Innovative cost-saving solutions have played a key role in the upgrade of Yorkshire Water’s Doe Park Reservoir, almost halving construction time on the scheme.

Impounded behind a Victorian Pennine-style embankment dam, work of this magnitude at the 800,000m³ reservoir near Denholme would usually take up to 12 months. However, by implementing techniques and specifications from pre-cast concrete specialist Whites Concrete, construction time was almost halved to just over six months.

Instead of traditional masonry, the exposed external concrete faces of the wave wall and spillway were covered with masonry-effect formliner. This more sustainable option has also saved £70,000 initially.

Main elements of the scheme included:

• Design & reconstruction of dam crest to ensure the flood rise from the PMF was fully contained.
• Design and construction of a 17m single-span bridge over the spillway channel (for HA loading).
• Design and construction of a new concrete spillway channel capable of passing the design flood of 120m³/s.
• Improvements to the existing valve shaft and access bridge so that the shaft does not act as an overflow during the PMF.

During construction of the spillway, pre-fabricated reinforcement saved considerable time and also improved safety because it minimised the amount of steel fixing required on site.

A further 12 weeks were also saved by using pre-cast concrete wave wall units, compared to in-situ concrete and shuttering.  This accelerated option also helped maintain much needed access to a property on the other side of the dam.

As part of collaborative planning and lean construction techniques, treated recycled sludge was used instead of topsoil, which saved a further £14,000.

Visit www.whitesconcrete.co.uk