KAEFER and BYLOR Deliver Successful Surface Protection Project at Hinkley Point C
Project Overview
Service: Surface protection
Location: Hinkley Point C, Somerset, UK
The HPX Coatings Team successfully completed surface protection works across seven rooms within the 1HPX area at Hinkley Point C, delivering 574m² of coated surface over a 25-day delivery period.
Working as an integrated team with Bylor, the works demonstrate how early planning, coordinated work fronts and a LEAN approachcan support safe, high-quality and efficient coatings delivery within a complex construction environment.
The Challenge
Coatings activities within HPX require close coordination with multiple trades and supporting activities, with access, power, permits and extraction all influencing the availability and productivity of individual work fronts.
The works also presented the team with a specific technical challenge: preparing an engineered floor incorporating falls, which had not previously been encountered by the coatings team.
Rather than relying on the standard approach, the team trialled a number of preparation methods, including blasting, grinding, needle gunning and electric scabbling.
Following these trials, light scabbling was identified as the most effective method for the application and was adopted across the project.
Our Approach
A key focus was creating the right conditions for the coatings team to work efficiently.
Multiple rooms were prepared simultaneously and handed over in clusters, creating larger work fronts and reducing downtime between activities. With the areas properly available and minimal interruptions to the workface, the team was able to maintain productivity and progress the coatings activities efficiently.
Ross Foulkes, Project Manager on the project explains:
“This was completed ahead of schedule and demonstrates the efficiencies we can achieve when we have a clear, uninterrupted work face. With the area properly available, and minimal delays, we were able to maintain productivity and compete the coatings efficiently.”
This was supported by a number of practical LEAN interventions. COSS and paint mixing stations were relocated closer to work areas to reduce unnecessary movement and material handling, while activities were allocated using a ‘right person, right task’ approach to make best use of the skills and experience available within the team.
The delivery plan also remained flexible around the wider construction programme. Where noise restrictions had the potential to impact other trades, selected work was moved to night shifts, allowing work to continue while minimising disruption.
Highlights
- 574m² coated
- 25 days to complete
- 7 rooms completed
- Work fronts exceeding 600m²
- Innovative surface protection approach identified and implemented
- Nightshift working used to maintain programme progres
Integrated Delivery
Close coordination between KAEFER, BYLOR and supporting disciplines was maintained throughout the works.
Coating operatives supported scaffold and extraction activities where required, while regular coordination meetings were used to align work fronts, identify constraints and implement improvements as the works progressed.
The project also reinforced the importance of establishing the right enabling conditions before coating activities begin. These included clear and unrestricted access, operational power supplies, Permit to Work arrangements, completed pre-mobilisation requirements and effective management of interfaces with other trades.
Capturing the Learning
Following completion of the seven rooms, the team held a debrief to capture lessons from the works and identify opportunities to further improve the delivery approach.
The learning will now be carried forward into future HPX activities, with the approach providing a repeatable model for planning and room handovers, establishing larger work fronts and coordinating the enabling activities required for efficient coatings delivery.
The completion of 574m² across seven rooms in 25 days demonstrates the impact that effective planning, integrated working and continuous improvement can have on coatings productivity at HPC.