Pressures that face the water industry are highlighted in AMP8, these in turn will place more pressure on ageing assets and supply chain margins.
The key to overcoming these issues will be establishing an environment that enables and encourages innovation.
The recent report ‘The optimal delivery model for AMP8 – A view from the supply chain’, published by the Water Industry Forum and supported by Turner & Townsend, aims to set out how water companies should reassess their delivery approach to allow greater innovation and ultimately drive the productivity needed to successfully deliver AMP8.
By engaging the right members of the supply chain at the right time, utilities can better create an environment that encourages productivity and the right outcomes.
UK water companies operate approximately 40,000 assets. Most assets will require maintenance at least once in a five-year AMP cycle.
Regardless of the age of the assets, any Operations Directors and Asset Managers will focus on system sustainability, whilst meeting ever-increasing consumer demands. More and more water companies and contractors are choosing to work with Pontoonworks for their repair and maintenance projects.
Delivered bespoke solutions allow water companies and their contractors to facilitate the works without the need to decommission and drain tanks, providing considerable time and cost efficiencies – cheaper, safer, quicker.
This provides the water sector with safe access for maintenance and repair work, across both clean and wastewater, allowing almost instant access to settlement tanks, clarifier tanks, rivers and reservoirs and even on live aeration lanes.
Decommissioning is a dirty word, a tank out of service is an expensive problem and a logistical pain and strain on the remaining resources. The traditional approach of draining and scaffolding is costly, time consuming and unnecessary when the majority of repairs can be achieved from pontoon. Modular pontoon is, on average, 70% cheaper than a scaffold alternative.
Pontoonworks has a long successful track record of delivering modular working platforms for operatives to access the problem quickly without draining and decommissioning a tank.
As John Huddleston, Pontoonworks’ Operations Director explains:
“Clarifiers are easy to maintain with our blue DWI Reg 31 approved modules. Our teams install the floating work platforms around the pipe work and cones to enable routine and emergency works within relatively confined spaces. Each installation usually takes 2 to 3 hours and often the level of the tank needs only be reduced slightly to give access for installation and work can begin immediately the pontoon is signed over to the client”.
Aside of mechanical repairs, wastewater treatment plants are also prone to the invasion of fast-growing vegetation and have proven difficult to access. The engineered solution, is a bespoke dual modular platform with a stability bridge which provides a stable and manoeuvrable workspace. Installed within 2 hours, work can commence immediately after handover and approximately 100m of vegetation can be cleared in a single day.
Each of Pontoonwork’s installations is supported by comprehensive stability documentation which has been developed with engineering specialists Ramboll. This helps to guarantee every stakeholder, in the project, understands the capacity of their floating worksite. Edge protection is incorporated into the build as a standard and is an essential safety feature.
In steering the company, Pontoonworks Managing Director, Chris Murphy, has instilled a culture and commitment to excellence in health and safety. He said: “We are the only pontoon provider in the UK with CSCS Skilled Worker accreditation, a standard that we have worked closely with CITB to develop and ensure we remain at the top of our sector. In addition, all of our installation crews are full time employees and are EUSR qualified. We invest in our people to ensure our customers get the very best service.”
Cost, safety and speed are just three of the reasons cited to asset managers in order to keep them on top of their maintenance. Pontoonworks would like to encourage the industry to be part of the revolution by innovating and changing their delivery approach for AMP8.
