Brett Martin’s underground drainage systems including StormCrate55, an engineered Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS), have been specified for a new assisted living facility in Derbyshire. Located in the Brampton area of Chesterfield, the Catherine Street facility features six self-contained apartments and six new build specialist bungalows.

Built by contractor Horsman Construction for developer SSL Partnership, the housing’s underground drainage requirements were met by a range of high performance, robust and easy-to-install solutions from Brett Martin. As part of the drainage requirements for this small residential development, a storm water management system was required to cope with any potential storm water during inclement weather conditions and working in partnership with Brett Martin’s technical team, Horsman Construction specified the StormCrate55 attenuation system which proved to be the ideal solution to control excessive surface water run-off.

Manufactured from 100% recycled plastic, 84m ² of StormCrate55 modular units were clipped together in a brick bond pattern to create two underground attenuation tanks installed beneath the car park. The lightweight, high strength crates weigh only 15.5kg each and come fully assembled which was good news for the installation team, meaning minimal time was spent installing them on site.

For this project, Brett Martin provided the Horsman team with a pre-fabricated geotextile liner which was pre-cut to fit the size of each tank. The one-piece liners done away with the need to cut and join the liner during the install and speeded up the process of sealing both tanks. The outlet from this tank is then controlled through a Hydro-Brake chamber to facilitate a slow release of the stored water back into the drainage system over a longer period.

“This was the first time we have used StormCrate but with the excellent technical support from Brett Martin, it was the perfect underground drainage solution for our requirements. Easy to lift and install by hand, and exceptionally strong, the crates were quickly joined using the supplied connectors and met our drainage requirements for this small site in Chesterfield,” said Steve Robinson, Site Manager at Horsman Construction.

For infiltration applications, StormCrate55 can also be wrapped in a permeable geotextile, material which allows stored water to slowly seep into the surrounding ground and back into the water table over a period of time.

Suitable for installation in landscaped areas, pedestrianised spaces, playgrounds, parking areas, driveways and access zones, StormCrate55 is seen as one way of addressing the problem of flooding and avoiding using an overloaded sewer system.