Specialist asphalt for Hinkley Point C water tanks

Hanson supply and lay Duralayer Tankbase asphalt for Hinkley Point C water tank farm

HANSON have supplied and laid 80 tonnes of specialist asphalt to complete the first of five pads for a water tank farm at EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site.

The Hanson Duralayer Tankbase product, supplied by the company’s asphalt plant at Whatley Quarry, in Somerset, was the culmination of several months’ work to design a material that would deliver the required waterproofing and load-supporting properties.

In total there will be five water tanks at Hinkley Point C, each holding up to 5,000 tonnes of water on a footprint only 25m in diameter.

Brett Coupland, regional operations manager at Hanson Contracting, said: ‘The logistics, tolerances, and specification of the project have made the work particularly challenging, but we successfully completed the project despite the limited weather windows available.

‘Each tank is supported on a concrete pad foundation, on to which a 60mm layer of Hanson Duralayer Tankbase is placed, using wooden forms to provide the initial wedge infill structure. The wooden forms are then removed prior to further surfacing works.’

Mr Coupland added: ‘The construction requires precise attention to detail and the installation method employed allows accurate level control and full material compaction.’