GWYNEDD, Wales, Feb. 11, 2008 -- Sustainable commercial development has received a boost in North Wales with the installation of Hydro International's Stormcell® and Hydro-Brake® stormwater control systems on one of the biggest business development projects for many years.
Parc Bryn Cegin is a new business park being developed in North Wales on the outskirts of Bangor, Gwynedd by the Welsh Assembly Government with funding from the European Regional Development Fund via the Objective 1 Programme, and managed by the Assembly's Department for the Economy and Transport. It is planned to bring more than 1,600 jobs to North Wales.
The steeply sloping 36 hectare site is located on a bluff above the Afon (river) Cegin between the A5 and A55, with a fall of over 45 metres, so the development is arranged on a series of 9 plateaux connected by an access road spine.
As Nicola Wilkes, Senior Project Engineer for consulting engineers Jacobs points out: "The steep slope, underlying rock formations together with the new development mean that stormwater runoff in this high rainfall area could potentially be a problem by increasing the run-off into the river. The Stormcell® and Hydrobrakes® mitigate the effect of this increase and fulfil the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) principles for this project.
"The Environment Agency limited the discharge rate to 5 litres per second per hectare into the river. We designed a 1750 cu.m. stormwater control system based on three Stormcell® storage tanks at points down the slope, attenuated with Hydro-Brake® flow controls in the storm drainage which runs along the central roadway. In this way, the site can be treated as three separate but interlinked catchment areas.
"The Stormcell® modular block storage tanks were chosen as it is one of the systems Dwr Cymru Welsh Water will adopt. The loadbearing modules enable shallow tanks to be constructed in a variety of shapes to suit the topography without extensive civil works, a distinct advantage where the soil cover over the rock base is thin and slopes are steep; a low maintenance feature is the patented perforated pipe design for integral silt protection to the storage, minimising any maintenance requirements."
The Phase 1 infrastructure was completed in May 2007 and the site is now ready for development in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government's private sector development partner UK Land & Property, a Liverpool based property development company. The next phase of on site development is currently being designed and is scheduled to start on site in 2008. When fully developed the site will accommodate over 70,000 sq.m. of floor space, providing a new strategic site for business investment & development in North Wales.
Hydro International, which has offices in the UK, USA and Ireland, provides cost effective solutions for controlling the quantity and improving the quality of water, without power or moving parts, and with minimal maintenance.
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