4 August 2020

Grout Filling assists complex reinforcement project at the Caledonian Canal

Overview

Supporting SGN on a project to divert a gas main across the Caledonian Canal

The Steve Vick International Contract Service team recently assisted gas distribution company SGN on a project to divert a gas main across the Caledonian Canal near Loch Ness.

The project required the new gas reinforcement main to be laid under the Caledonian Canal at Torvean, Inverness.

This project, due to the complexity of the canal crossing, had been delayed while other options were explored.

In 2017, Highland Council had drawn up plans for a new section of road with a new swing bridge crossing to be installed on the canal at Torvean, Inverness. SGN Operations Team Manager, Alex Torrance, contacted the Highland Council and it was agreed that SGN could install a new gas main across the canal when it was drained for the new swing bridge installation. The canal was dammed and drained in early 2020 and the new gas main was laid through the drained section, positioned in a sleeve under the soon to be constructed swing bridge.

Solution

Grout Filling Operations

Once the new main was in place the SVI Contract Service team provided grout filling operations to fill the annular space between the new, one hundred metre, 450mm PE sleeve and the new 250mm PE gas main.

The grouting enabled the void between the two pipes to be filled so that, when the weight of the earth and water from the canal was re-instated, the newly inserted gas main was protected from the risk of damage and the unnecessary ingress of extraneous matter or animals.

The SVI Contract Service team carefully calculated the quantity of grout required and a total of 9 cube was used. The grout filling operation took just five hours to complete.

Contact

“We were delighted with the work Steve Vick International carried out for us on this project. The gravity-fed grout offered a safe, fast and cost-effective solution to filling the annular space and will help prevent damage to the newly installed gas main in the future.”