Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome

Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow

The bends in the track at the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow’s stunning new £113m Emirates Arena presented the mechanical contractors installing pipework for the hot and cold water supplies with a complex set of challenges.

The steel pipe which was originally specified would have required a large number of time consuming welded joints to be made to accommodate the bends in the walls underneath the 250m track where the pipework was to be mounted.

Contractors Spie Matthew Hall responded by changing the specification to REHAU’s flexible RAUVITHERM pre-insulated PE-Xa pipework which could be curved neatly and easily around the walls, saving considerable time on installation.

More than 1000m of RAUVITHERM pipe has been successfully installed for the low temperature hot water, domestic hot water and boosted cold water services on the project in a range of single pipe sizes from 25mm to 63mm.

A series of pipe runs connects into high and low level plant rooms in the newly opened velodrome passing through ducts where necessary. Because RAUVITHERM is available from REHAU’s UK factory in continuous lengths of up to 300m, it could be supplied to site in coils cut to the exact sizes required; in contrast with steel pipe which is typically available in standard 12m lengths.

Where jointing was necessary, it was completed by Spie Matthew Hall’s onsite team in REHAU’s EVERLOC^TM compression sleeve jointing system which achieves a permanent, fully warranted leak free joint in a fraction of the time required to complete a welded joint in steel.

RAUVITHERM is a pre-insulated PE-Xa pipe constructed with layers of PEX insulation and a robust LLDPE outer jacket which is longitudinally watertight. It is available in single pipe sizes from 25-125mm and double pipe sizes from 25-63mm. It is suitable for hot and cold water transport in district heating schemes, remote CHP and plant rooms, and with heat pumps, biomass boilers and anaerobic digestion plants.

The Emirates Arena, which includes the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, has been built for the people of Glasgow and will host a series of world-class sporting events over the coming months and years. This programme includes the track cycling and badminton events at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2013 World Youth Netball Championships and the 2013 UCI Juniors Track World Championships.

The Emirates Area was designed by architects 3D Reid, consultants were Arup Scotland and the main contractors were Sir Robert McAlpine. The velodome was designed by Ralf Schuermann