On the road again for equipment rental company

A-Plant preferred supplier to Nuttal's Heads of the Valley contract.

A-Plant preferred supplier to Nuttal's Heads of the Valley contract.

A-Plant, one of the largest equipment rental companies in the UK, is a preferred supplier for a wide range of equipment for the project to widen a section of the A465 between Abergavenny and Gilwern being carried out by Edmund Nuttall Limited on behalf of the Welsh Assembly.

This continues A-Plant's involvement in the overall Heads of the Valley widening scheme in South Wales and, in this latest phase, the supply of A-Plant equipment is being coordinated by the company's Abergavenny depot.

A-Plant is a national supplier to Nuttall in an agreement that covers a broad cross-section of equipment from the A-Plant fleet.

The companies have a comprehensive service level agreement that covers equipment from Abergavenny and other A-Plant locations in South Wales and beyond, including Cardiff, Newport and Swansea.

As well as small plant and tools, A-Plant is also supplying some of the accommodation, powered access, generators and welding sets for the project.

The existing A465 is in need of an extensive upgrade - with the exception of the one section already improved further west, it consists of tight bends and a three lane carriageway, with the centre lane shared for overtaking.

Twisting and turning through the Brecon Beacons foothills, the A465 Heads of the Valleys road crosses some pretty rugged terrain and this stage being built by Nuttall comprises 6 km of new dual carriageway, including a new bridge over the River Usk and more bridges to come for accommodating the local population of bats.

Nuttall is just over half way through its construction programme.

There are four main structures: a canal diversion box and three steel composite structures including the Usk bridge, plus a number of underpasses and culverts.

Most are being built using the usual on line widening method of constructing one half in time for switching traffic onto new carriageway, before the existing structures are demolished and the remaining halves of the new bridges built and the dual carriageway finished.

The exceptions are the canal diversion, which had to be built in its entirety quite early on, and the existing Usk bridge, which will remain with a new matching structure built alongside.

Nuttall's contract encompasses new European regulations relating to Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

The Abergavenny to Gilwern job crosses two SAC's - the bat sites and the River Usk.

The Usk is designated a SAC for its water quality and protection of its salmon and shad, a fish particularly sensitive to vibration.

The Welsh Assembly's advisor, the Countryside Council for Wales, had required that the job did not have an adverse impact on its environment, particularly with regard to the bats.

A-Plant has more than 2,000 employees, over 30,000 customers in the construction, civil engineering and DIY markets and in excess of 110,000 items of plant, tools and specialist equipment available to hire from over 200 locations nationwide - from large plant such as dumpers, excavators and telehandlers, to smaller equipment including air tools, gardening equipment and lifting and safety equipment, as well as specialist equipment including powered access machines, accommodation units and rail equipment.

As part of FTSE-250 company Ashtead Group plc, the leading UK and US equipment outsourcer, A-Plant is committed to providing the best hire service in the world and this is reinforced by the company's new website at www.aplant.com, which provides a definitive on-line guide for the equipment hire industry.

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