40th Anniversary
AG WILSON MARKS 40 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH ANOTHER CHALLENGING PROJECT Forty years on and Portadown based family owned civil engineering contractors A.G.Wilson is busier than ever. The company, which had its ‘birth’ in 1979, was originally established by Albert George (Bertie) Wilson and later supported by his wife Shirley. Over the years it has become known for its strong commitment to providing professional services and developing long term business relationships in both the private and public sectors. The company undertakes contracts in a wide range of areas – from civils and marine work to hydro schemes and fusion welding – on behalf of clients such as Northern Ireland Water, Scottish Water and District Councils across Northern Ireland. It also has an extensive global experience, completing projects in destinations such as France, Spain, Germany and Morocco, demonstrating that it is willing and capable to facilitate contracts anywhere in the world. Bertie, who still takes an active role in the business today, is supported by his son Derek and fellow director Richard Chambers who joined the company 20 years ago. To mark 40 years in business, the company recently acquired a new Volvo FH16 750hp from Dennison Commercials, complete with anniversary logo. So what does the company put its continuing success down to? “It’s been a dedicated team
effort. Everyone involved in the company has been fully focused down through the years; they have always been ready to take on any project, even though they may be challenging or complex,” says Richard.
Glenmachan Project One of the company’s latest challenging contracts is in the Glenmachan area of South Belfast where a number of streets, including Greystown Avenue, Sicily Park and Marguerite Park, have been prone to flood due to the insufficient capacity of the sewer system to cope with adverse weather conditions. This long term Glenmachan Project will tackle all of these streets over the next number of years. Short term, the 1B phase focuses primarily on Greystown Avenue, which has seen a number of flooding events on a yearly basis. The work involves the installation of sewer and storm pipelines connecting the Upper Malone Road to existing sewer and river infrastructure next to Balmoral Golf Club. The AG Wilson team have encountered a number of challenges to date, primarily due to the depth of excavation and confined spaces which they have been required to work
within. At Upper Malone Park, for example, work had to be carried out with the site footprint no wider than the roadway provided. The depth of dig, coupled with the poor ground conditions, meant that safety was a first priority before any pipes could be laid. Sheet piles were driven into the ground and trench boxes installed prior to entry into the excavation. The presence of services such as telecommunications, electric and gas at this location meant that the team had to ensure the careful positioning of the shoring equipment. With the manholes and piping work installed, the area had to be backfilled in layers and compacted. Temporary bitmac reinstatement was then carried out with permanent reinstatement to be carried out at a later date to minimise disruption to residents.
Challenges One challenge facing the team was at Greystown Avenue, where the twin pipeline was to be placed through the gardens and in between two properties. As part of the work requirements, two garages were to be demolished in order to provide the working room to install the 750mm and 600mm pipes at this location. With one of the garages being a more recent build, the decision was taken to try and avoid the demolition of this building in order to save time and costs. It was however a requirement that temporary garages with running water and electricity were provided to both properties, with the boilers and oil tanks both requiring temporary arrangements made. As the pipeline moved past the garage, the pipes were dry lined with concrete to reduce the likelihood of movement from the recently disturbed ground. This decision was also taken due to the saturated ground found in the area from recent flooding activities. Once past the garages, the team only had a width of 6.5 metres to work in between the two houses. This coupled with the presence of overhead telecommunications lines in close vicinity, meant that this was a very tight environment to work in with little movement for error. Reinstatement of the gardens and garages were carried out as works moved out on Greystown Avenue and
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PLANT & CIVIL ENGINEER
