The perimeter at one of Europe’s largest sewage works in east London has seen part of a £190m upgrade. Thames Water aims for Beckton Sewage Treatment Works to treat 60pc more sewage than it does now and allow for a 10pc population increase.
Beckton covers 250 acres or around 150 football pitches in the borough of Newham and serves 3.5 million people, making it the fourth largest in the world. The upgrade will ensure the site can fully treat increased flows during heavy rainfall, which otherwise discharge into the River Thames; and storm flows from the Lea Tunnel, a new four-mile sewer for storm sewage that currently overflows into the River Lee.
The utility company turned to its long-term security fencing supplier Zaun with a £0.5m-plus contract to secure the 4.5km perimeter.
Zaun installed five types of fencing in the first phase of works, completed last year. It designed bespoke fencing to accommodate the variations in topographical environments in and around the site including posts cranked over by 45 degrees to overhang the top of a channel running alongside the river to provide a climb-resistant 1m-high fence barrier to anyone trying to scale the 5m high wall. The fence manufacturer had to adapt the special ‘one-sided’ fencing that it first designed for the nearby London 2012 Olympic Park where they could not gain access to the outside of the fence line to install fixings. And the fence firm enclosed a secure compound on the site with its acclaimed double-skinned HiSec fencing.
Phase two of the security fencing upgrade has now begun, which includes a plethora of gates and the same specification fencing beneath 700mm flat wrap or concertina razor wire topping. The Wolverhampton-based fencing company adds that it has had to create several special panels and bays on site to cope with severe changes in ground level, steps up onto concrete walls and bridges, and to bolt up to existing structures as opposed to via in-ground or baseplated posts.
