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We’re delighted to be continuing our involvement with the Water Industry Awards. We will yet again be one of the event sponsors in 2018 and we will be sponsoring the Drainage and Flood Management Initiative of the Year category.

The awards will take place at The Vox in Birmingham on the 21^st May 2018. These prestigious awards are designed to reward companies within the UK water industry for their incredible achievement and innovation. For the 12^th year running, the Water Industry Awards will celebrate the success of businesses of all sizes.

Bought to you by WWT, WET News and Utility Week Live, we’re excited to be involved.

You can find out more about the Water Industry Awards 2018 by visiting: www.wwtonline.co.uk/awards

Integrating two organisations with established identities and strengths is never an overnight process. Much preparatory work has been completed, but the process of integration will continue for some time, so this is an outline of the programme. From today all communication will be branded with the new BPDA identity. Please amend your details accordingly. The new website replaces the CPSA and BCA sources, although searches for the old sites will be seamlessly redirected.

All newly created material will carry the new BPDA brand, but our substantial library of CPSA and BCA documentation will be rebranded in a gradual process over several months.

As a subscriber to the current online newsletter, you will continue to receive updates that will keep you informed of the activity of the expanded organisation, with the option to unsubscribe at any time.

With the combination of resources and a new energy in the Group, the BPDA is ready to launch a number of new initiatives over the coming months. Look out for a new Technical Guide now encompassing precast concrete pipes, manholes and box culverts, user-friendly FAQ facilities and an Advanced User option for our highly popular pipeline Material Cost Calculator. Look out also for our new BPDA branding in our advertising and PR activity on-line and in the trade press.

We are delighted to announce the formation of the British Precast Drainage Association (BPDA). This new association is formed from the integration of the Concrete Pipeline Systems Association (CPSA) and the Box Culvert Association (BCA) and takes its place as one of the specialist groups within the British Precast Concrete Federation to represent the interests of the precast concrete drainage industry as a whole.

The new Association draws on the expertise and heritage of its two constituent groups: while the two product types have distinct characteristics, there is much common ground in the use of concrete products in drainage applications. Bringing the two associations together allows us to combine our resources more efficiently to promote the benefits of precast concrete drainage solutions.

A distinctive new logo marks the launch of the Association and although rebranding and replacing the wealth of technical data sheets and guidance notes will be a gradual process, the new website is now live and all information from both associations can be found at www.precastdrainage.co.uk.

The concrete industry has some compelling product benefits to shout about. Our mission is to provide measured and accurate information and to counteract situations where inadequate and misleading opinions prevail. There is no doubt that bringing together these two organisations provides new strength and clarity to our campaigns.

The Forterra website now includes an online calculator service to users which enables them to calculate storage capacity and discharge rates for box culverts based on dimensions and gradients specified. The new calculator
is available at: https://www.forterra.co.uk/bison-precast-concrete/box-culverts/culvert-specifier

When Milton Precast started the Nottingham Tramways project in December 2012, they were aware that the project would include 17.5km of new track and 28 new tram stops so wasn’t going to be a small order. Initially four different sizes of box culverts were to be manufactured: MC18.12 (102no), MC24.12 (169no), MC24.15 (224no) and MC36.15 (59no) all with dished invert internal profiles and many special units required throughout the runs.

Construction work was being undertaken by Taylor Woodrow and Alstom, in a joint venture on behalf of Tramlink Nottingham and due to the customer requirements the box culverts were made using timber extensions covered with 6mm steel plates to take the rigours of double casting four units per day. This worked extremely well and is a testament to the guys involved in their construction and care whilst at the factory.

The manufacturing side of the project is almost complete with Milton’s now making the final stage of a Cascade unit which see’s MC33.21 and MC30.21 culverts set on their sides to form an internal step down from one to another. Again, a very tricky job to tackle but with the experience Milton’s have on site with units of this kind, all is going well.

Once the expansion is complete the tram network will consist of 51 tram stops, with the two new lines linking directly to Line One at Nottingham Station. The expanded tram network will visit 7 park and ride sites, providing service to approximately 23 million passengers a year.