Drain Center has supplied 500 ductile iron manhole covers to an affordable housing scheme in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Trinidad and Tobago Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is building 800 affordable homes at Egypt Trace in Chaguanas as part of the Government’s commitment to making home ownership more accessible for low and middle income citizens. The much anticipated Oasis housing development will also provide a boost to the local economy and improve services for the local community, including new schools, upgraded recreational facilities, better drainage and a reliable potable water supply.
The main contractor, Mootilal Ramhit & Sons Contracting Ltd, chose Wolseley Trinidad Limited as their preferred supplier for all of its underground utilities products, including water and sewer mains, valves, service connections and hydrants. The client HDC specified 600mm2 ductile iron manhole covers for the first time on this project and Wolseley Trinidad turned to its sister company in the UK, Drain Center, to source the parts from Clark-Drains.
Jagdesh Maraj from Wolseley Trinidad explains: “We are proud to be involved in the Oasis development through our customer. This project is important to the borough of Chaguanas; helping people on low incomes to buy their own homes and creating more than 500 jobs during the course of the construction period.
“We have a long term supply partnership with Mootilal Ramhit & Sons, but this was the first time they were using this particular type of manhole cover and they asked if we can source it for them. We contacted Drain Center in the UK, who are a sister Wolseley company, and they were able to arrange delivery of the covers to our freight forwarders in Sheffield for onward shipping to Trinidad. Initial contact with Drain Center through delivery to forwarder was just four days, which is impressive when you consider the time it takes to conclude an international transaction: sourcing materials, negotiating a competitive price, and so on.”
David Sorrell, sales director for Drain Center, comments: “Although this was a one off delivery, we do get requests for specific parts to be delivered all over the world. Because we stock such a wide range of specialist drainage and utilities products, sometimes companies turn to us to provide parts that aren’t immediately available in their own countries. We stock over half a million different products so can usually deliver the parts that are needed, although we do have to ask overseas customers to cover the delivery costs!”
With over 80 branches across the UK, Drain Center branches offer a comprehensive choice of polyethylene (PE) pipes and fittings for the transportation and distribution of gas, potable and non-potable water in the utilities and industrial markets. Its range features a selection of sizes and performance specification options combined with a wide range of fittings, offering a total solution to the utilities industry.
