Efficient and Easy Elevated Troughing with ARCOsystem – a Case Study
Discover why ARCOsystem — the benchmark elevated cable management product — was the ideal choice for a challenging railway installation project.
Rail industry projects often face challenges such as congested infrastructure, old and new technologies merging, or ground conditions proving difficult. Special attention and technical expertise is required to ensure perfect delivery. When railway engineering contractors Haigh Rail Ltd had one such project at Greenbank Station in Cheshire, England, ARCOsystem was the perfect choice.
Haigh Rail was tasked with the installation of new elevated troughing for the holding of a 650v power cable. The design of this particular trough route was more unusual than most. Ground investigation revealed conditions were very poor and that the usual 1.9m posts with 600mm foundations were simply not going to cut it. Instead, 4m posts were required to give the route the anchor it needed. This required bespoke posts and bracketry to support the troughing which had been specified for the project.
ARCOsystem was chosen due to the ability of its manufacturer to create bespoke products with ease and at speed. The custom-made bracketry required for the Greenbank Station project took just five weeks from concept to delivery.
“It is simple to install, we had no site issues and everything went smoothly. We were achieving 24 posts and 15 lengths (90m) of route in four hours, which is amazing considering we were pushing in 4m posts, utilising an RRV and we found lots of buried cables in the way. This was by no means a perfect area.
“The product looks great and our client is happy. We did need additional materials midway through the scheme which was sorted efficiently by Scott Parnell, the UK stockist of the product. Scott Parnell provided a great service overall, very efficient staff and supply. I would highly recommend ARCOsystem as it is simple to install.””
Further testament to the system was when rail contractors Greenway Rail and Power were tasked with delivering a project at a substation in South London, where ARCOsystem was once again deemed to be the perfect solution.
The HV feeder cables needed raising from ground-based troughing to an elevated design. The main reason for this upgrade was to protect the cables from excess surface water caused by drainage issues arising from nearby woodland. Elevating cables for this reason is becoming more commonplace as a wider range of environments are becoming more susceptible to increasing surface water.
ARCOsystem is the only Network Rail-approved elevated GRP cable trough suitable for high voltage cables which can support itself at 6m-post centres. Due to the South London route needing to span over waterways and vegetation, a robust system which can install fewer post centres was the obvious choice. This, coupled with the lightweight nature of the product for easy handling, meant the installation was quick and simple.
“The ARCOsystem works very well on long runs and helped us ensure the containment of cables over a waterway running right through the middle of the site. The install went very well and in good time. Within a few weeks the cables could be re-jointed and energised, ensuring full capacity of the railway thus preventing further delays to our passengers. Greenway would happily use Scott Parnell and ARCOsystem going forward, and we certainly look forward to dealing with the team on the next project.”
Scott Parnell holds the rail industry accreditation RISQS (Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme), which formally recognises the company as capable providers of products and services. To get in touch with one of its rail experts, contact the team on 0208 805 5797.
ARCOsystem is exclusively distributed in the UK by rail infrastructure specialists Complete Composite Systems (CCS), and manufactured by its Swiss partner Castioni Kabelführungssysteme.
This article was originally published by Complete Composite Systems Ltd.
