Innovative products from Netherlands-headquartered European specialist drainage systems manufacturer Kijlstra are being used in two separate projects, further expanding the firm’s work in the UK water sector where it has experienced “extraordinary growth” since setting up in 2008.

Kijlstra CSOs are being used in the early stages of a £250 million five-year programme of work by Scottish Water, which has appointed the firm as one of its framework suppliers, to upgrade its waste water network in the Greater Glasgow area. The scheme is designed to alleviate sewer flooding and deal with the effects of increased rainfall and climate change.

The utility’s contractor George Leslie is undertaking major sewer network improvements which include installing a series of combined sewer overflow (CSO) chambers at strategic points on the sewer network.

Kiljstra is one of two pre-cast concrete suppliers regularly employed by George Leslie on the Glasgow Environmental Programme and has supplied ten CSO chambers, three headwalls and seven kiosk bases in various sizes since the programme got underway.

Pre-cast components can be delivered to site and lifted into place in a few hours, allowing on-site activity to be completed very quickly and the excavation back-filled in typically three to four days - in contrast to using a traditional in-situ approach which is a lengthy and labour-intensive solution,

Mike Gilmour, a project manager at Scottish Water, said pre-cast has a number of advantages over in-situ construction.

“In terms of the main benefits of pre-cast over in-situ, the first is quality. The product is manufactured under factory conditions so the products are consistently of the same quality. Bad weather and unfavourable site conditions don’t effect it. Secondly, there are delivery benefits in terms of time and cost. Quicker projects are possible using less space as we are not constructing it all using formwork and re-bar on site. This is useful when we are working in close proximity to the public, greatly reducing the impact on our neighbours and customers. There are also health and safety benefits due to the reduced number of construction operations carried out on site, leading to less traffic movements in and around site, and therefore a greatly reduced carbon footprint.”

Steve Gainsley, project manager with Kijlstra, said the benefits had all come to the fore on the ten CSO jobs that George Leslie has already completed using Kijlstra CSO chambers.

“Reduced time on site is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages of pre-cast,” says Andrew MacLeod, construction manager with George Leslie. However, he pointed out that in some instances in-situ construction is still appropriate and that depending on the location it might be more economical to use in-situ concrete.

Kijlstra’s precast headwalls have separately been used on the Medmerry Managed Realignment project recently completed by Team Van Oord, a British-Dutch joint venture contractor specialising in coastal and marine engineering.

 The major sea defence project near Selsey on the West Sussex coast involved the construction of new defences built inland from the coast with a new intertidal area allowed to form on the seaward side.

The new defences comprise an earth embankment approximately 6.8km long enclosing the new intertidal area and protecting inland property and infrastructure from flooding. Team Van Oord constructed a trapezoidal drainage channel along the landward side of the 5.2m high embankment to collect the flow from existing channels – known locally as ‘rifes’ – which drain the surrounding farmland.

The flow is channelled to four outfall structures, incorporating Kijlstra’s precast headwalls, that pass through the embankment and allow discharge to the intertidal area.

Team Van Oord member contractor Mackley Construction, which was tasked with building these outfalls, chose the precast option mainly for speed and quality purposes.

Brought in at an early stage in the design process, Kijlstra developed the design of the outflows so the headwalls are supported on in-situ concrete bases.

Mackley assembled the 3.5m high headwalls on site, simply lifting the units into place on the prepared bases. The modular design concept allows various types of flow control devices, such as flap valves, penstocks, weirs and hydrobrakes, to be fitted at the factory, speeding up site installation and ensuring a quality finish.

Kijlstra: long-term strategy to become UK’s No 1

The leading European specialist drainage systems manufacturer Kijlstra has strengthened its position in the UK water sector with the opening of a new UK production facility for precast offsite drainage products to facilitate further expansion.

The company, which has its UK head office near Alderminster, Warwickshire, acquired the former 8,000m2, 29-acre site tarmac factory in Henlade near Taunton, undertaking a major re-fit programme ready for production, which started in January this year.

Kijlstra first came to the UK in 2008, with the introduction of its revolutionary square manhole. Since then the company has experienced significant growth and demand for its comprehensive range of innovative precast drainage products and solutions.

The new factory will also be used to manufacture drawpits, CSOs and panel systems as well as a host of new products currently under research and development and due for release over the following 12 months.

New moulds and production equipment have played a key role in the refit of the building, bringing the company’s total investment in the move to some £5million.

As well as recruiting locally in Somerset, with plans for up to 45 staff by early 2016, Kijlstra plans to generate income for the local community by using locally-sourced materials and haulage companies.

In addition to the UK factory, Kijlstra is investing in excess of €6 million in a new manufacturing facility for a new product range at its existing site at Drachten in The Netherlands as part of the company’s wider investment plans in Europe.

Kijlstra UK commercial director Dai Williams said the firm’s long-term strategy has always included the opening of a UK manufacturing plant, reinforcing its objective to become the UK’s No 1 as it is in The Netherlands.

The company has experienced extraordinary growth since setting up in the UK six years ago, which it attributes to its ability to work with consultants and contractors at the earliest design stages , together with innovative products.”

Commenting when the new factory opened, Kijlstra UK manager Hugo de Waal said:

“This new UK factory is vital to meet the ongoing demand for our drainage systems and solutions which have brought more efficient and cost-effective ways of working to the UK highways and utility sectors, and with predicated growth within these sectors we are in an excellent position to meet this challenge and continue to take this business forward.”