At a Glance:
- Diverse projects required robust drainage chambers, channels, access chambers and manhole covers
- Lightness and ease of assembly were critical in reducing labour, and delivering to schedule
- Covers needed to comfortably withstand HGV turning weight in high-traffic areas
- Clark-Drain solutions matched competitor specifications, far more cost-effectively
- B125 chambers and D400 channels and manhole covers performed strongly on all counts
The Client
Newform Construction (www.newform.construction) specialises in groundworks, utility installations, and reinforced concrete works, with clients including the UK Armed Forces, schools, councils, water companies, highways agencies, and agricultural corporations. Its experienced team holds CITB, CSCS, and SMTS accreditations, and delivers both individual and full-package services across the UK from its base in Wymondham, Norfolk.
The Challenge
Newform Construction required a quick turnaround on installation and the ability to carry away liquid agricultural waste on an industrial scale, while withstanding the constant punishment of a busy lorry yard.
The challenges were compounded by the limitations of many traditional drainage products, which can be overly heavy and thus increase transport costs, meaning more labour and machinery is needed on site, which can, in turn, affect project delivery times. Lightweight products that facilitate easier installation often come with a price tag out of all proportion to the benefits they deliver.
The more critical the project, the greater the negative impact these shortcomings have, and as Newform had been contracted to deliver work that included defence assets and an urgent programme to boost domestic food production post-Brexit, a more efficient and more cost-effective solution was needed.
For this, Newform turned to Clark-Drain, on the recommendation of their local Keyline branch in Norwich.
The Solution
Newform selected Clark-Drain’s B125 chambers, D400 channels, and manhole covers, to ensure quick and easy installation that would stand the test of time.
In the words of Newform’s Managing Director, Dave Graves, these polypropylene and recyclable products are “super-lightweight”, which not only makes them quick and easy to load, transport, and deploy, but means that less labour and machinery is needed on-site to move and lay them.
“One guy on his own can easily unload a pallet,” Graves explains, “and the one-metre sections of the drainage channels just slot together.”
The B125 chambers are equally simple to assemble and install, he explains, but also readily extendable. “The chambers are really easy to put together,” he says, “and the holes for the ducting are ready-scored, so you simply punch out the hole and connect the duct.”
“If you need a deeper chamber, you just stack one on top of another, up to 1.2 metres in depth, so it’s a really quick solution for even higher-capacity requirements.”
Graves also points out that, unlike with many chamber solutions, there is no need to build a separate brick outer chamber. “We put the chamber in the ground, brace it with timber, lay a concrete surround, and once that’s dry and the cover’s on you can drive vehicles over it,” he explains.
The D400 channels and manhole covers, for their part, also punch beyond their weight.
The channels are made of Heavy Duty Polyethylene which is lightweight, easy to install, and capable of handling high-volume flows, being used by one Newform client to transport both water and vegetable waste away from a disposal facility in industrial quantities.
The manhole covers have been installed in, amongst other places, a lorry yard, where they have proven their ability to stand up not just to static weight, but, as Graves puts it, the pressure of a turning HGV “screwing its wheels down into the cover.”
In short, the Clark-Drain solutions Newform have chosen have proven themselves to be more than up to the tasks demanded of them, and rapidly deployable – but Graves is also clear that they have delivered enormous cost savings by comparison with competitor products, as he explains below.
Outcomes and Results
Newform has made good use of Clark-Drain’s products to deliver rapid, robust drainage systems at low labour, transport, and installation costs – but it is perhaps the price of the products themselves, relative to quality and specification, that demonstrates another reason why customers like Newform choose them over competitors’ offerings.
Ever mindful of delivering maximum value to the client, Graves comments that the price of Clark-Drain’s closest competitor’s products in this space is “astronomical.”
“I would be paying around 280% more for a channel if I went with the competition,” he explains, “yet Clark-Drain’s spec matches theirs. In addition, Clark-Drain make extensive use of recycled and recyclable materials.”
Quicker into the ground, easier to get there, cheaper to transport, and just as effective as competitor products that cost almost three times the price – is it any wonder Clark-Drain’s lightweight and environmentally sustainable products were Newform’s preferred choice for its clients’ projects?
For more information on how Clark-Drain can help your business deliver robust, cost-effective, environmentally responsible drainage, no matter how big or small your project, get in touch.