Premier League football club Hull
City moved into their new home –
the £45m KC stadium in 2002, which
is also home to local rugby league
team Hull FC. Widely admired, the
stadium was named “Best Ground”
at the 2006 Football League Awards
and consists of an asymmetrical bowl
that can seat approximately 25,000
spectators with corporate hospitality
provided by 28 executive boxes.
At 7pm, Thursday 12th November
2009, Polygon received a call from
the stadium reporting a cascade of
water pouring through the service
ducts from the corporate hospitality
area. By 8pm Polygon had three
technicians on site.
This is what happened
A copper fitting on a pipe located in one of the Executive Suites’ kitchens had failed. The water in the KC Stadium system is kept at a pressure of 3.5 bar, which meant that over 40,000 litres of water had flooded the stadium building within 25 minutes. This required a huge amount of emergency stabilisation and restoration work. There was also the added complexity of a short deadline - Hull City had a major game against West Ham FC in a matter of days and the postponement or cancellation of the game was not an option.
This is what we did
The immediate need was for extraction as the water depth in some areas was 75mm. Polygon installed pumping equipment in the affected areas within hours and all water was extracted that night. Subsequently dehumidifiers and air movers were installed to begin the lengthy drying process. This prompt response stabilised conditions, preventing further water penetration and damage to the fabric of the building. Polygon’s deep understanding of the science of mitigating damage from water allowed them to halt the deterioration that can be caused by water damage. Drywall, insulation, plaster, masonry, electrical corrosion and wood were all returned to pre-incident condition. Polygon’s desiccant dehumidifiers pumped extremely dry air into the water damaged building - deep drying of ambient air coupled with constant air movement caused the moisture in building materials to evaporate much quicker than normal, bringing them back to pre-loss relative humidity (RH) levels. Constant monitoring of the drying process was conducted throughout the duration of the project to monitor moisture levels and maintain a safe working environment.
With this level of damage some level of strip out was going to be needed, though it’s always Polygon’s aim to keep this to a minimum. Upon insurer approval, Polygon’s team of 15 technicians stripped out the water damaged floor coverings, skirting boards and also removed suspended ceilings to allow the
dehumidifiers to effectively dry the structure. Polygon also began a programme of cleaning and sanitising all medical rooms, changing rooms and kitchens as these areas would be in use just days after the incident.
Drying needed to be temporarily suspended to allow the stadium to be operational for the football fixtures so Polygon carefully de-rigged and removed all equipment, making good all affected areas of the facility. Technicians were then ready to move back in and re-start the drying process as soon as the stadium was available post-match. This method was repeated on a weekly basis to make allowances for the home fixtures.
Regular testing of the RH levels in each of the affected areas was carried out until such time as they were able to be handed back to the club. Finally, just after Christmas all works were complete and the stadium was fully restored to its pre-incident condition.
