Reading Station multi-storey car park
Client: Sisk Rail, for Network Rail
Project Overview
Reading Station multi-storey car park
Approx. 400 m²
Service: Groundowrks & Civils
Sector: Rail
- Approved Contractor: MLG UK Ltd
- System Installed: Polyroof liquid waterproofing
- Client: Sisk Rail, for Network Rail
- Duration: Two months, phased around car park operations
- Work Carried Out: Liquid waterproofing, new roofs, specialist scaffold access, permanent edge protection
Scope of Work
Specialist waterproofing and new roofs to the lift shaft and staircase cores of the multi-storey car park at Reading Station, delivered for Sisk Rail on behalf of Network Rail. Around 400 m² of liquid installation, with permanent safe access left in place afterwards.
- New roofs to the lift shaft and staircase sections
- Approximately 400 m² of Polyroof liquid waterproofing, including all upstands
- Waterproofing taken up and over the top of the cap to encapsulate the entire upstand and cap it, preventing water tracking through
- Specialist scaffold access erected for the works
- Handrails and man-safe systems set up on the roofs
- Permanent weighted handrails left in situ on completion
- Minor structural concrete repairs
- All works signed off
Systems installed
- Waterproofing: Liquid system, approximately 400 m² including upstands (Polyroof)
- Edge protection: Man-safe system installed, permanent weighted handrails left in situ
- Concrete repairs: Minor structural concrete repairs
Challenges & Constraints
The only access route
The lift shaft and staircase cores are the access route for everyone using a working multi-storey car park at a major station, and the car park had to stay open and usable throughout.
Where these roofs fail
The upstand and cap detail is where this kind of roof normally fails: waterproofing that stops at the upstand leaves the cap as a route for water to track back in.
The next maintenance visit
Without permanent edge protection, every future maintenance visit to these roofs would mean hiring scaffold or temporary edge protection again.
Project Execution & Techniques
Taken over the cap
The waterproofing was taken up and over the top of the cap so the entire upstand is encapsulated rather than terminated, the detail that stops the recurrence.
New core roofs
New roofs were installed to the lift shaft and staircase sections, with approximately 400 m² of Polyroof liquid waterproofing including all upstands, plus minor structural concrete repairs.
Phased around operations
Specialist scaffold access was erected and the works were phased and managed around the car park’s operation.
Permanent handrails left
Handrails and man-safe systems were set up on the roofs, and permanent weighted handrails were left in situ on completion.
Outcome & Long-Term Benefits
The failure route closed
Encapsulating the upstand and capping over the top removes the path by which water tracks back into the structure.
Car park stayed open
The car park remained in use, with the staircases and lifts available to users as required throughout the works.
Safe access left behind
Permanent weighted handrails and man-safe systems mean future maintenance access is safe without hiring scaffold or temporary edge protection again.
All works signed off
The works were signed off on completion, delivered for Sisk Rail on behalf of Network Rail.
Conclusion
The lift shaft and staircase cores at Reading Station’s multi-storey car park are how everyone gets in and out of it, so the roofs above them had to be replaced with the car park open. MLG installed new roofs to both, with approximately 400 m² of Polyroof liquid waterproofing including all upstands and minor structural concrete repairs, delivered for Sisk Rail on behalf of Network Rail.
Two details matter here. The waterproofing was taken up and over the top of the cap to encapsulate the whole upstand, because a system that terminates at the upstand leaves the cap as a route for water to track back through. And permanent weighted handrails and man-safe systems were left in situ, so the next person who needs to get onto these roofs does not need scaffold to do it. Sisk Rail is a client relationship of 20 years.
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