Electricity Alliance Sums up Dura-Base Mats
… Security, Savings and Service
Balfour Beatty and National Grid form Alliance
The Electricity Alliance is a partnership between National Grid and fifteen partner organisations set up in March 2007. Its role is to upgrade and develop the electricity transmission network across England and Wales. It is the largest ever Alliance partnership for National Grid and is part of the planned investment to maintain safe and secure supplies of energy to the UK. The Electricity Alliance East is one of six such partnerships operating across the UK and is an alliance between National Grid and Balfour Beatty.
The Alliance is responsible for providing and maintaining overhead and underground cable networks, electrical jointing and cabling, fault location and repair, and substation cabling.
Remote Sites Need Secure Access Solutions
Many of the Alliance sites are in remote locations, often miles from the nearest town or village. Accessing the sites usually means crossing farm land, and temporary roadway panels are brought in to provide safe access for vehicles and heavy plant. The temporary roadway panels also serve another vital function: they protect the land from damage while work is taking place. The organisation works closely with land owners to protect their land and its responsibilities are clearly defined in a Charter.
In the early days, wooden panels were used to provide access to the sites. These were difficult and time consuming to install and safety was an issue. In time, aluminium trackways took over from the wooden panels, allowing for easier installation and improved safety. However, the aluminium temporary roadway panels brought another major headache – security!
Aluminium roadway panels have a high scrap value, so thefts from sites caused significant financial losses. Not only were thefts a regular occurrence, there were also legal issues about which company should bear the liability: the aluminium roadway contractor or the site owner.
Doug Gray, a Site Manager for Electricity Alliance said, “The aluminium panels would be delivered to the site on a small lorry with a trailer. It had to be parked off-site and enough panels unloaded to provide an access roadway. There were instances where both the trailer and its contents were stolen before the remainder of the panels could be laid. The losses could be quite significant.”
Introducing Dura-Base
John Brooks, the Operations Manager for Electricity Alliance East, heard about Dura-Base mats from the organisation’s Innovation Department in the latter part of 2007. John was introduced to Terrafirma Roadways, the sole UK distributor of Dura-Base mats.
The Dura-Base mats ticked a lot of boxes for Electricity Alliance. Not only did they pose no security risk, being made from plastic which has no scrap value, but the mats are also made from recycled materials. Electricity Alliance takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously, so using recycled materials is a big bonus. At the moment, the Dura-Base mats are manufactured in the US, so the carbon footprint is not as low as it might be, but this is off-set by their extended life-span. However, Terrafirma is working closely with Electricity Alliance to see what can be done to reduce the mat’s carbon footprint even further.
Extensive Trials are a Success
Since the introduction to Terrafirma, Electricity Alliance has conducted extensive trials to measure the performance of the Dura-Base mats. With 1,000 mats in use, the trials have included short and long term applications, use on different terrains, and in different weather conditions. The mats have been tested with all Electricity Alliance’s heavy plant, both wheeled and tracked.
The trials have proved so successful, Electricity Alliance plans to move almost exclusively to Dura-Base and expects to be using 9,000 mats in 2009. As well as reducing the security risk, the Dura-Base trials have shown a significant reduction in the number of accidents and potential hazards. The interlocking system means the surface is level and the overlap design prevents mud seepage. This has helped reduce the number of ‘trip and slip’ accidents, common with aluminium or steel panels.
The Dura-Base mats are simple to install. At present, Terrafirma handles the installation of the mats, but Electricity Alliance staff are being trained to undertake the installation themselves.
Electricity Alliance has only carried out a small test to measure the financial benefits of using Dura-Base mats. At the moment, it looks like the saving will be in the region of 10 to 15%, although this may change when the costs are analysed on a larger scale.
Proactive Service from Terrafirma
John Brooks described Terrafirma as a company he can work with. Since the trials started, Terrafirma has put itself out, working closely with the teams on site and helping with internal presentations. The emergency response has been excellent, as have the levels of service.
“Terrafirma has been very proactive. They understand what we need and bring a co-operative eye to our issues, rather than a salesman’s eye. They understand if we have problems, these have to be resolved. Some suppliers of aluminium mats in the past have taken the attitude of: ‘that’s the product … get on with it’.”
John Brooks
Operations Manager
Electricity Alliance East
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