Underground car park flood fails to tax Lanes jet vac technology

Lanes Group’s jet vac technology has been put to use to carry out the urgent clearance of flood water from an underground car park used by HM Revenue and Customs.

The basement car park was flooded with nearly 6,000 cubic metres of water when the River Irwell burst its banks due to record levels of rain caused by storms Desmond and Eva during December.

Facility management firm Environment & Power Technology (EPT) called in Lanes Group, the UK’s largest independent drainage specialist, after the flood cut power to the building in Quay Street, Salford, Greater Manchester, preventing HMRC staff from working in it.

In an operation co-ordinated by Lanes Group’s depot in Eccles, Greater Manchester, its drainage teams used jet vacuumation tankers to clear the water in just four days.

EPT Director Richard Rogers said: “We reviewed options for dealing with the emergency flooding response, and it became clear that only Lanes Group had the capacity to complete the operation.

“We were pleased that the Lanes Group on-site team were courteous and found no issues to be too much trouble to handle.

“The provision of the Lanes 24-hour service, including rotating cover staff, enabled EPT to co-ordinate other services to satisfactorily address the problems caused by the flood.

“EPT believe we will be dealing with an increasing number of flood affected buildings in the future and we will be happy to call on Lanes services again to ensure we help organisations get back on their feet as quickly as possible after facing such adversities.”

Lanes Regional Manager Brad Witt said: “Within an hour of getting the call on Sunday 27 December, we were on site assessing the situation. The same day, we had two jet vac tankers working to remove the water.

“With the scale of the flooding, and the urgent need to reopen the offices, we deployed two more vac tankers the following day. All four machines worked in unison, completing water removal by midnight on 30 December.

“We accelerated the flood water clearance by using two recycler jet vac tankers. These can vacuum and pump water at the same time, so can work continuously, increasing the amount of water removed.

“Lanes has one of the largest recycler fleets in the UK. The speed and success of this flood recovery project demonstrates the confidence our customers can have in our capability to respond to business critical emergencies like this.”

The water, enough to fill nearly two-and-a-half Olympic swimming pools, could be pumped directly into a nearby mains sewer.

With the basement carpark clear of flood water, the building’s facilities management team could start the process of drying the affected area, so power could be restored and the HMRC offices could reopen.

Lanes Group drainage teams have been carrying out emergency flood recovery work in counties across the north of England, including Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire.

In Yorkshire, more than 15 Lanes drainage vehicles and 30 personnel were deployed on flood recovery work at the end of December, pumping out buildings and clearing debris carried into drains and sewers by flood water.