Lanes engineers prove their mettle with drainage excavation

Lanes engineers have completed an “intensely technical” drainage excavation project ahead of schedule, despite atrocious weather and challenging ground conditions.

The work involved installing a 4,000 gallon cesspool tank for national plant hire firm Mabey Hire at its depot in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Mabey Hire had called in Lanes Group’s Leeds depot to carry out a CCTV drainage survey, which revealed the sewer and surface water pipes under the premises, measuring 180m by 70m, were badly damaged.

Lanes was then commissioned to carry out the repairs and install the cesspool tank under the car park in the depot, which is on the site of a former railway yard.

Mabey Hire Depot Manager Malcolm Ellis said: “The Lanes team did a very good job, given that the ground conditions threw up quite a few surprises. It wasn’t straightforward at all.”

Lanes West Yorkshire Regional Manager Paul Remmer said:

“What started as a fairly technical job quickly turned into an intensely technical one. We found two buried 33,000 kva mains electricity cables in locations we hadn’t expected, plus several tonnes of steel, left by a previous contractor under the concrete yard, which we had to cut through.

“On top of that, the weather was appalling, with long periods of rain. Despite these difficulties, and thanks to excellent support from Mabey Hire, we completed the project two days ahead of schedule.

“The project demonstrated the importance of following best practice procedures for excavations and, in my view, the ability of Lanes teams to think quickly on their feet to safely and efficiently overcome serious challenges.”

The cesspool tank was needed for foul water from the plant hire offices because the nearest mains sewer was 400 metres away. It needed an excavation 6m long, 4.5m wide and 5m deep to accommodate it.

The Lanes team used 22 cubic metres of concrete to create a protective casing for the tank up to 20cm thick. A large proportion of the 200 metres of surface water drainage pipe, with diameters of 100mm, 150mm and 225mm, also had to be excavated and replaced.

Paul Remmer said: “This was the first cesspool tank installation we have done in three years. These jobs don’t come along very often, especially in urban areas. But the Lanes team has many years of experience in this work, so we’re always up the task.”