After one of the world’s largest specialist transport museums was hit by fire two years ago, its unique collection is now being protected by a sprinkler system with flexible connections. We examine the installation advantages these have brought.
The National Motorcycle Museum, just outside Birmingham, was set up in 1984 with private money by enthusiast and expert W R Richards. The collection now numbers over 650 exhibits, from some of the earliest nineteenth century bikes to modern day classics. Among them are the first BSA and Norton ever built; Slippery Sam the most successful bike in TT history; and the Streamliner, which broke the world motorcycle land speed record.
“Our purpose-built premises also provide conference and banqueting facilities which can accommodate over 5,000 delegates,” says Nick Hartland, marketing manager at the Museum. “We naturally take our responsibility to protect them very seriously, and the fire we suffered back in September 2003 led to us looking at additional safety measures over and above the statutory compliance which we already had.”
The fire had destroyed over three quarters of the building, and to a greater or lesser extent had damaged more than half the exhibits. A major renovation project was needed, and eventually it took well over a year to bring the site back to its former state.
As part of this renovation project, the Museum management employed fire protection consultants Wormald, and on their advice a sprinkler system using Rapidrop flexible connections was installed. Wormald had already worked with Rapidrop and recognised the benefits of the system. Unlike traditional rigid pipe armover sprinkler connections, Rapidrop corrugated stainless steel flexibles can be readily bent and securely attached to ceiling tile supports by adjustable brackets to easily locate each sprinkler in the correct position. The product is supplied by IFI Fire which has pioneered the use of flexibles in the UK.
During the renovation, a number of contractors had to co-ordinate their work to ensure the sprinkler installation, ceiling restoration and re-decoration occurred in the correct order. Using flexible connections for the sprinkler system was a key factor in letting all this work go forward without being held up by installation of the fire protection. Rapidrop flexible connections enabled the sprinkler installation and pressure testing proceed quickly, by eliminating the delays associated with cutting and threading pipe used in traditional, rigid, armover installations. The risk of creating mess during the re-decoration in the clean areas below the ceiling was also avoided.
“Using Rapidrop saved our client considerable expense by avoiding major damage to the existing ceiling,” says Dennis Cooper of contractors Wormald. “In fact, it would probably have been impossible to install rigid pipework in some of the areas.”
Given the nature of the building, with some of the ceilings shaped and sloping rather than uniformly horizontal, the flexible connections were well able to cope with non-standard angles of installation.
The completed installation has been issued with an LPCB Certificate of Conformity showing that the system has been designed, installed and will be maintained in accordance with recognised national standards. This is also vital for insurance purposes.
“We have still not fully recovered from the fire we had, as we are still renovating some of the motorcycles which were damaged,” says Nick Hartland. “However, we now expect to welcome about a quarter of a million people this year, so from that point of view we are very much up and running again.
“Minimising the time it took to restore the building has been important in allowing us to get back on course financially and in terms of keeping our visitors happy.”
