ECS to refurbish three strategic pumping stations

The UK’s Environment Agency has awarded a three part contract to ECS Engineering Services, which collectively upgrades the flood defence capability of the low lying Isle of Axhome region of North Lincolnshire.

The contract covers work at three separate pumping stations, Good Cop, Bull Hassocks, and Candy Farm. West of the River Trent and between Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough, much of the Isle is flat topography and renowned for its arable farming and rich peat soil.

“The area is subject to variable water levels, which in-part accounts for its fertility. The levels are controlled via a network of the pumping stations and drainage channels,” observes ECS’s Business Development Manager Steve Crapper.

The main work undertaken at Good Cop will be the removal of the old, life-expired weed screen cleaner and its replacement with a new one. This will require the installation of a new automated weed screen cleaner for collecting debris, seasonal weed build up and transferring it to a skip, from where it will periodically be collected.

The screen cleaner serves a relatively large drainage channel, being 12m wide and 2.8m deep with a flow rate of around 0.4m/s, with the grab able to lift loads of up to 270kg. This will be made by ECS’s supply partner company Landustrie.

At the Bull Hassocks pumping station the screen cleaner is to be fitted with a new grab unit. Steve again: “We looked at various options for this part of the contact. The screen was fine and did not need replacing. We appraised and costed refurbishing the existing grab, but in fact it turned out more cost effective to replace it with a new one.” Bull Hassock is also to get a new standby generator, along with the Candy Farm site, with the original units reaching the end of their service life.

These generators are vital for the reliable performance of the pumping stations. Due to their location storms can blow in off the North Sea and disrupt the mains power supply, the generators provide the resilience that ensures reliable operation in the worst possible conditions.