Franklin Hodge has recently undertaken a challenging project, working within the smallest height restriction it has ever had to deal with. The company is installing four fire sprinkler water tanks for a new ASDA store in Worcester, deep in vaulted cellars previously belonging to a 19th century vinegar maker.
The project is part of the new £75m St Martin’s Quarter Carillion Richardson development – Franklin Hodge is working alongside ASDA, main contractor Carillion and fire protection company Tyco. With space at a premium, and a need to preserve the historic brick storage tunnels, the company has had to design and build four separate tanks and the pipework needed to meet the capacity requirements of the fire protection sprinkler system.
The height restriction of just 1.2m meant standard tank width columns of 1100mm or 1200mm have had to make way for purpose-designed 900mm panels. The four galavanised steel tanks, from 19.5m length down to 14.7m, also had to be built one at a time for testing purposes. The tanks are all linked by individual common pipework restricted to the front of each tanks, so each vessel can be isolated if required.
Michael Lunn, services managers for Carillion, said: “With such a demanding height restriction and less than 4m between each tunnel column to build four tanks, we expected this to cause some real headaches for Franklin Hodge, but they have risen to the challenge and gone the extra mile to make everything happen smoothly.”
Franklin Hodge
T: 01432 269605
