Ellesmere Port Scania benefit from the full Premier Pits Package

This project was a classic case of how a commercial vehicle repairer can benefit from the full Premier Pits package. Not only was it important to have superior prefabricated pits it was also vital for them to be installed correctly.

Premier Pits recently carried out an installation for Scania Ellesmere Port

After several years of trouble free use, Ellesmere Port Scania began to experience excessive water ingress through the floor and walls of their three, block built, maintenance pits. This was disrupting maintenance work and creating unpleasant working conditions for staff. In addition to the poor construction of the pits, there could have been several other reasons for the leaks, including changes in the level of the surrounding water table or construction work in the near vicinity.

When called in to assess the situation the Premier Pits team realised that prefabricated steel pits would overcome the leakage problems. They also noticed that there were several design and dimension problems that could be addressed at the same time. It soon became evident, however, that the major challenge was going to be installation.

To ensure minimum disruption in the very busy workshop Premier Pits worked on one pit at a time, leaving two for day to day use. Trying to cause minimum disruption was difficult in itself, but there was an even more critical challenge - the speed of installation. When excavation work starts where there is a high water table there is often the danger of the surrounding ground becoming unstable. It is therefore imperative to minimise the time between starting to excavate the old pit and installing a new one in its place. This is not helped by the time involved in excavation which can add four days to installation time when compared with installing a pit in a conventional floor.

“With their experience and co-ordination skills Premier Pits’ staff were able to take out three pits and install three new ones in three weeks with minimum disruption”, said Mel Burrell Premier Pits’ Managing Director. Mark Robertson, Haydock Commercial Vehicles Aftersales Director added “within four weeks we were Fully Operational with an updated workshop incorporating water tight pits in both our pet reg and general work bays that can be effectively used with modern vehicles and trailers”.