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Never one to turn down a challenge when it comes to specialist repairs, Plastic Surgeon jumped at the chance to provide a solution when they received a call for help from The Environment Agency in Cornwall to assess damage to a fish counter on the Gunnislake Weir on the River Tamar in Plymouth.
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The Site
Never one to turn down a challenge when it comes to specialist repairs, Plastic Surgeon jumped at the chance to provide a solution when they received a call for help from The Environment Agency in Cornwall to assess damage to a fish counter on the Gunnislake Weir on the River Tamar in Plymouth.
After an initial assessment, Plastic Surgeon sent a team of finishers to complete work repairing the fish counter to prolong its life and help prevent further deterioration in the future.
The River Tamar in South West England, is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty and forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west).
Fish counters, such as the one on the River Tamar, provide a measure of the number, size and age of salmon and sea trout returning to the river. They also provide information on the timing of fish migrations in relation to environmental factors such as river flow, water temperature and tidal cycle. Information from fish counters is used to assess the health of salmonid populations and to formulate effective management plans.
The Challenge
The Repair was on a resistivity fish counter, a specific type of counter which uses three stainless electrodes to detect the size and direction of travel of the fish. The electrodes are set into a sheet of white polypropylene, it was the joints and inserts in this sheeting that needed repairing. with a specialist polyurethane cold weld filler which is only manufactured in black. The Environment Agency need to collect video footage of fish passing over the electrode array to assess the detection and sizing efficiency of the counter and to investigate anomalies in the counter data.
A dark filler would have given the fish counter an unsightly look and could have made it difficult to pick out fish from the video footage. Plastic Surgeon developed a bespoke translucent version of the specialist filler with the manufacturers.
The repair work was carried out in unusual surroundings - within the fish pass at Gunnislake, River Tamar! This meant that additional considerations for health and safety had to be made. Unusual PPE was worn by the finishers, in the form of lifejackets and wellies!
The Solution
Repairs were carried out on the polypropylene sheet and inserts that housed the electrodes for the fish counter. The experienced finishers removed the original welded plastic on the fish counter before beginning the filling process with the bespoke translucent polyurethane cold weld filler. After masking off the surrounding areas, the finishers sanded down the areas to complete the repair.
Rob Mouser, Plastic Surgeon Managing Director loves a challenge:
"This was an unusual request and not our normal type of job or repair. It does demonstrate our flexibility and our 'can do' approach which applies to all our customers. We always try to solve a problem and our highly skilled team of finishers look for new ways of approaching problems, even if they haven't tackled a similar repair before".
The Result
The Environment Agency was very impressed with Plastic Surgeon's work, which avoided them having to take the fish counter out of service during a busy monitoring period.
Paul Elsmere from the Environment Agency's Environmental monitoring team in Cornwall commissioned the works having found out about Plastic Surgeon's specialist repair service by searching the internet:
"We called upon Plastic Surgeon because they did not dismiss the job out of hand. They were willing to work with us, take on a job that was not within their normal remit and come up with a workable solution. I would certainly use them again and would recommend them to other people"
http://www.plastic-surgeon.co.uk/Gallery.aspx
Plastic Surgeon is the UK's market leading expert in fine finishing and repair services, and the only nationwide provider. Established for over 20 years, the company was one of the founders of the fine finishing sector, now employing over 100 staff based at its headquarters in Devon and operating from seven regional centres throughout the UK.
Plastic Surgeon can restore almost any damaged interior or exterior surface in commercial or residential buildings. Thanks to specialist training the company's finishers are expert in repairing and fine finishing practically any material including;
Construction Industry Sectors:
The company's commitment to a flawless finish means that some of the most respected names in the UK house building, construction and insurance sectors rely on them to get the job done. The company also provides specialist fine finishing and cosmetic repair services to many industry sectors including fit-out and retail, and social housing, as well as working with individual trades and homeowners.
Expert Repairs:
The company prides itself on a very high standard of workmanship, providing a fine finish and virtually undetectable repairs that save customers thousands of pounds on expensive replacements.
Sustainable Solutions:
Plastic Surgeon is committed to helping achieve sustainable construction and to minimising the impact on the environment. It prevented nearly 60,000 damaged items going to land fill waste last year by repairing rather than replacing them. The company also provides customers with a unique online reporting service which shows a wealth of statistics such as the number of items repaired per customer site and the associated landfill savings.
Contact Information
Kirstie Colledge
SMPR
18 Generator Hall
Electric Wharf
Coventry
CV1 4JL
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