Stormwater System for the New Morrisons Manufacture Site

Nearly 4000m³ of the GEOlight stormwater management system from SDS (UK) has been installed for a new Morrisons packing plant in Bridgwater, Somerset. Situated next to a Morrisons’ distribution centre, the construction project covers over 20 acres, accommodating a 150,000 sq ft packing warehouse, a 128,000 sq ft fresh warehouse and an 81,000 sq ft produce warehouse.

Following its very positive experience of the GEOlight system at a Morrisons in Newport, South Wales, civil engineering consultants BSCP approved the use of the SDS system. The poor ground conditions in that part of Somerset meant that the dig for the attenuation system could only be 3 metres deep. With the GEOlight system only needing 600mm cover above the tanks for the service road carrying articulated trucks, it meant that the attenuation tanks could be deeper and therefore didn’t require such a large footprint across the site.

Commenting on the installation, Roy Fowler, civil engineer at BSCP said, “ The site is very flat and the outfall extremely shallow so GEOlight system has proved to be a practical solution to meet the contractor’s requirements. We were also pleased to have the co-operation of SDS with engineers on site and design discussions throughout the project and as SDS are also based near to Bridgwater there were big savings in transport costs.”

Main contractors, McLaren Construction Ltd were also delighted with the product and service from SDS as Chris Looney, project director explained, “The flexibility of the SDS system is excellent. With the 3 metre dig limitation we were still able to meet the attenuation figures required in the flood risk assessment. We were also impressed with the recycled content of the GEOlight system.”

SDS has calculated that there was a total saving on carbon footprint of 35.5 tonnes of carbon, this figure taking into account that the SDS GEOlight system is made from recycled post consumer material instead of virgin plastics.

The GEOlight stormwater management system from SDS is an ultra lightweight honeycombed preformed modular structure made from recycled PVC which provides an underground stormwater storage facility for the application of stormwater attenuation or infiltration. The high void rate of up to 97%, high compressive strength of up to 1000kN/m2 and low resistance to water flow makes GEOlight a maintainable and cost efficient solution ideal for underground storage during storm conditions.

As well as attaining ISO 9001, the company is currently undergoing ISO 14001 Environmental Standard accreditation, demonstrating its commitment to developing an environmental management system in areas such as waste reduction and the use of recycled products. The SDS GEOlight stormwater management systems are manufactured entirely from post consumer PVC waste, normally destined for landfill. This reduces the carbon footprint and helps development projects achieve a higher BREEAM rating. Further investment has led SDS products to be BBA accredited, recognised by Achilles, and they have been submitted for WRc approval.