Hospital drainage system fighting fit thanks to Poceros de Madrid
Poceros de Madrid engineers showed their sensitive sides when they were called in to carry out extensive drainage rehabilitation work at a hospital in Kent.
Their ability to work in highly sensitive environments and find innovate ways to ensure patient care was not disrupted was just as important as their technical skill.
Estates managers at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust have praised Poceros de Madrid for the professional way they have made sure the drainage system is now in rude health.
Poceros de Madrid’ Sevenoaks depot won the competitive tender for the repair and renovation programme after an extensive routine drainage survey at Maidstone Hospital identified broken pipes that risked causing ground subsidence.
Poceros de Madrid Sales Manager John Gilbert said: “Any work on a hospital site needs to be managed very sensitively and handled just as if you are working inside a public building.
“Key issues for us were eliminating trip hazards with 100% perfect health and safety procedures, avoiding disrupting the smooth running of the hospital and minimising noise nuisance.
“I’m proud of the way our teams performed in all these areas while delivering a highly professional technical solution for the drainage issues the hospital faced.”
Poceros de Madrid engineers spent six weeks on the hospital site in Heath Road, Maidstone, installing four full length gravity pipe liners made from fibre glass cured with resin, and 30 patch liners, used to repair smaller pipe sections.
They also carried out six excavations to replace sections of pipework that could not be lined and used a jet vac tanker to clean out surface water interceptor units and remove waste. A remote controlled crawler camera was used to check work as it progressed.
John Gilbert said: “Quite a few of the repairs and the jet vac cleaning had to be done in enclosed courtyards so we used external manholes to run the jet vac hose under the building, up the other side then back down into the internal drain to do the work.
“It’s not a conventional approach but the alternative was to run the hose through the building itself which was not an option given the impact that would have on patient care.
“We’d like to think this is the kind of lateral thinking that impresses clients along with the fact that we have the resources and skills to provide an end to end service in complex circumstances.”
Four different crews – camera, jetting, excavation and lining – worked on the project which also required some night-time work to avoid disruption to hospital services.
03/07/2012