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Draka has supplied what it describes as its most advanced 0HLS (Zero Halogen, Low Smoke) cable solutions for emergency lighting at Heathrow’s T5. It has also developed a new EMC (electro-magnetic compatibility) cable for the integrated fire alarm, voice alarm and public address system at the new terminal.
The company’s cabling is also installed in the extension of the Piccadilly Line for London Underground, and the Heathrow Express for Network Rail, along with cabling for the lighting in the three new tunnels on the airside taxi roads. It estimates that the combined total of all of the cabling used on the project tops the one million metre mark.
Draka’s product development team addressed concerns expressed by the fire detection and alarm system supplier, Gent by Honeywell, over the need for a high level of electro-magnetic immunity for the integrated fire alarm, voice alarm and public address systems within the terminal buildings. The outcome was the introduction of Firetuf EMC, a specially developed standard-category cable with superior EMC characteristics. Draka says this has proved so successful that it has since been added to its standard cable offering.
Barry Forrister, T5 Project Manager for Gent by Honeywell, comments: “We tested a number of cables and discovered that the standard-category cables in the BAA specification performed below the level we required for the addressable speaker loops that operate at higher frequencies than conventional fire detector loops. Both our own tests and those conducted by independent testing bodies confirmed that Firetuf EMC provides us with the high-integrity electro-magnetic immunity that is essential in an airport environment.”
The rail and road infrastructure elements of the GB pound 4.3 billion project used Firetuf Connecta, Draka’s modular wiring system. Network Rail’s tunnel for the Heathrow Express extension utilised 11.5km of Firetufpower cable with 718 factory-fitted Connecta sockets, while the Tube Lines’ tunnel for London Underground’s extension to the Piccadilly Line called for 12.5km of the cable with 708 Connecta sockets. The airside roads – the northern and southern taxi roads – used 4.42km of Draka armoured cable with a total of 1,102 Connecta sockets.