case studies

Flood defense scheme specifies AVflex

Blackpool’s flood defense scheme is being promoted as one of the best ways to prepare against the threat of natural disasters in the UK. The scheme has seen large areas of the Promenade transformed to protect the 1500 homes and businesses behind the seafront.  Birse Civils, part of the Balfour Beatty group of companies, has been tasked with overlaying 400 metres of existing sea defense originally constructed in 1919.

The site offices for this project are two Wernick Hire AVflex secure modular buildings that have been positioned in front of the Grand Metropole Hotel. The open plan interior of these modular buildings contain a reception area, six individual offices, a large open plan office for use by Blackpool Council civil engineering staff, welfare facilities, a canteen, drying room and toilets, including disabled facilities.

AVflex secure modular units feature a welded, vandal resistant exterior, high security doors fitted with insurance approved deadlocks, and windows protected by heavy duty security shutters. The units can be fitted together without the need for linking corridors, creating more internal space and a more compact site footprint. Internal fixtures and fittings include double plug sockets and telephone points fitted in dado trunking, convector heaters and Category 2 lighting as standard.

Special requirements, implemented after structural engineers’ calculations were received for the 28 week contract, were for seven 1 metre square concrete blocks to be attached to the modular buildings by angle irons to the ground floor bays; also for metal straps to be fitted between the ground floor and first floor bays. These safeguards were specified to protect the site offices against exceptionally high winds and the danger of flooding before the new flood defense scheme is completed!  

The buildings were finished in Birse Civils’ corporate colour scheme.

http://www.wernick.co.uk

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