Hanson Formpave has completed a permeable car park scheme at Sainsbury’s 1,000th store, in Irvine, Scotland. Around 6,700m2 of the company’s market-leading permeable paving SUDS system, Aquaflow® has been installed in 501 parking bays across the main store car park and the parking facility at the store’s petrol station.
In its push to be the UK’s greenest grocer, Sainsbury’s felt that the Irvine site would be the prime location to put their “Respect for the environment” value into action, which encompasses a commitment to water stewardship and positive water usage. The store manager, Lynne Nimmo commented: “We are working to reduce the impact of our operations by using new innovations in the way we build and sustain our stores. Products like the Aquaflow system complement our approach and investment into water management; it gives us the ability to ensure that any surface water on the car park is put back into the water course at an acceptable rate, and is as clean as possible, achieving a pH neutral level, while reducing standing water and making the car park safer for shoppers.”
Due to ground conditions on site being unsuitable for infiltration, an attenuated Aquaflow system has been installed. This system limits the discharge rate from site to 16ltrs/sec, meeting the requirements set by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Local Authority. Surface water discharge is regulated by the SEPA as part of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. Even surface run-off from the access aisles, formed from dense bitumen macadam (DBM), drains onto the Aquaflow and into the system’s sub-base.
The Aquaflow system was recommended to main contractors, Dawn Group, by project engineers, Halcrow Yolles, and supplied by Frazer Ltd, specialist suppliers of below ground drainage products.
Thomas Ward of Halcrow Yolles said: “We have worked with Hanson Formpave on a number of projects across the UK, they are experienced, very knowledgeable and offer a high quality service. For the Irvine store, we worked in partnership with the Formpave in-house design team to create a surfacing solution that met stringent SEPA and LA legislation. We then advised the contractors, Dawn Group, that the Aquaflow system would best meet the requirements of the site.”
Hanson Formpave is a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of SUDS and water harvesting systems using specialist concrete paving. The company has completed many installations with leading multinationals, and this continues to be a growing area for the business.
