Project brief

Gorsey Point is a new commercial development located on Gorsey Lane, approximately a mile from Widnes town centre. The 16-hectare site is part of the Widnes Waterfront area, a significant regeneration scheme transforming 145 hectares of low-quality industrial land into new commercial, residential, and leisure facilities on the banks of the River Mersey, close to the new Mersey Gateway Bridge.

The former manufacturing site has been cleared to provide ‘oven-ready’ development opportunities, and Marshall Construction is now constructing a three-phase development of warehousing and offices totalling approximately 700,000ft² of space. The site’s former industrial role has resulted in a legacy of contamination, and despite thorough remediation, care still needs to be taken to ensure that any residual pollutants remaining underground do not leach out into the environment.

Solution

Potentially aggressive petrochemical residues need to be prevented from compromising the site drainage system and entering local watercourses. To protect against potential pollutants, Marshall CDP specified the use of precast concrete drainage pipes fitted with seals manufactured with nitrile rubber, which is highly resistant to oil fuel and other chemicals.

Marshalls Civils & Drainage supplied more than 140 precast concrete nitrile-seal pipes totalling 362m in sizes ranging from 375mm to 675mm in diameter to help mitigate potential contamination by pollutants. The seals were manufactured for Marshalls Civils & Drainage by a specialist company in the Netherlands. Because they are specified infrequently, Marshalls Civils & Drainage offers them as a bespoke service, requiring extended lead times to allow them to be produced, shipped to the UK, and incorporated into the pipe manufacturing process.

Close liaison with the supply chain was essential to ensure the 14-week lead time caused no disruption to the build programme. Efficient teamwork allowed site activities to be rescheduled to accommodate this without causing any delay. In addition to the pipes, approximately 50 related pipe components, such as nitrile rockers, spigot, and socket pipes for each pipe size, were also supplied.