Shaylor Group starts on site with UK’s first FACE experiment.
West Midlands-based contractor Shaylor Group has begun construction of a £10.4m facility to test the impact of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on developed woodlands. Intended to be operational for 10 years, the Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) experiment is being built for the University of Birmingham’s recently created Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR).
The experiment aims to test the resilience of mature forest to a high carbon future and enable scientists to take measurements from deep within the soil to above the tree canopy.
Under construction at Mill Haft Wood in Norbury, Staffordshire, the facility contains six cylindrical 30m diameter FACE ring structures that resemble gasholders, each enclosing a segment of the forest.
Placed in mature temperate deciduous woodland, the 30m diameter rings are made up of 25m tall latticework masts. The pylons are supported on steel grillages; at the end of the experiment the site will have to be returned to its natural state so deep piles could not be dropped into the ground.
Above: Assembled masts are kept in a holding field. Below: The pylons are supported on steel grillages; at the end of the experiment the site will have to be returned to its natural state so deep piles could not be used
Martin Chambers, framework director at Shaylor Group, told Construction Manager: “Our biggest challenge on this project was delivering the infrastructure using completely sustainable products and processes. Our brief from the university was that the project could leave absolutely no footprint.
“Throughout the research project and the necessary infrastructure works we had to ensure the forest remained 100% in its original condition. So we had to throw our traditional methods of working out the window and start from scratch, researching and devising the best quality solutions for our client’s very exacting needs.”
Once built, the cylindrical structures will support the pipework needed to deliver CO2 in such a way that the woodland inside the ring is immersed in elevated levels of CO2 but the rest of the woodland remains largely unaffected. The structures will also support sensors to measure the impact of the CO2 on the woodland.
However, only three of the structures will pump in the elevated levels of CO2, while the other three are “control” tests to study how the trees fare under atmospheric levels of CO2.
The steel grillages have been installed and the components of the masts delivered to a field north of the woodland where they are currently being assembled. Once complete, each mast will be lifted by helicopter into the forest and placed into position.
An average of 15 tonnes of CO2 per day – monthly usage is equivalent to one return transatlantic flight – will be used to maintain the artificially high levels of CO2 within the structures, due to the fact that winds will disperse the CO2 continuously.
The delivery of this quantity of gas requires the construction of substantial gas handling facilities and 1,000m of pipework being laid throughout the forest to distribute the CO2.
Along with the FACE rings and pipework, Shaylor Group has carried out extensive works setting up the project site, including constructing an access road and a fieldwork compound, which will contain classrooms and offices.
The facility at Mill Haft Wood will become the second forest FACE currently in operation in the world, following one set up by the University of Western Sydney in 2012 (pictured top).
