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