainage systems.