Brookhurst Wood is the latest in a number of new high tech waste management centres currently being built and operated in the UK. This new site in Horsham, West Sussex is waste giant Biffa’s new flagship facility as part of a 25-year contract with West Sussex County Council to divert up to 80% of the residual waste from landfill. Using tried and tested Mechanical Biological Treatment technology will save the council around £300 million over the life of the contract and will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of household waste management in the county.
Within the main processing building, waste is deposited into large concrete-sided reception pits, before being sorted and removed by heavy crane machinery. As a flammable material with potentially toxic fumes, it was essential that the internal structure was able to provide sufficient protection in the event of a fire. With waste processing facilities governed by strict and demanding fire protection requirements, utilising Promat DURASTEEL® and DURAWALL® panels has enabled the in-house design team, to achieve the project specification to provide two hour fire-resistant compartmentalisation throughout the facility.
Early consultation with M + W Group enabled Sharpfibre to provide the design team with a one-stop-shop solution for the entire passive fire protection requirements associated with a high risk type of building such as this. As a composite panel of fibre reinforced cement bonded to steel outer sheets, Promat DURASTEEL® is light, strong and impact resistant making it very easy to work with and an ideal product to use. When looking for an internal wall solution that would meet the necessary fire protection requirements, the design team had already identified Promat DURAWALL® panels within the initial specification, deciding then to modify the plans to incorporate Promat DURASTEEL® for the high-impact zones as well. Composed of a steel faced panel, with a non-combustible rock wool core, Promat DURAWALL® is a fully certified fire protection barrier system that is ideally suited to the construction of non-load bearing internal partition walls.
Construction work began on West Sussex’s new facility in the summer of 2010 and is expected to be completed in summer 2013.
