7 minute read
ON TRACK
Trackway experts discuss best practices, event trends, and industry challenges
See Monster, a decommissioned North Sea offshore platform that transformed into one of the UK’s largest public art installations, opened to the public this autumn. The installation – developed and engineered by NewSubstance – could be found on Weston-super-Mare’s seafront, wowing thousands of visitors who had come to gawp at the 35-metre-high structure, consisting of a 10-metre-high waterfall, and kinetic wind sculptures.
However, to create the installation, the 450-tonne rig had to be moved into position. After a five-day voyage around the British coastline on a flatbed barge, See Monster was transported up the beach by self-propelled modular transporters onto a 50m x 50m support platform comprised of more than 200 of TPA’s heavy-duty aluminium panels.
This was one of TPA’s more unusual projects of the summer, which also saw the temporary access provider install heavy-duty aluminium panels and pedestrian walkways (800 metres) at Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT).
WEATHER AND DEMAND
TPA has a three-year contract with RIAT and 2022 was the company’s second year working at the event. RAF Charitable Trust Enterprises, the organiser of RIAT, was keen to cater more for customers with additional access needs. TPA’s TerraGuard panels were installed and helped guests to negotiate the terrain between marquees. In addition, TPA’s Trax panels provided more than 7.5 kilometres of temporary access roads in multiple locations, including around the main grandstand, car park access lanes, and three off-site campsites.
David Walkden, managing director of TPA, said: “Our largest event this year was the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. This was the first year we utilised our new pedestrian walkway system called TerraGuard, which proved to be a very effective system for pedestrian access.
“We also had one of the driest summers on record, which has impacted the demand for trackway. We can’t predict the weather in the UK and event organisers must plan for the worst, so we did find ourselves holding stock for wet weather conditions that were ultimately not required. On the plus side, the panels that were installed came back from the site a lot cleaner than usual.”
Indeed, the hot weather had a huge impact on the events industry, but a lack of resources had an even greater effect. Jeremy Simpson, managing director at Event Flooring Solutions – which recently
MARK PRUCE
NICK RUSSELL
supplied CarFest and Creamfields with kit – said that transportation and labour costs have increased, controlling the direction of the market. Geoff Gorringe, head of events at Sunbelt Rentals, concurred and believes that this will be a challenge moving forward. He said: “The general labour issues continue within the market, and we’ve found at times we were delayed on site as other contractors struggled to secure labour to remove their own equipment.”
Gorringe stated that Sunbelt Rentals is seeing a return to “normal business” with 2022 marking a return to what would be considered a normal and full event season.
“Our most popular product continues to be our fifth generation aluminium Lion panel, which dominates the temporary access market,” explained Gorringe. “We believe that event organisers request this panel because they know they can rely on it being installed correctly and that its performance will exceed expectations. Its overlapping connecting system with recessed bolts and plates, and serrated finish, offer greater traction for pedestrians, which makes it a safe bet for event organisers for both vehicular and pedestrian access.”
Nick Russell, business development manager at Autotrak, has quadrupled stock levels of its plastic heavy duty (PHD) product that launched in 2021. Russell said: “A lot of clients like it because there are no trip hazards and it’s great for backof-house areas.
“So, it’s a case of no new products for us this year but increased stock of the products that work for us and our customers.”
BOOK EARLY
This year, Autotrak worked at WOMAD, Cornbury, Greenbelt, and Cropredy Festival. Russell stated that lots of customers are securing contracts early for 2023, aware that they cannot risk not getting hold of trackway.
“It’s going to be harder if you don’t manage yourself and your requirements,” said Russell, adding that he hoped organisers would be more savvy and book infrastructure early.
Mark Pruce, director of operations at Cap Trac, agreed. The company has many bookings for 2023, especially for stadium floor coverings, and believes that “urgency” will flood the market as clients will look to secure ground coverings. 2022 was Cap Trac’s first full year out on the road with its new TerraGuard product (launched by Cap Trac in 2021) which is ideal for covering sports pitches for concerts. This year, Cap Trac worked with EnTEEtainment, providing pitch over at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens (home of Northampton Saints) for Pete Tong and The Heritage Orchestra. Pruce said that Cap Trac still has pockets of availability for summer 2023 but the events calendar is quickly filling up.
Gorringe urged organisers to plan. He said: “The last two years have shown the industry that there isn’t an endless supply of equipment, we’ve witnessed many of our customers coming to terms with this. By engaging with us at an earlier stage in the planning process, not only can we support customers at the initial event design using building information modelling, but we can also ensure the steady supply of trackway, lighting, welfare, power and much more.”
He continued: “Sunbelt continually listens and engages with our event customers in regard to what they require from our products and services to successfully run their event. As a business, we’ve made continued investments in greener solutions that support our clients to go greener faster but that also provide efficiencies and cost-saving benefits.”
SUSTAINABILITY
According to Gorringe, sustainability is a theme that is high on the agenda for many of clients, as is ESG (environmental, social and governance). Walkden agreed. He added: “The environmental impact of supplier operations is a key aspect of many event organisers’ briefs. Installing such large volumes of infrastructure on a temporary basis will inevitably have a significant carbon impact and the supply chain is rightly being challenged to continually innovate to find ways in which to not only reduce their impact but also to demonstrate it.”
SUNBELT RENTALS
RIAT TPA ON SITE
To address this, TPA is launching a carbon calculator that enables customers to measure the carbon impact of installing trackway access on their site. The calculator will also compare the CO2 impact of the trackway access with installing a stone access road. According to TPA, installing trackway access is – on average – more than eight times more carbon efficient than the equivalent stone access road.
Walkden commented further: “As part of our drive for more carbon efficient solutions, we are introducing a new fourmetre wide trackway panel. Where ground conditions are particularly challenging, most suppliers in the market will install access at six-metres wide, utilising two parallel runs of three-metre-wide panels. The four-metre panel increases the dispersion of weight over a greater surface area making it ideal for poorer ground conditions, halving the number of panels that need to be installed and delivered to site. This is a much more costeffective solution.”
Yet, the four-metre panel and carbon calculator are not TPA’s only developments. “As part of our ongoing digital transformation, we have developed the TPA SitePlotter app, which enables our trackway specialists to create bespoke site plans during a site visit to enable the customer to visualise the solution and amend it in real-time, reducing the back and forth that often happens in the design stage,” said Walkden. “The app automatically calculates the product volumes from the drawing and is used to complete risk assessments, site questionnaires, scope of works, route to the site, and enables the user to add site photos. When the survey is complete in SitePlotter, the hire desk is notified and can access all the information immediately to issue a quotation. The system also generates a job pack that ensures everyone involved in the project is informed of exactly what has been agreed on site which leads to a much smoother event build.”
Walkden concluded: “The best bit of advice is to seek early engagement. We have a team of trackway experts that would be delighted to visit the site and work with organisers to devise the best possible access solution for their event. We have more than 150 years of experience within the team and our staff have all worked on some of UK’s largest events during that time, so they understand an organiser’s needs and are happy to pass on their experience.”
