Design of interlocking bricks prevents radiation leaks at Colchester General

Building work continues at the £25m state-of-the-art radiotherapy centre at Colchester General Hospital.

Radiation shielding provider Envirotect Limited has provided shielding for the orthovoltage unit, which will be used to administer radiotherapy to treat cancers of the skin and superficial tissues. The company will be exhibiting at this year’s UKRC on stand number 90.

The shielding consisted of interlocking chevron lead bricks to the walls up to 32mm in thickness. The V-shape tongue and groove configuration allows bricks to interlock into one another, preventing leakage of radiation.

“The project included challenging detailing around high level steel beams within the existing room,” says the company, which also designed 13mm lead lined entrance door and wall shielding.

To give patients the feeling of being in a normal room, the door was designed to match adjacent ones with an oak veneer finish. A 2mm lead soffit baffle was installed above the doors and has been hidden within the ceiling compartment.

The centre will also house two CT scanners, which will help hospital staff with radiotherapy planning. Envirotect manufactured and installed lead lined plasterboards for the wall shielding to both CT rooms and shielded double entrance doors. The control room was fitted with lead glass observation window and shielded doors.

Article printed in May edition of RAD Magazine