Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Orford ... - English Heritage

Figure 41: Fire hydrant. (c) English Heritage DP070008
trials and were also lowered while test items were being moved. Some of these may be
traced as concrete blocks with a central square hole from where the timber has been
removed or rotted. In any area handling explosives fire is a serious hazard. In two of
the earliest Laboratories F2 and F3 traces of a carbon dioxide fire suppressant system
was found, including stands for gas cylinders and red painted pipes. A similar system
was found in the later Electrical Sub Station E7/166, although no trace of a carbon
dioxide system was in found Laboratory F1/125. Carbon dioxide was probably chosen
where there was risk of electrical fires. During the early 1960s development a Pump
House E8/167 was installed along with storage tanks capable of holding 72,000 gallons
(372312 litres). This was connected to a system of pipes and hydrants usually placed
close to the test structures (Figure 41). Probably due to the difficulty of digging trenches
in the shingle, and for ease of maintenance, water was carried between the buildings in
overhead pipes. The metal water pipes have been removed have largely been removed,
but their lines may be traced by rows of displaced concrete pipe bases and conduits
where they passed beneath the roads.
Power to the site was supplied along an 11kv overhead power line and stepped down
by eight transformers. As described above the electrical transformers F6/113 and F7/112
were housed in protected concrete shelters, in addition to these were another six
transformers mounted on open concrete plinths.
Conclusions
Throughout its history Orford Ness has been a remote and seldom visited place, except
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10 - 2009