Introduction

Set in 1400 acres of panoramic parkland at the gateway to South Wales, to the east of Newport, The Celtic Manor Resort

will host the 2010 Ryder Cup at the new Twenty Ten course, which was opened in July 2007. In preparation for the event

Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) has been used to raise areas of the course to build the television compound, a driving range

and a practice area. This will be used by the world’s top golfers, the media and thousands of visitors from across the UK,

Europe and America during the event.

This work involved in excess of 200,000 tonnes of PFA being supplied from Aberthaw and Uskmouth power stations,

supplied by RWE Npower and Hargreaves CCP respectively. Additionally, in collaboration with the site operators GD

Environmental, Hargreaves CCP supplied the placing and compaction plant used for the contract.

History

Sir Terence Matthews (OBE), a Welsh telecommunications entrepreneur, bought the 19th century Celtic Manor house in

1980. He turned the site into one of the best facilities in the world for golf having three golf courses, two hotels, health

clubs, a spa and world class club houses and restaurants. The new Twenty Ten course is the first course in history to

have been designed specifically for hosting The Ryder Cup. The course is a par 71, measuring 7,493 yards. It features

nine brand new holes that have been developed along the floor of the Usk Valley, as well as nine holes from the former

Wentwood Hills championship course that have been extensively remodelled to match the new design.

PFA used for part of the remodelling

PFA was used as a fill material to raise and level off the ground to enable a television compound, a driving range and

practice areas to be constructed, see Figure 1. A textile capillary break was employed to prevent saturation of the ash

from sub-surface water. The ash was then covered in top soil to the final levels.

14 CASE STUDY

The use of PFA at Celtic Manor Resort

in preparation for the 2010 Ryder Cup

Figure 1 - The raised ground for the driving range, practice area and television compound
The PFA was all supplied by road as conditioned ash in sheeted tipping vehicles, then after tipping it was levelled out on

site using a Komatsu 65PS dozer and compacted to a 150mm thickness using a Bomag vibrating roller, using the

methods described in Technical Datasheet 2.

GD Environmental supplied the site

personnel, who found PFA to be an easy

material to place and compact, using readily

available equipment. The ground was

designed to be basically a level site. However,

to prevent ponding of rain water, a slight fall is

needed in order to give proper drainage.

Without such drainage, the low permeability of

PFA results in ponding even with minimal rain.

With the size and design of the area involved

and the high levels of rainfall experienced

during 2008, some ponded and saturated

areas of PFA were inevitable. PFA, when

saturated, like all fine grained materials can

become very slippery, similar to wet clays.

Where this happened the wet PFA was

removed and formed into piles to drain and

when sufficiently dry was reused in the

construction.

The PFA supplied from Uskmouth contains

higher levels of lime than is normally found

within UK ashes. This is because of the lime

injection system used to reduce sulfur

emissions, which is retained in the PFA. This

lime is able to initiate the pozzolanic reaction

that can make PFA as a fill material have

higher strength and greater stability than

would be normally found. Additionally this

reaction will reduce permeability and

leachability of the embankment and in the fullness of time as the pozzolanic reaction continues, it will produce a very

stable solid base for the subsequent construction works.

As with all ash applications, unbound PFA should never be left exposed. It must be covered with construction, capping

or topsoil as quickly as practicable. In this case topsoil to a minimum layer of 300mm was used to encapsulate the PFA

and to establish the final levels.

Conclusion

PFA has been used successfully to provide the desired

profiles for the 2010 Ryder Cup. The material has been

proven easy to lay, readily available in the quantities

required and flexible.

Using PFA in projects such as this is more environmentally

friendly and sustainable than the extraction of virgin

aggregates. The overall emissions are significantly

reduced as PFA is a by-product and by retaining virgin

aggregates for more critical applications, the long term

sustainability is improved.

Further details on how to use PFA in embankments can be

found in Technical Datasheet 2 and Best Practice Guide 2.

In general usage the term ‘fly ash’ is used for pulverized coal ash but it can also cover ash from burning other materials. Such ‘fly ash’

may have significantly differing properties and may not offer the same advantages as ash from burning pulverized coal. UKQAA

datasheets only refer to PFA / fly ash produced from the burning of predominantly coal in power stations.

Information provided in this document is intended for those who will evaluate its significance and take responsibility for its use and

application. UKQAA will accept no liability (including that for negligence) for any loss resulting from the advice or information contained

in this document. It is up to the user to ensure they obtain the latest version of this document as the UKQAA continually revises and

updates its publications. Advice should be taken from a competent person before taking or refraining from any action as a result of the

comments in this guide which is only intended as a brief introduction to the subject.

V1 February 2009

Figure 2 - The PFA was bladed out at 200mm thickness and then compacted to

150mm

Figure 3 - Tipping PFA

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