Winfrith Power Station

Procord, the company which manages the land and buildings at Winfrith Power Station, needed to safely seal off two 180mm (6”) underground pipes.

These pipes connect pits that are, respectively, 43 metres and 28 metres apart. As the pipes run under a concrete road that would have been costly to dig up and reinstate, Procord decided against removing the pipes, preferring instead to completely fill them to prevent any risk of contaminated water running through and escaping.

Foam was chosen as the ideal sealing material as it is light and, if the pipes needed to be dug out at a later stage, they could be easily crushed up and disposed.

Steve Vick International carried out specialist trials at the company headquarters in Bath using long sections of pipe using their patented Foam Bag™ system. Their Foam Bags were installed at either end of the pipe creating a dam to prevent any possibility of contaminated material seeping out. Filler tubes were inserted through the Foam Bags so that the cavity between could be filled with foam.

Date published – 28th October 2011