Building, Civil Engineering &
Structural Steelwork Contractor

Anaerobic Digestion Plant

Britcon were engaged as principal contractor to construct a state of the art anaerobic digestion facility capable of converting in excess of 45,000 tonnes of food waste into power generating methane gas to be used as a fuel source for the adjacent feed processing factory with excess power being fed back into the local electricity grid network, producing overall 2.8Mw of renewable electricity and heat, enough to power about 5,000 homes.

The anaerobic digestor takes 25-36 days to complete its cycle. As well as heat and electricity, it produces 43,000 tonnes of odourless organic fertiliser a year, which is sent to local farms.

Our client was Prosper de Mulder Ltd. in partnership with their European anaerobic digestion plant operators SARIA who have a number of similar installations on the continent.

PDM were keen to use local supply chains and as such invited local companies to tender for the project. Britcon were selected as principal contractor. On appointment, Britcon engaged in an intense process of value engineering to ensure 'best value' had been achieved throughout the entire project providing civil engineering infrastructure and construction of a new dedicated office and amenities block for the AD plant, which is highly energy efficient, in line with the rest of the project.

The initial phase was a relatively straight forward earthworks re-engineering of the top 2m of the existing brown field site to bring the formation to a suitable bearing capacity for the structures to be constructed but this did incorporate a major dewatering of the temporary works for the deep basement which was a considerable depth below the adjacent river level.

On completion of the earthworks and piling operations, the major structures which comprised multiple high rise post tensioned circular reinforced concrete digestion tanks, receiving tanks and gas storage tanks along with numerous process structures, extensive external works and administration office commenced.

The concrete tank structures were sub-contracted to a nominated Austrian specialist slip forming contractor utilising their own patented shutter / integrated rotating equipment.

Given that the administration office was to be used in conjunction with a green energy plant, the brief was to create an office facility that was as environmentally friendly as possible, using the latest sustainable methods of construction. With this in mind the materials were sourced to provide maximum recycleability over the whole life cycle of the building.

Thermal values of all elements of construction were closely considered, with the eventual building envelope far exceeding the requirements of the Building Regulations. Internal walls and the inner leaf of the external walls were formed with dense masonry to provide high thermal mass; to be used in conjunction with a night-time cooling strategy, fresh air is brought into the building overnight to cool the dense structure which slowly absorbs heat through the day. In winter the air is not extracted and thus stays warm.

Architects, John Hill Associates from Doncaster, managed the design and construction throughout the build process.

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National Call and Communications Centre

The project comprised the re-furbishment & internal alterations of the Ellipse Building at Swansea, which has now become VOSA's national call & communications centre.

The Ellipse building comprises 2 office buildings, a rectangular, 2 storey and an elliptical, 3 storey linked by a central communal area containing the main building central reception, lifts, staircases & toilet facilities with a floor area of 2800m2

Works undertaken included working within an existing & live office environment on 3 floors, the installation of a complete new Data & Telephone system & modifications to the existing fire alarm systems through out the building.

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A10 Footbridge & Cycleway

Britcon have recently completed the construction of a design and build footbridge and cycleway complete with upgraded infrastructure crossing the A10 dual carriageway in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. The construction has provided an additional crossing point from the east to the west sides of the busy A10 dual carriageway, which is one of the main arterial routes linking London with Cambridge. Specifically, it has linked the areas of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross to the east to the new St. Mary's High School to the west, being part of a Sustrans route providing an invaluable safe link for hundreds of school children on a daily basis.

The project consisted specifically of a 35m span, 3.5m wide bridge crossing the A10 dual carriageway in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. At either side of the bridge, structural steel ramps totalling 200 m in length and weighing approximately 140 tonnes in total were fabricated and installed. This provided a Sustrans route as a footbridge and cycleway linking Cheshunt and Waltham Cross to the east with St. Mary's High School and the remainder of Cheshunt to the west. To the west, an additional 750 m of footway and bridleway, together with a bridge over the New River, were also installed as an additional contract which was won on the basis of our record and delivery of the initial project.

In addition to the main structure as detailed above, we also installed a 70m long, reinforced concrete structure to the east ramp linking the routes to the east back to that of the A10. This structure was finished with tarmacadam and brick clad to improve the aesthetics when viewed from the other side of the brook on Theobald's Lane.

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