Bryland shows the flexibility to succeed, even with MICC cable – on another Tunnel Support Building project installing 2 x IG55 Inert Gas systems.
The Pen-Y-Clip tunnel on the A55 close to Penmaenmawr in North Wales is a road tunnel opened in late 1993 and is approx. 934m long. It is operated on a daily basis by Costain on behalf of the Highways Agency
The tunnel support services (lights, ventilation, emergency phones etc) are supported by the two Tunnel Support Buildings, one at each end of the tunnel (named East and West) and when the requirement came to upgrade the backup generators and their rooms, a requirement for Gas Fire Suppression was immediately identified to protect the continuity of the facilities, thereby keeping drivers safe during their journey through the tunnels.
A specification was put together by the consultants, which identified IG55 Inert Gas – something that Bryland are very familiar with, but to everybody’s surprise, MICC (Mineral Insulated Copper Cable or “Pyro” as it used to be known as) was specified for all interconnections on the two Fire Suppression Systems. MICC cable has all but been superseded by soft skinned FP200 cable on most projects these days, but in some projects like these where the cable are liable to attack from an aggressive atmosphere (it is literally yards from the North Wales coast), it is still asked for
MICC is a dying breed of cable and so are the skills required to install it correctly and neatly, but Bryland still have engineers with the knowledge and experience to install a first rate project. The install takes much longer to do than with soft skin FP200, but the resultant install is much more resistant to attack from aggressive environments
‘I was very surprised to see that the project was to be installed using MICC, it was all the rage in the 1980’s, but we still have engineers who are experienced enough to install it to the manufacturers requirements, and just as importantly make it look good. We had the Over Pressure Dampers colour co-ordinated to the customers colour requirement RAL number which kept the outside of the two buildings looking great too. Great contracts that were delivered very smoothly to Costain’s dates – the customer was a dream to work with too !‘
