Pragmatic Polypipe solution paves the way for extended car park

Polypipe’s geocellular water management systems have been installed across a new 500-space car park, delivering more than £200,000 in cost savings compared with the original scheme plan.

The two-hectare mixed-use Siemens Campus complex in Manchester includes a private hospital, new homes, and commercial space. With many visitors expected on the site so close to the city’s main road network, a large car park was required to provide ample parking space. When the originally specified stormwater management system was deemed over budget, Polypipe worked with P.P. O’Connor, the appointed principal contractor for the scheme, to supply a system that would deliver more than £200,000 in cost savings. Polypipe worked in conjunction with supply and install partner Hydro WMS to offer a geocellular stormwater management with treatment solution using Polystorm and Permavoid. The solution included 2,700 Polystorm-R cells, 600 Permavoid Medium Duty with Biomat cells and more than 600m of Permachannel.

Polystorm-R is designed for use in traficked areas with a compressive strength of 61 tonnes/m2. Its modular structure made it ideal for use within the site’s restricted areas where the car park was being installed around existing buildings.

By employing the Permavoid and Polystorm range in conjunction with one another, the design was re-worked while still allowing the controlled water treatment and surface water run-off across the site as per the initial design.

Chris Reilly, commercial director at P.P. O’Connor, said, “We were able to work with Polypipe to supply a cost-effective, reliable, and easy to install system that helped the client significantly reduce costs without compromising the quality of the final car park. Polystorm and Permavoid provided us with an ideal solution for a large car park area, and with further expansion in the pipeline at this site, we will be able to put a similar system in place.”