Task: Headering & Trenching
It was another busy and successful week on site. The drillers completed a further four boreholes with a combined depth of 587 metres. These four boreholes will feed eight flats. They are effectively now managing to complete one borehole every day, ensuring the drilling remains on schedule for completion next week.
The drillers worked the weekend leading up to the start of week three to ensure they remained on schedule. The weekend working was approved by Hanover Housing Association and all residents were informed. By working the weekend, the five boreholes at the rear block were all completed and the drilling rig moved to the side block to allow the drilling on hole six to commence first thing on Monday morning.
On Wednesday, the trenching and headering team arrived on site. This team is responsible for digging a 1.2m deep trench from the borehole back to the boundary of the building. They install pipework in this trench, using an electro-fusion machine to weld the pipework to the borehole pipework. Once the pipework is installed, they backfill the trench and relay the turf on top. After a few weeks, it will not be possible to see where the borehole is located.
In two days, this team completed all five trenches linked to the first five boreholes completed in week two at the rear block of Ashfield Court. They were able to work quickly as the borehole drillers had already moved around to the other block on site. This was all part of the careful project plan developed by Kensa and its sub-contractors to keep the project moving smoothly and ensuring that different trades do not get in each other’s way.
During this week, we also received a site visit from EDF who carried out a Health and Safety inspection. EDF are providing funding for this project through the ECO scheme and Kensa have to meet their strict requirements for Health and Safety to remain one of their preferred ECO contractors. If EDF have concerns while on site, they can actually stop work until problems are rectified. The site visit was a success and Kensa and its sub-contractors passed the inspection with flying colours.
Next week’s key project stage: Headering & trenching and final boreholes drilled.
Keep following our blog to stay up to date with this brilliant first project between Kensa Heat Pumps and Hanover Housing Association.
Project in brief:
- 22 flats – 21 are 1 bedroom and 1 is a 2 bedroom flat;
- Built in 1977;
- Heated by electric night storage heaters which have reached the end of their useful life and need replacing;
- Residents aged 55 +;
- A Kensa Shoebox ground source heat pump (6kW) to be installed inside each flat;
- New 150 litre unvented hot water cylinders in each flat;
- New radiators in each flat;
- New heating controls in each flat, which will be much easier for the residents to use;
- A ground source heat pump for the site office;
- 12 boreholes will be drilled with depths up to 154 metres to form a communal ‘micro district ground source heat pump system’.
Read more about the background to this first project between Hanover Housing Association and Kensa Heat Pumps here.
