Flexicon cable protection solution for UK’s largest prison

Flexicon worked with Precast Concrete Structures to deliver cable protection and containment within prefabricated concrete walls and ceilings during the construction of the new prison in Wrexham County Borough.

HM Prison Berwyn, which opened in February, is the largest in the UK housing up to 2,106 prisoners in almost 1,500 cells.

The Design for Manufacture and Assembly Project saw the walls and ceiling for each cell constructed off site complete with fully contained services and then delivered for assembly.

Paul Smith, Technical Manager for Precast Concrete Structures, said: “For the electrical services we specified flexible conduit rather than rigid stainless steel because it is easier to fit it through the rebar steel cage, particularly when some of the conduit runs could be 3.5 metres long.

“For offsite manufacture it is important to work closely with the supply chain to ensure that we deliver an optimum solution. Flexicon worked with us from the beginning to provide the cable protection and containment solution. We were so impressed with their knowledge and innovation that we will be working with them to develop special solutions for future projects.”

Each conduit terminates into a junction box, which is also contained within the structure of the wall. Both ends are then sealed before the concrete is poured to form the structure. The complete sections were then delivered to site for assembly.

Precast Concrete Structures used Flexicon’s FPP flexible conduit, which being resistant to acid and alkaline environments is ideal for applications buried in concrete. The FPA fittings used are tamperproof, have a high tensile strength, an IP rating of IP66 and are fast and easy to fit with a one-piece construction.

Tim Creedon, Sales and Marketing Director for Flexicon, said: “This is a great example of why it pays to use a British based manufacturer. We can input into the process and advise accordingly on the correct specification to both provide long-term cable containment and protection plus make installation simpler and faster saving valuable time. We can also deal with the logistics of deliveries for both off site and on site construction.”

www.flexicon.uk.com