Lanes delivers drainage support for Manchester Town Hall

Drainage engineers from Lanes Group plc are carrying out drain cleaning and CCTV camera surveys as part of the comprehensive regeneration of Manchester Town Hall.

Lanes has been commissioned by surveyors Powers and Tiltman Ltd to carry out the work over four-weeks, as part programme of site surveying on behalf of Manchester City Council.

Mace is overseeing the Our Town Hall Project to refurbish the Grade 1 Listed structure, one of the UK’s most important historical buildings.

The project will result in the complete repair and upgrade of the 141-year-old building by 2024 while boosting the Greater Manchester economy through contracts placed within the local supply chain.

The drainage cleaning and detailed CCTV camera surveys are being carried out by teams from the Lanes Manchester depot at Monton, Greater Manchester.

Ian Clapham, Area Development Manager for Lanes Manchester, said: “We’re very pleased and excited to have been selected to carry out such vital work on one of the most important buildings in our region.

“Manchester Town Hall is recognised as one of the UK’s architectural treasures, making its preservation all the more important. We’re proud to be part of the team working on that task.”

In the first week, Lanes deployed a CityFlex jet vac tanker and a CCTV drainage survey team to work on the drainage system within the main courtyard of the town hall and its dry moat.

The mini jetting and vacuumation tanker is ideal for operations in such confined spaces.

In the coming weeks, Lanes teams will also carry out comprehensive cleansing and survey work on the external drainage system extending into highway drains around the Victorian building.

Ian Clapham said: “Our work is part of a wider set of building surveys being carried out throughout 2018 to help architects and civil and structural engineers prepare major works.

“We will give them almost certainly the first, and certainly the most detailed, map of the drainage system serving the town hall and the surrounded area since it was built.

“Lanes has extensive experience of cleaning, surveying, and repairing drainage systems in historical civic buildings, working closely with architects, engineers, and contractors to preserve important features.”

The Our Town Hall project is a once-in-a-lifetime undertaking to repair, partially restore, and safeguard the iconic building for current and future generations. It is one of the biggest heritage schemes the country has witnessed for decades.

The building was completed in 1877, at an estimated cost then of between £775,000 and £1,000,000. Its design and construction reflected the prosperity and influence of Manchester at the height of the British Empire.

The building is still structurally sound but is seriously showing its age with many elements reaching the end of their natural lifespans.

Manchester Town Hall was designed by Architect Alfred Waterhouse and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Gothic revival architecture in the world.

The building contains offices and meeting rooms for Manchester City Council and the Mayor of Manchester, as well as rooms and halls used for meetings, civic ceremonies, and events.

Its Great Hall is decorated with the Manchester Murals, illustrating the history of the city, designed by Ford Madox Brown. Its exterior is dominated by a 280-feet high clock tower.