ACO Water Management

Effective management of surface water for all highways and trunk roads is essential for safe use by both vehicles and pedestrians. As a major supplier to highway schemes across the UK for many years, ACO understands these demanding operational challenges and the importance of delivering high-performance surface water management systems.

ACO provides a comprehensive range of highways-specific drainage solutions that support essential road drainage infrastructure in highways, trunk roads, urban roads, footpaths and highways conservation. With design support and Civil 3D BIM files as well as SuDS solutions, ACO assists the infrastructure industry in making, mapping and maintaining the network.

Motorways and major A roads

ACO has a number of high-capacity drainage solutions to ensure road surfaces remain as free from standing water as possible on these key strategic roads and trunk roads. H Range and RoadDrain are monocast products that have been developed specifically for the highways sector with F 900 load class for dealing with heavy-goods traffic.

For highways infrastructure projects where BIM Digital Design is used, ACO has produced Revit & Civil 3D models of the range to support the most advanced working methods in creating and mapping the network.

On smart motorways we see ACO KerbDrain being used for ERA's (Emergency Refuge areas), Narrow access zones (under bridges and underpasses), as well as at maintenance crossovers.

Local highways / urban roads

An ideal solution for these roads is ACO KerbDrain, a combined drainage and kerb product that is available in both half battered and splayed options, depending on location of application.

The KerbDrain BridgeDeck represents an innovative advancement, extending the drainage solution beyond the bridge surface. This cutting-edge design incorporates a specialised solution for bridge expansion joints, making it the perfect choice for safeguarding bridges against surface water-related issues.

Addressing the needs of active travellers, the CycleKerb offers a modern alternative to conventional drainage systems in cycle lanes. By eliminating gullies from the cycle lane, potential hazards to cyclists are significantly reduced. The design conforms to LTN 1/20 guidelines, featuring a 60mm kerb upstand that creates a distinct boundary between the cycle lane and pedestrian area, ensuring improved safety for the visually impaired.

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS)

ACO have developed their own unique model to reflect adoption of SuDS thinking - Collect, Clean, Hold and Reuse -which embraces the entire surface water management cycle.

Collect: ACO offers an extensive range of drainage channels, including combined drainage systems and heavy-duty monolithic systems.

Clean: ACO QuadraCeptor or V-Septor provides an effective cleaning solution for managing polluted water runoff. It efficiently removes heavy particles, silt, and dissolved materials like heavy metals. 

Hold: The ACO Stormbrixx system attenuates surface water, holding it until it can be gradually released into the Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) system. This can be accomplished through filtration or by using a flow control system like the ACO QBrake.

Reuse:Following the preceding steps, the surface water reaches an appropriate quality level, making it suitable for implementation in a SuDS scheme, where it can be released at a sustainable flow rate. The ACO Swale unit is an ideal component for incorporating into the SuDS scheme.

Highways and conservation

ACO has been involved in the integration of highways and conservation, along with green corridors for many years and has a number of specific solutions to help animals coexist alongside the road network. Seasonal migration in particular, between land habitats and vital spawning grounds, offers dangers when road networks cross these routes.