A major gas infrastructure project designed and delivered by Energy Assets to support the expansion of the internationally renowned Pirbright Institute in Surrey, has won plaudits for its innovative design and execution – and its comprehensive approach to community relations.
The project, involving a branch saddle connection to the gas main, the laying of 3100m of medium pressure pipe and the installation of a twin stream rotary meter, was delivered 11 weeks ahead of schedule by the Energy Assets Siteworks team under special dispensation from the network operator.
The Pirbright Institute undertakes research into viral diseases in livestock, including those that can spread from animals to people, and is part-way through a £250m programme to create additional resource for this vital area of science.
“The Institute is undergoing major redevelopment – we’ve commissioned a master plan for the entire campus and we’re building a lot of new laboratories,” said Denise Pate, Pirbright’s Senior Project Manager. “The new buildings need a gas supply to run and hence we commissioned the upgrade. From a master plan perspective, it was really important that this project was delivered on time and on budget.”
Energy Assets was awarded the gas infrastructure project by the Institute’s energy supplier through the Crown Commercial Services framework agreement supplied by Corona Energy. Under normal circumstances, this scale of project could take anything up to two years to plan and deliver, but a dispensation given by the network operator meant Energy Assets was able to get on site quickly. First priority for the design team was to complete a digital survey, which was uploaded in real time and enabled an outline plan to be prepared in a matter of days from the award of the contract.
“From this point on we were in total control of the project – from making the connection to the distribution network through to installing the meter and collecting the Institute’s energy consumption data,” said Siteworks Manager Ricky Rogers.
“From Pirbright’s perspective, it was critical that we hit the ground running, so we engaged very quickly with the Institute’s project team, with the local community and with the council and highways authority…because we wanted to bring forward the usual three month notice period for major works.”
With goodwill on all sides, these negotiations were successful and work commenced seven weeks after the order had been placed – which immediately provided a five week gain over the usual timescale. At the same time, Energy Assets negotiated an ancillary pressure agreement with the adopting network, because the site’s pressure requirements were above the guaranteed pressure levels – this would usually be arranged by the customer or via the gas supplier.
As the project progressed, Energy Assets completed a branch connection to the mains supply and laid over 3100 metres of medium pressure pipe to the Institute, which included extensive use of horizontal directional drilling to cross a number of bridges and minimise road closures. By the time 50% of the pipe had been laid, the project was already nine weeks ahead of schedule.
Once the pipe had been laid, it was connected to a new 102M meter rig on the Pirbright campus, ready for the next phase supplying gas to each new building.
Throughout all this activity, community relations were a significant priority for the Institute and for Energy Assets. Regular communication included updates, with maps, to all affected residents within the village, detailing the works and progress against schedule. Contact details were provided for further information, notices were placed in the local press and on boards throughout the village, and regular updates were posted on Pirbright’s social media sites.
“The roads that Energy Assets had to work on were quite challenging and we knew from the very beginning that we had the potential to severely impact our neighbours,” said Denise Pate.
“But to be fair, the feedback I’ve had from the local community has been very generous – they’ve said that the team has been courteous and polite and have gone out of their way to ease the transition as the work has been done. So we really couldn’t have asked for better.”
