SuDS protect state-of-the-art train servicing facility.

Overview
A short distance from Bristol Parkway Station, Stoke Gifford Rail Depot will service up to 34 trains on the new Intercity Express electrified rail link between London and South Wales.

The site is part of a wider £5.7 billion development on the Great Western (GWR) and East Coast Mainlines and the depot will start operating from early 2016. For the next 27 years at least, it will serve as a crucial maintenance facility for Hitachi Rail Europe’s service delivery operations.

The facility comprises a maintenance building with two full-length internal roads, stabling and servicing roads, a carriage wash plant and a wheel lathe building, as well as 20km of new track. An office and staff accommodation have also been constructed.

SDS was tasked with ensuring that a state-of-the-art service and maintenance facility for Stoke Gifford Rail Depot’s new rolling stock remains flood-free and that local watercourses and surrounding land are protected from contaminated floodwater.

What They Did
The SDS system protects the local watercourses and surrounding land from the risk of flooding and contamination.

This GEOlight® “SuDS” installation comprises of a network of attenuation tanks, along with associated piping and flow control devices. It has the capacity to capture up to seven million litres of excess surface water runoff from heavy and prolonged rainfall.

SDS worked in close collaboration with design and engineering consultants, Arup, and specialist contractor, VolkerFitzpatrick, to design the most cost-effective engineering solution for the project.

Results
SDS was able to overcome the restrictions of an absence of storage space on site, compounded by a single point of site access, by using the location of its manufacturing facility to great advantage. Materials and equipment were produced and brought onto site, the installation was completed and any residual materials were removed from site, all on the same day.

GWR’s very public move to a greener, cleaner and more reliable rail network was evident in its decision-making and the appointment of SDS demonstrates the confidence both it and its contractors vested, in an area of the country where flooding has generated extensive negative publicity.

This project provided a blue-print for similar facilities being constructed in other areas of the UK’s railway network, including in London and Doncaster.

SDS played a crucial role in designing a bespoke SuDS solution for this substantial development. As we continue to take on further rail development projects, we will be turning to SDS for their invaluable knowledge and expertise in this specialist and increasingly important sector.

– Nico Wessels, Site Manager, VolkerFitzpatrick

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