WET News

14 WET NEWS APRIL 2014 A Mercedes-Benz Unimog was used to navigate the difficult terrain Kiosk replacement come rain or shine • Installing a number of kiosks for use by Anglian Water should have been simple enough. However, timescales and weather conditions soon made the project a particularly challenging one. TECHKNOW • Thirty-three people involved, including manufac- turers, installers, project managers, drivers and testers • More than 6,000 man-hours worked in manufacturing • 680 man-hours worked on site • The project took six to 12 hours a day per install • Outage period per site was less than one day • up-rated security products were a priority for the water company • Each kiosk was up and running the same day MOANS AND GROANS 1 Engineers from a manufacturing company may have been unfamiliar with construction environment 2 Access. Some sites were extremely hard to reach, such as a muddy ploughed field 3 Weather, daylight (winter installs, short daylight hours); wind: some days work was halted by 90mph winds A team of engineers from Staffordshire-based MCL has completed its biggest ever kiosk replacement project to help Anglian Water meet its security requirements. Usually, a kiosk on a site such as these could be vulnera- ble to attack or contaminants. The risk from this could equate to thousands of homes finding themselves without water, hence the replacements with up-rated security products were a priority for the water company. The contract, which required delivery of an unprecedentedly large number of LPCB – LPS1175 level 3 kiosks and the removal and disposal of the old ones, was one of the biggest kiosk replacement projects under- taken in the UK, and certainly the largest ever delivered by MCL, a market-leading supplier of GRP kiosks and access cham- ber systems to the utilities and infrastructure industries. This contract was particu- larly challenging for a number of reasons, including accessibil- ity, timescales, weather condi- tions and specification. Andy Hobbis, director at MCL, explains: "In many cases, owing to the security requirement, the loca- tions for the kiosks were partic- ularly hard to reach – for exam- ple, one was in the middle of a farmer's muddy ploughed potato field. In some cases there were nearby utility chambers or live cables, so delivery could be risky if the correct safe systems of work were not followed. We therefore needed first to PROJECT SPECS • Replacing a large number of Anglian Water's kiosks with LPCB Level 3 security-rated kiosks • Conducting a detailed survey of kiosk and site conditions • Meeting an extremely tight timescale: surveys, three weeks; kiosks, three months • Integrating the manufacturing team in the factory and installation teams on site. THE VERDICT The project was delivered on time, under budget, and with several technical innovations to ensure the highest level of security on each site. From surveys and risk assessments, to bespoke manufacturing, to installation on some inhospitable sites, each kiosk was replaced flawlessly, ensuring seamless continuity of water supply to the people of the region. Even the inhospitable terrain could not get in the way. ONSITE Asset management conduct full surveys of each site, with risk assessment for every aspect of the design, man- ufacture and installation of each kiosk." Mirror The client, Anglian Water, briefed MCL to manufacture replacements as close to the original specification as possi- ble, with the exception of the dramatically improved security rating. Hobbis continues: "Our kiosks needed to mirror the ones they were replacing, not only for the sake of blending into their surroundings, but also so that existing ventilation spec didn't need to be changed, and existing electrics could rapidly be retrofitted. "The security ratings, how- ever, are where the real differ- ence lies. Our products are built from our own proprietary mate- rial comprising a reinforced composite layered with a blend of other secret materials, and exceed the standards of typical GRP in every way." Besides the bespoke design and manufacture of each kiosk, another major hurdle was the timescale for each job. Because of the need for both security and continuation of service, it was imperative that each replace- ment be guaranteed up and run- ning the same day, because nothing could be le– unpro- tected overnight. But guaranteeing this would be far from simple. Not only were so many of the sites inhos- pitable and hard to reach, but the access challenge was A kiosk being positioned, with engineers having to be careful of live cables and nearby utility chambers Kiosk replacement come rain or shine Fed up with digging in the wrong place? The HL5000-H2 will pin-point leaks with a mimimum of fuss and maximum accuracy. SebaKMT · Archcliffe Road, Dover, CT17 9EN T: 01304 501 101 - F: 01304 502 307 E:uksales@megger.com· W: www.sebakmt.com/en compounded by the weather conditions. The client required the entire project to be completed within less than four months, which happened to be the four most extreme winter months of recent years, in terms of wind and rain. More than once, a day's work had to be abandoned owing to 90mph winds, and the entire team had to deal with the result- ing last-minute scheduling changes. This was overcome thanks to a number of factors, not least the strong relationship MCL has with a local haulage firm, which guaranteed same-day logistics with a 100% success rate. Even on occasions when a standard flatbed lorry was insufficient, a Mercedes-Benz Unimog vehicle was dra‡ed in to navigate diffi- cult terrain. The last four jobs were the most complex, because the kiosks required internal parti- tions and some were more than 3.5m high, making them hard to transport. This was solved in advance by manufacturing them in a flat-pack configura- tion, and ensuring availability of delivery vehicles with the appropriate load capacity and crane mounts. Hobbis comments: "Not only did we deliver the project on time and under budget, but we built a real rapport with the cli- ent team. Because it was the same small team on every one of the sites, they kept inductions and risk to a minimum and allowed our own site teams to build a strong relationship of trust and mutual understanding with the client. Neilan Perumal, project manager at Anglian Water, adds: "We would be glad to work with MCL again should another project of this nature be required." Hobbis says MCL is now looking to the future: "As water companies look towards mov- ing from a security rating of Level 3 up to Level 4, we expect that all of our water clients will have an eye on similar kiosk replacement projects. We already have a product in the final stages of development that we are confident meets all the standards of Level 4, and we look forward to releasing our test results to the market." n The Ovivo® screw compactor incorporates the original Jones+A wood™ features that have a proven record of reliability and robustness. Our new design now receives flows from water powered launders and incorporates a 9mm thick drainage trough for ruggedness and 6mm TAPERED holes for improved drainage– built with lowering TOTEX in mind. Available in 5 standard sizes the Ovivo screw compactor loading capacity ranges between 0.5 and 9.5 (M³/Hr) and launder flows up to 8.0l/s. OVIVO ® Screw Compactor Call: 0121 511 2400 or visit: www.ovivowater.com © 2014 GLV Inc. All rights reserved. incorporates the original Jones+A wood™ features that have a proven record of reliability and robustness. Our new design now receives Screw Compactor Screw Compacting since 1986! Old Dog. New Tricks. Great Plug. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Screw Compactor Ad 0314_PRINT READY.pdf 1 19/03/2014 5:02:20 PM "Not only did we deliver the project on time and under budget, but we built a real rapport with the client team" Andy Hobbis, director, MCL It was imperative that each replacement be guaranteed up and running the same day

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