At a Glance:
- Industrial units redevelopment in Wrexham
- High-rainfall area in constant use by heavy and other vehicles
- Tight project time scales required rapid installation – no room for overruns
- Contractors Midland Ground Works used Clark-Drain’s 40-tonne-rated, High-Density Polyethylene Linear Drainage Channel (Technodrain) for the project
- Solution was light, strong, quick to install, cost-effective – and delivers long life with low whole-life cost
Our Customer
Midland Ground Works Limited is an established, family-run civil engineering and construction company serving clients in Shropshire, North Wales, and further afield. With a wide variety of heavy plant and experienced drivers, it completes many aspects of civil and construction work.
The Challenge
Frequent traffic, heavy vehicles, plenty of hard, non-absorbent surfaces – for drainage channels, industrial units can prove a challenge.
It is not enough that the channels do their job of carrying rainfall and run-off away efficiently; they must also stand up to the constant punishment of stresses and strains bearing down on them from above.
For the contractors laying the drains – like Midland Ground Works at its client’s industrial unit redevelopment in Wrexham – this often poses a quandary. Stronger drainage channels that would be up to the task required of them often weigh more than standard variants.
This makes them more costly to transport, necessitates more labour and machinery to lay (a cost factor again), slows down installation, and increases the health and safety risk associated with handling and moving the channels.
For Midland Ground Works, installing over 96 metres of channel to a non-negotiable schedule with a small team, meant that an alternative had to be found to enable them to do the best job quicker, more economically, with fewer installation concerns.
They got it from Clark-Drain.
The Solution
Midland Ground Works selected Clark-Drain’s High-Density Polyethylene (HD-PE) Linear Drainage Channel (Technodrain) for its project.
With its 4mm thick galvanized steel edge and ductile iron gratings, combined with a tough polymer structure that is load-rated to D400 (40 tonnes) and is resistant to a wide range of acids, salts, and hydrocarbons, this solution is certainly at home in a demanding industrial environment.
With a maximum throughput of 15 litres per second, it delivers a level of hydraulic efficiency that belies its dimensions and suits it to the heavier and more frequent rainfall episodes being caused by climate change.
It addresses contractors’ operational and financial concerns effectively, too. Its size-to-weight ratio maximises its savings in transport and installation costs, with each 1000mm length being safe for a one-person lift.
Installation is also quick and easy, with tongue and groove joints that enable the connection of multiple channels, and preformed lateral and vertical channel outlets for ready connection to discharge pipes.
In short, it is a solution that worked for Midland Ground Works on every level.
Outcomes and Results
There is no more powerful an endorsement of a product than a customer’s positive experience, and according to Midland Ground Works’ Director Chris Birch the company “absolutely loved” this solution “as it was so easy to lay and a great price.”
In testing conditions, to a tight schedule, this solution enabled a customer to complete a job to the client’s satisfaction - at less risk, with less effort, and at less cost.
For more information on how Clark-Drain can help your business deliver cost-effective drainage, no matter how big, small, or technically challenging your project, get in touch.