MoD Otterburn Area Development

Client: Ministy of Defence

Product: Toproc SY

Project

The project arose from the need to improve the infrastructure at Otterburn training camp, to increase the deployment of artillery equipment. Planning consent was granted by The Secretary of State but in doing so a large number of conditions were attached to provide enhancement to the area in terms of conservation and public access.

Background
The major part of the project was the upgrading of 60km of blacktop roads to provide widened roads and strengthened carriageways with passing places and concrete road junctions. In addition, the project also included the construction or upgrading of 20 km of stone tracks,
46 hard standings from which to fire guns and rockets, and 6 stoned hide areas in woods for support vehicles. Also to be provided was a new central maintenance facility (CMF) with workshop, wash down and refuelling facilities and a large parking area surfaced with microsilica concrete. Extra modular accommodation blocks were also to be provided
within the existing camp area together with a new armoury. Disturbance of the land was to be kept to the absolute minimum. The roadside verges and any unavoidable damage to the ground
in and around the construction area had to be fully reinstated utilising the original soils seeded to the approved specification. Some 15ha of new mixed plantations were included in the scheme and surplus soil was used to create landscape enhancements throughout the training area.

Tarmac's Solution
With almost 40,000m³ of concrete being required for the contract (with approximately 18,500m³ containing microsilica) the  production of this volume from an off site batching unit would have been difficul for this site as Tarmac’s nearest ready-mixed concrete plant was situated 18 radial miles away. To eliminate the environmental and social impact of truck movements to and from the site during the contract Tarmac installed a site batch concrete plant at the barracks. The site batch concrete plant was specially modified with a special microsilica weighing pot. In addition, 45 tonnes of microsilica slurry was stored in bulk on site.  The concrete used for the contract was Toproc SY. This high strength microsilica concrete has extremely high abrasion and impact resistant properties and incorporating steel fibres in the mix provides incredible
toughness and very high flexural strength.  In order that the visual impact of the new surface was as sympathetic as possible to the surrounding environment a coloured Toproc mix was produced in Raven Grey.

Toproc Performance
Our high performance concretes are unparalleled, reducing costs as well as being low maintenance. They are particularly valuable in demanding applications where time is an issue and in aggressive environments.

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