Pool firm in £9.5m deal for test facility

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 26/08/2012 00:00

THE company behind the refurbishment of the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh has won a contract to build the world’s most sophisticated testing facility for submarines and renewable energy devices.

Graham Construction is starting work on the circular 25-metre pool for the £9.5 million All-Waters Combined Current and Wave Test Facility, which is being built at Edinburgh University’s King’s Buildings campus.

The tank will be used to test models of submarines, wind turbines and wave and tidal devices and will be capable of simulating 28-metre waves and 12-knot winds, making it the only one of its kind.

The tank will be capable of holding 25 million litres of water and is due to open next summer.

Paul McBurney, project manager at Graham Construction, said: “We have considerable experience in creating swimming pools around the UK, but this is on a different scale and offers some interesting construction challenges.

“We’re constructing this in reverse to how we would normally build a swimming pool – instead of creating the pool tank first and then building the structure on top, we’re building this from the top down to allow the client fit-out team more time to finalise the design of the interior.”

The new facility will be managed by FloWave TT, a subsidiary set up by Edinburgh University and is 
being jointly funded by 
the university and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council.

In July, Northern Ireland-based Graham Construction picked up an £11m contract to redevelop 40 per cent of the student accommodation at Stirling University over the next three years.