Cheshire-based Ecogreen Plant Hire is renowned for having devised a green solution for the construction sector to deal with carry-off from building sites. As the government’s plans for the Build Back Better agenda and a green economic recovery gain momentum and are implemented in large scale infrastructure projects, Ecogreen’s solutions are taking pride of place among efforts to reduce our country’s environmental impact.
Ecogreen’s innovation, the DriveOn V-Tech system, is a simple enough concept. It provides waterless wheel cleaning for the construction, quarrying and landfill sectors. The purpose of the product is to help construction firms remain legally compliant by ensuring mud and grime created by their operations is not carried off-site and onto surrounding roads. Indeed, construction firms falling foul of the law in this respect run the risk of having their sites shut down by the local authorities, should councils deem roads surrounding site exits to have been made dirty or hazardous by carry-off.
More longstanding and conventional methods to deal with carry-off include hiring road sweepers - which use up excessive amounts of water and fuel and cause further congestion and emissions - as well as using jet-washing vehicles and wheel washes on-site. However, the pitfall of these options is that the excess water usually creates even more mud, and the wheel washes create a wet smear going off-site meaning road sweepers are still needed. They also use up even more power, requiring more energy and creating more carbon emissions.
The DriveOn V-Tech system which avoids all of these drawbacks is based on a device called a rumble strip, which is in essence a raised grid for vehicles to drive over. The grids have angle iron bars that use vibration, tyre flex and centrifugal force to dislodge mud and contaminants.
The main difference is that unlike rumble strips, the DriveOn V-Tech system does not clog. It comes 20 metres long and three metres wide with 60 per cent less surface area than a typical rumble strip. The transverse bars are three centimetres wide and 20 centimetres apart, and they create more vibration and more tyre flexing. As such, more mud is removed, falling through into the void below and preventing the system from clogging. Wheels therefore are not re-contaminated, and much less mud is carried off-site. The knock-on effect is a falling need for other less environmentally friendly option for dealing with carry-off, meaning greener construction operations.
Under the government’s plans for the post-pandemic economic recovery, construction is very much at the forefront, and Ecogreen’s solutions have their part to play in guaranteeing that these projects are delivered in an environmentally friendly way.
Among these infrastructure projects are initiatives to deliver new and advanced nuclear power, with the electricity system poised to double in size by 2050 but having to adhere to demand for low-carbon electricity to make the economy even greener.
Of course, nuclear power provides a reliable source of low-carbon electricity. The government has declared its plans to pursue large-scale nuclear, while investing further into its future in the UK through Small Modular Reactors and Advanced Modular Reactors.
Hinkley Point C in Somerset is an example of this. It is one of the largest and most complex construction projects in the country and is expected to take a decade to complete. Construction started in 2016, the project is estimated to generate around 25,000 jobs during the build, and a further 900 roles throughout its 60 planned years of operation.
Ecogreen’s DriveOn V-Tech system is being used on the Hinkley Point C site to help deliver the new nuclear reactor. When operational, the site will help the government’s drive toward deep decarbonisation of the UK electricity grid, with nuclear energy working in tandem with renewables and other green technologies.
In the meantime, Ecogreen is ensuring that greener ways of working do not simply begin when the project is complete, and the lights are switched on. Even now, it strives to ensure green infrastructure projects are delivered in an environmentally friendly manner, and Ecogreen sales director, David Crick, is confident in its potential to keep construction green.
Crick told The Parliamentary Review: “We believe that we have the best wheel-cleaning solution available, and we are certain that it ticks all of the right boxes for our customers from an environmental viewpoint. Customers like the simplicity and effectiveness of the product and the subsequent savings compared with their ‘traditional’ wheel-wash or road-sweeper route.
“Ecogreen Plant Hire is just seven years old, but our waterless wheel cleaning system has already been chosen for some mighty, high-profile projects in recent years such as the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, the Forth Queensferry Crossing, Norwich Northern diversionary route, the widening of the A14, the A9 dualling, a number of HS2 preparatory sites, the Western Link cabling project, cable work for Hornsea One offshore wind farm, and many more.”
