Manufacturing and Engineering Magazine Volume 420 - September 2015 | Page 53

Darlow.qxp_feature 2 06/08/2015 13:12 Page 51 MANUFACTURING & ENGINEERING DARLOW LLOYD & SONS Also for G2, DLS carried out a large amount of trench excavation into which G2 subsequently laid specialist earth cable to assist with the electrical requirements of the turbines. Despite carrying out a number of trenching projects using “normal” excavation machinery to the satisfaction of G2, DLS wanted to look at a different way of doing the works in order to provide further savings to the client. As a highly experienced drainage contractor, the staff at DLS have a wealth of experience in trenched and trenchless pipe and cable installation and it was proposed to G2 that time and costs savings may be made if the earth cable works could be carried out with one of DLS’ specialist trenching machines. This would enable the trenches to be excavated and cable laid in one pass. Trials were carried out through a variety of soil types including rock and these showed that the use of this technique would be beneficial. G2 immediately instructed DLS to carry out earth cabling works to two of its live sites. DLS carried out a large amount of trench excavation into which G2 subsequently laid specialist earth cable to assist with the electrical requirements of the turbines. “Using Darlow Lloyd & Sons Ltd to carry out the installation of cables such as for earth matting provided G2 with an extremely fast and efficient way of carrying out this portion of their works. Trenches can be excavated, cable laid and backfilled very quickly and with minimal disturbance compared to other methods when using our specialist machinery and experience. The trenching equipment is mounted on a road-going tractor unit and is therefore highly mobile and cost effective to transport to site,” explains Paul. Elsewhere for the energy sector, DLS continues to work with Lightsource Renewable Energy. Lightsource owns, operates and maintains the largest amount of solar installations in the UK and a large percentage of its assets comprise ground mounted PV installations, known as “Solar Farms” which are situated in rural locations. Lightsource approached DLS to carry out vegetation management on a number of its live generating sites across the UK comprising flail mowing, strimming and hedge cutting works, in and around the panels, substations and inverters. DLS mobilised a team to carry out the works to an agreed schedule working from one region to the next during 2014. The works were carried out using a range of equipment such as strimmers, tractormounted mowers and self-propelled mowers, all of which were transported from site to site by the company’s own transport to ensure complete flexibility and the most productivity. “Using Darlow Lloyd & Sons Ltd to carry out the vegetation management works provided Lightsource with one point of contact for their sites despite their location, significantly reducing subcontractor interfaces. As a long MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING MAGAZINE 51