LOCATION:
This £11.5m contract was for the construction of a storage and logistics facility including link bridge structure and 60,000m2 concrete slab.
Rockwool manufactures high quality insulation products at its factory in south Wales. They acquired 20 acres of land adjacent to the factory to build a logistics centre and warehouse extension, allowing them to increase onsite capacity to store and distribute their products.
- Extensive earthworks requirement including 85,000m3 of reused material.
- 80,000t stone import for ground strengthening layer.
- Drainage system with large diameter pipes, installation of interceptors and 2,200m of surface water ACO channels.
- Construction of 64,000m2 fibre reinforced concrete storage area.
- Construction of 180m conveyor, 126t link bridge and lift structures for product movement.
- Structures including a logistics building, security lodge, forklift store, six story south tower, north tower structure and conveyor building.
- 60m concrete retaining wall.
- 400m access road.
- 1,200m of FSC accredited, 3m high acoustic and security fencing to the perimeter.
- Three large swales for surface water drainage, totalling more than 1,000,000 litres of water storage and discharge.
- Armco barrier to the perimeter of the slab and around all lamp columns.
- Over 10km of LV ducting for all the cabling works.
- Over 1,500m of kerbs installed.
- Diversion of HV cables supplying the existing factory.
- Gabion basket retaining walls at various locations on site.
- Reinforced concrete retaining wall to the entrance.
- Installation of interceptors and sewage treatment tanks.
- Piling works to both towers of the link bridge, including sheet piling to the south tower.
Challenges
This was a fast track project with Rockwool requiring early control of certain areas of the site.
The site suffered from unreliable ground conditions and there were a number of ecological constraints that had a bearing on the timeline and sequencing of the works.
Solutions
We established a partial handover programme and carefully planned the concrete bay sequences, which were important in order to grant access to areas with partial handovers.
All the manholes and interceptors installed on site were strengthened using concrete slabs.
Works were carried out under a watching brief from an ecologist and in line with a Natural Resources Wales licence.
The earthworks were programmed around the environmental restrictions so we could get underway with the main works.
Outcome
The completed works were handed over in phases to allow Rockwool to begin using the storage area.
HGV deliveries took place while the remaining contract works were being completed, requiring detailed coordination to ensure the health and safety of all parties was maintained.
This project won our own Right Works Awards being crowned divisional and overall champion for the team’s dedication and commitment to achieving quality in delivery aligned with our customer’s desired outcomes.
