Two-metre pre-cast concrete panels help reduce bund wall installation by two weeks
20/09/2017 J P Concrete
A long-established bulk liquid transport and storage provider near Aberdeen has found a fast, pre-cast solution to its urgent need for three new bund walls.William Nicol Ltd (established 1935) called upon civils and utility contractor W M Donald to help with its latest expansion, but with such a busy yard at its purpose-built licensed waste transfer station and bulk liquid storage facility, time-consuming in-situ concrete was ultimately ruled out.
Instead, W M Donald brought in JP Concrete for its capability in quickly supplying and installing high quality L-shaped panels. Unlike typical industry units of only 1m in length, these panels are 2m long. This considerably reduces time and therefore costs because there are 50% less panels to unload, install and seal.
"Usually, we'd have chosen the traditional route involving formwork and reinforcement," explained W M Donald's Technical Director, Ewan Riddoch.
"But being up against time with what had to be completed for our customer William Nicol, we had to look for an alternative - and with it, we found much more than just pre-cast panels by working with JP Concrete".
Working closely together on the design, W M Donald chose 100mm thick panels that provide the same strength requirements as standard 200mm made in-situ.
Unlike numerous sealants, the one utilised at William Nicol (made by Sika), is resistant to hydrocarbons. JP Concrete also provided a specialist sealant (Sikaflex) for the vertical joints between the units that allows flexibility for changes in temperature.
Between the units of the vertical joints, JP Concrete also provided a specialist sealant that allows flexibility for changes in temperature, and is resistant to hydrocarbons.
W M Donald prepared the ground and constructed insitu concrete strip foundations at the waste transfer station and bulk liquid storage facility in Portlethen, with JP Concrete's sister company Modular Cubed utilising its own 73-tonne truck-mounted crane (with 5-tonne block grab and 12-tonne pincer) for delivery and unloading.
Ewan Riddoch added: "Overall, the time and cost-benefit is so much greater with precast, even though at first glance, it could appear that in-situ is cheaper. We saved at least two, possibly three weeks by choosing the precast route with JP Concrete. It's a huge benefit, in anyone's books".
He continued: "Our customer William Nicol is very happy with what's been achieved and how quickly it was carried out. The panels have an excellent finish. Made in a factory environment, there is clearly greater quality control. From start to finish, JP Concrete have been very good to deal with".
For more information, please contact:
J P Concrete
Newhaven Enterprise Centre
Denton Island
Newhaven
East Sussex
BN9 9BA
Tel: 0115 895 0965
Email: info@jpconcrete.co.uk
Web: www.jpconcrete.co.uk
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