Polypipe helps Siemens in car park construction

Polypipe’s geocellular water management systems have been installed across a new 500 space car park that will service an expanding science park complex in Manchester.

The 2.0 Ha mixed-use Siemens Campus complex near Manchester’s Princess Parkway in Didsbury includes a private hospital, new homes, and commercial space. With many visitors expected on the site so close to Manchester’s main road network links, a large car park was required to provide ample parking space.

Polypipe was called upon by P.P. O’Connor, the appointed Principal Contractor for the scheme, and worked in conjunction with supply and install partner Hydro WMS to offer a cost effective geocellular stormwater management with treatment solution utilising Polystorm and Permavoid, as the initial design was over budget.

The solution included 2,700 Polystorm-R cells, 600 Permavoid Medium Duty with Biomat cells and over 600m of Permachannel. By utilising the Permavoid and Polystorm range in conjunction with one another, Polypipe was able to re-work the design, whilst still allowing the controlled water treatment and surface water run-off across the site as per the initial design.

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

By supporting P.P. O’Connor through the tender process, Polypipe worked with all parties to supply a system that delivered over £200,000 in cost savings, compared to the original plan for the scheme.

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. Using 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.”

Rosie Cheetham, Marketing Manager at Polypipe Civils, said: “Polystorm-R is proven to be one of our most reliable, flexible and effective products for shallow attenuation projects such as the car park at the Siemens Campus.”

The scheme was completed in March 2018.