Doran Consulting is providing Civil and Structural Engineering design services to Hitachi Zosen Inova, the EPC contractor, for the Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility, near Stewartby, Bedfordshire. 

 

The facility will process up to 545,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste per year producing an average gross electrical output of 65MWe.  Waste is received via an enclosed tipping hall, which is elevated above the general plant floor level and is accessed via a ramp constructed on a reinforced earth embankment. The waste is stored in a reinforced concrete bunker, which has 600mm thick walls and was constructed using slip forming techniques. From the bunker, the waste is fed to the 3No. boilers by overhead travelling cranes. 

Our work includes specialist analysis and design of the waste crane supporting structures to resist fatigue.  The facility also includes a building for handling the ash produced by the boilers, a workshop & storage building and an administration building that provides office and welfare facilities for staff and visitors.   

 

Externally, there is an extensive network of roads and hardstandings, including a gatehouse with weighbridges for incoming and outgoing vehicles.  The scheme also has a complex network of underground services including a fire main, drainage and various conduits for power and data across the site.  All of this has been modelled in 3D for coordination purposes. We are also designing the new junction with the public highway at the entrance to the site.