On site at Hinkley Point C, the Road and Utilities Network project incorporates the platform areas known as K19A, K19B, K19D and K6A, and covers 43,500m2. Within this large area, we have carried out earthworks, ground remediation and all utility installations using a number of our framework contractors.
Roads and Utilities Network
Work began in August 2020 and is projected to complete later this year. The area is significant for Hinkley Point C with a large proportion of roads, drainage and utilities, including a high voltage electrical network, benefitting the majority of site. Throughout the project, communication has been key, as the majority of utility installations involved outages which affected many aspects of the site.
EARTHWORKS
Within the platform areas, earthworks were carried out to remove the soft ground down to rock level. Normal excavation, on average, was 3m deep, consisting of soft clays, limestone and general soils.
Over a large area of the site, asbestos materials were removed. Specialist remediation contractors were brought in to remove 14,000m3 of contaminated materials, which were taken offsite for controlled disposal. Backfill was used to build the ground back up to the designed platform levels.
For the bulk fill, the platforms were filled with B4 material, a crushed and graded material derived from the rock excavated from within the deep dig. Finally, the filled platforms were capped with two layers of B5, a weather resistant stone, which can be driven on. This is also used to backfill around installed structures.
When this project is completed:
- 90,000m3 of material will have been excavated
- 60,000m3 of B4 will have been backfilled
- 30,000m3 of B5 will have been backfilled for capping and around structures
UTILITIES
Services have been installed using our in-house team and a number of specialised contractors. These services include:
- Potable and surface water manholes and pipework
- Information, technology and telecommunications, including chambers and ducting
- Street lighting
- Electrical chambers, ducting and racking
- Roads and road drainage
- Existing service diversions
All ducting, manholes and chambers are formed on site using concrete and to date, over 2,000m3 of concrete has been used.
400m of high voltage racking has been installed on the east and north of the area to enable the removal of the old high voltage route. Seven new high voltage chambers have been built with 400m of ducting to create a new network.
A total of 1,100m of new road network has been installed across the full platform and much of the new surface water network has been installed, incorporating a new pumping station and inlet which will tie into the new culvert run. A new information, technology and telecommunications network is currently being installed, in addition to a new street lighting network.
We were able to undertake the work using our own resource and extensive framework of contractors to manage the project from the get-go, undertaking all tasks in-house. The project has been managed by our team from early discussions with the client, through tender and design, to build and handover. A small designated team ensured full focus and kept costs to a minimum. We utilised as much on-site material as possible, meaning deliveries were kept to a minimum, reducing our carbon footprint. We also ensured that cut material was managed on site at the crushing and screening plant to further reduce our carbon impact.
Although the majority of our contracted work on the Roads and Utilities Network was primarily a build operation, we collaborated to find design solutions to integrate the old and new networks on site. Once completed, our project team will hand over the infrastructure to on site operations. Our team will maintain the surface water and utilities however, the road and its use on site will be managed by the client.
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