As cutting-edge technology within the Bangor Waste Transfer Station will remove dust and smells to make it one of the cleanest air facilities in the UK, then specifying the correct doors which would be constantly opening and closing, was a vitally important decision for Michael Whitley Architects who were acting as Project Managers for North Down Borough Council.
Therefore Paul Griffith of Michael Whitley Architects approached Crawford UK, the leading industrial door and docking system company in the UK, to ask them for the most appropriate solution for the project. Not only was keeping dust and smells out of the plant a key criterion, but they also asked for a number of other requirements to be considered. They had looked at roller shutter doors but felt these did not look aesthetically pleasing and had a perception of being noisy. As the development is close to a residential area noise would be an issue.
The site for the Waste Station is a 3.3 acre facility and this is construction on a huge scale, a building equivalent in size to 135 3-bedroom houses. It is also the most advanced facility of its kind in Ireland.
When the Megadoor product was offered as a solution, the Architects, Michael Whitley commented that the doors ,met their speed and noise requirements, provided large clear spans and were encouraged that other large Waste operators such as Veolia, WRG and Sita used them on similar Waste Transfer facilities in the UK. As councils now want the doors permanently closed to keep in the dust and smell, but operators want the doors open to get in and out as soon as possible, then the opening and closing speed was important. This is because if they have to wait for a long period of time a queue of trucks will build up going into the plant which is inefficient.
A small but added requirement which Crawford UK were able to adhere to was that the door could include a specifically coloured motif and with the wide spans available with the Megadoor product this solved problems in splitting the openings into smaller doors.
The electrically operated Megadoors were supplied as single doors to give clear opening widths up to 21,000mm by 6,000 high. This gave the council a greater flexibility of movement and reduced the risk of damage to columns/guides found on smaller doors.
Business Development Manager for Crawford UK, Glenn Bateman commented “We have found that due to the size of our customers’ vehicles; they have a requirement for very large doors (typically 7 metres wide by 8 metres high), to reduce impact damage even if the driver exits with his tip up on the vehicle. They also require the doors to open quickly, be low maintenance and withstand winds up to 100mph. The Megadoor product is therefore well suited to this type of environment.”
A waste transfer station is a facility at which household and commercial waste can be compacted for onward transport. Why is this important? Because by compacting waste fewer lorries are required to transport it and this provides the environmental advantage of significantly reducing harmful emissions, including carbon dioxide. In the case of this new site North Down Borough Council estimate a massive reduction of 300 tonnes per year.
The station will be completely self-contained and incorporate cutting-edge technology within it that will remove dust and smells to make it one of the cleanest air facilities in the UK.
Crawford UK can also offer a service contract linked to an extended warranty, which provides the customer with piece of mind that the doors are regularly maintained and, if a repair is needed, Crawford UK have a 24hr 7 day a week operation with 50 engineers based around the UK with which to fulfil any emergency.
Further information
For futher information on Crawford UK Ltd telephone 0114 257 4330 for new doors or email sales.uk@crawfordsolutions.com or for service, maintenance and repair enquiries please email service.uk@crawfordsolutions.com or visit the website www.crawfordsolutions.uk.com.