Asset deliver pipeline for landmark Newport shopping centre

As the city of Newport awaits the opening of the new Friar’s Walk shopping centre, the project which has been led by Queensbury Real Estate, has benefited from the provision of a new sewer diversion made from Weholite.

Friars Walk will open this winter and will provide 390,000sq ft of retail and leisure space in the heart of Newport city centre, South Wales. When completed in the shopping centre will offer 34 shop units, 11 family restaurants and an eight screen cinema. It is hoped that the project will help to regenerate Newport as a retail and leisure hub.

Such is the scale of the new Friar’s Walk development that the development of the site required the excavation of 38,000 tonnes of soil. An excavation on this scale inevitably interrupted the city’s subterranean infrastructure, specifically the sewage network, which criss-crossed the site.

As a solution to this, site contractors Churngold required a sewer diversion pipeline that would not only divert the existing sewer system around the area, but also to accommodate the sewerage from the Friars Walk development itself.

Churngold knew the sites requirements could be met by Asset International, whose large diameter plastic pipes could be utilised to create a new sewer system, under the Friar’s Walk site.

Working in a city centre environment meant space was at a premium and deliveries were restricted. It also meant that the projected timeline was tight as attempts were made to keep city centre disruption to a minimum. To meet these conditions Asset manufactured a twin 750mm sewer pipeline with an integral dry weather flow channel, as well as numerous complex flow control chambers, which were prefabricated and tested at their factory, before being delivered and installed on site in an extremely efficient manner.

An added benefit of using Asset International was the fact that the Company’s Weholite pipes are manufactured just a few miles down the road from the Friar’s Walk site, at the Company’s Newport headquarters. This meant that not only did the financial investment remain local, but carbon emissions in the transportation process were kept to a minimum as the pipes were shipped just a short distance between factory to site.

Speaking about the project Darren Williams, Asset International Technical Engineer commented: “At Asset we are highly experienced in working in challenging site environments, particularly exigent city centre locations, where space and time are at an absolute premium.  In fact, our Weholite products are perfect for such environments, as not only are they pre-fabricated off site, but they can be delivered and installed in a matter of hours if required. The process is unbelievably quick in comparison to alternative methods.

“The project ran meticulously from start to finish and it was a particular pleasure to be working on such a landmark construction project in our own city.”

For more information about Weholite call Asset International Ltd 01633 273081 or visit www.weholite.co.uk