Overcoming Obstacles with Hydrorock’s SuDS

South Tyneside Council required an efficient, sustainable water management solution to deal with both carriageway and overland runoff. This was to ensure access to the village of Whitburn was made safe from repeated flooding along the rural lane. Treating water as a precious resource, Hydrorock‘s Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) absorbs and retains rainwater onsite and disperses it as evenly as possible.

This prevents gatherings of large volumes of water in a single place, reducing the load on existing nearby sewers and other existing infrastructure and improving soil condition and integrity.

The installation site at Whitburn had a small footprint due to minimal verge space. Numerous utilities were found subsequent to topographical and penetrated radar surveys. An uneven bedrock was identified, indicating the need for different levels of installation.

However, this was an obstacle Hydrorock was able to easily overcome, due to the flexibility of the system. All of this, whilst meeting the design brief in terms of sustainability, efficiency in water management and ease of installation.

Aquifer Blocks

Unlike traditional soakaway methods and plastic crates, Aquifer Blocks provide a more sustainable approach to drainage systems. This is because they are constructed of stone wool.

Their capillary action reduces hydrostatic pressure on the base resulting in a larger infiltration surface area. The modular system permits almost infinite configurations permitting flexible installation solutions within the confines of each site.

The installation of super gullies helped rapidly clear the surface water from the road. This was done through a filter towards the Hydrorock system for buffering and infiltration. The beauty of this project is these works were undertaken on the side of the road. This resulted in minimal disruption to traffic and a reduction in road closures.

Lee Sergeant, from South Tyneside Council, comments: “The thing that surprised me was how quickly it went into the ground. I’m impressed with Hydrorock and I’m very impressed with how easy it was to construct in the ground.”

There are clear advantages to the Hydrorock system in all factors. If you have a surface water management project where a more adaptable design could help overcome site constraints, contact Hydrorock.

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