Solar Cabling at Petroleum Storage Depot, Bristol
Mole Utilities were contacted to help assist with the private wire installation for a brand new solar array at an old aviation fuel depot in the heart of Bristol. The client Exolum had the difficult task to design an effective route which would pass through their own land where the solar array would be erected, through almost 1km of land, to their substation where they would harvest the solar energy.
To add to this already quite substantial requirement, there were multiple obstacles to contend with including, 80-year-old WW2 fuel storage tanks, making movement on site limited. 3rd party owned land, a council owned road and of course an ancient woodland. there was also a significant drop in height from one end of site to the next. To add further complexities there was also a number of existing utilities around the site which were carefully identified using Ground Penetrating Radar by our specialist utility mapping team.
After the successful installation across 3rd party land, Mole Utilities were ready to complete the installation under protected woods. Having followed the instructions and requirements of the independent arboriculturist it was agreed to set back some 15m away from the canopy of the woodland and drill at a depth greater than 2m to prevent any contact with the ancient tree roots, and several protected trees.
The ancient woodland, known to locals as Berwick woods, is owned by the nearby boutique hotel, Berwick Lodge. Our Director, was a frequent visitor to the hotel during the project, often seen curled up by the log fire with a glass of Rioja after a day on site. We like to support local businesses where we can and I am sure if we complete any works nearby in the future we will be sure to stop in to check on Sarah and the team with their 5* service!
During this mammoth 9 week project, principle contractor Mole Utilities, were successful in the completion of near 800m of 66.6mmOD cable via Horizontal Directional Drilling using our Astec drilling rig.
Mole Utilities have a wealth of multiskilled staff with more than 50% of our workforce fully licenced to operate plant, including 360 excavator, forward tipping dumper and telescopic handler. This means we are able to safely complete your installation from spade – spade for a full turnkey project.
In addition all of our staff are CSCS accredited and we have 100% of senior staff with SMSTS or SSSTS
