Project Details
The main contractor O Hare & McGovern were commissioned to build a brand new school in the Belfast area.

As a part of the major works a new reinforced concrete part basement area was designed to house the dining hall areas for the student body. Newton Specialist Basement Contractor Ulster Damp Proofing Group (UDPG) were commissioned by the main contractor to provide a waterproofing design and installation to create a Grade 3 Habitable environment in accordance with BS8102:2009.

Methodology
Once the reinforced concrete superstructure was built, UDPG installed the Newton System 500 drained cavity system to all retaining walls. The membrane was “curtain hung” with minimal fixings and terminated at the wall floor junction. As a means of removing any water that did ingress the structure, Newton Basedrain was installed into a shuttered of margin of 100mm x 80mm.

The wall membrane (Newton 508) was tucked down behind Basedrain and, because the property was only “retaining” on two elevations, any water ingress could be managed by gravity out to the open elevations on both flanks. As the water was being captured at the wall floor junction in a margin, a liquid vapour barrier was applied to the floor area.

Benefits
• This prestigious project was protected by an internal “maintainable” waterproofing system which was not dependant on dry conditions - as is the case with external waterproofing options.
• The unique dimpled profile of the Newton 508 waterproof membrane means for ease of jointing the material with no negative pressure being able to push the membrane of the wall as with internal applied barrier system.
• The open elevations available means no mechanical extraction was required the ingress could simply be removed via gravity.