Specialist contractor Careys is using advanced formwork and scaffolding systems from PERI UK to construct the 40-metre reinforced concrete structure at the Walsall Energy Recovery Facility, replacing traditional methods with engineered solutions that deliver significant time and safety benefits.
The project, being built for client Encyclis with main contractor Kanadevia Inova, required innovative approaches to two critical challenges: providing safe vertical access throughout the build and forming an 880mm thick ground slab.
To solve the access issue, Careys deployed up to ten PERI UP Flex Stair Towers across the site at peak construction. The system scaffold uses a gravity lock mechanism that requires only a hammer to secure components, eliminating the time-consuming measurement and coupling work associated with traditional tube and fitting scaffolding.
“Our PERI UP system is a system scaffold, which means everything has set lengths and heights. All you need is a hammer to lock the equipment securely,” explained Gilbert Kee, sales engineer at PERI UK. “This gravity lock system is incredibly easy to erect; you literally just drop the components in, strike it with a hammer, and it’s secure.”
The system’s inherent levelness also removes the need for specialist inspectors to check every flight, saving considerable time. PERI UK provided full temporary works designs for the stair towers, transferring liability for structural stability from the contractor to the supplier.
For the ground floor, the team used the BECOSTOP permanent stop end system to segment the massive 20m x 20m concrete slab into manageable pours. The bespoke solution arrives on site ready-made, eliminating the labour-intensive cutting and propping required with traditional timber and ply methods.
“With our BECOSTOP system, erection is much quicker. Crucially, it’s left in position after the pour, unlike traditional methods where everything has to be removed,” said Kee.
William Griffith, project engineer at Careys, highlighted the safety advantages: “Due to the reinforcement detailing and the reinforcement projecting so far past the stop ends there was also a safety benefit in the use of BECOSTOP due to not having operatives getting beneath the projecting reinforcement and in some cases into the reinforcement cage to strike a typical stop end in this scenario.”
The structure, which extends from 6m below ground to 30m above, is now nearing structural completion. The concrete shell work for Careys lasted approximately 12 months.
The project demonstrates how modern, engineered systems can deliver measurable improvements in speed, safety and quality over conventional construction methods on complex industrial builds.
