HMP Usk — Historic Handrail & Landing Investigation

The challenge

HMP Usk’s A, B and C Wings and central rotunda are served by historic handrail, balustrade and landing systems — a mixture of original Victorian ironwork, historic repairs and later modifications. Proposed strengthening works relied on the existing brackets and wall fixings accepting significantly increased loads, but the fixing arrangements were concealed, and it wasn’t known whether the brackets were cast iron, wrought iron, steel or a mixture — a question that directly affects how they can be repaired, strengthened or reused. All of this had to be answered inside a working prison, on ironwork of heritage significance.

Our approach

Infrastruct North developed a staged, minimum-intervention methodology with asset protection, traceability and security control at its core: a structured, iPad-based condition survey recording every bracket, balustrade and fixing against the design drawings; a fixing investigation classifying each concealed and exposed fixing type; XRF/PMI metallurgical screening and portable hardness testing across dozens of test locations; and a location-by-location feasibility assessment for in-situ pull-out testing of the existing wall fixings.

Strict controls covered tool management, working at height, lead-paint and asbestos interfaces, XRF radiation safety and protection of historic fabric, with clear hold points before any intrusive work.

The outcome

The investigation gave the design team a clear, structured evidence base for the refurbishment and strengthening design. Distinct material families were identified across the ironwork, confirming the design team’s working assumptions for the original elements — and flagging a small number of non-original components for the structural engineer’s attention, exactly the kind of finding the survey existed to catch. Every element is now recorded, classified and photographed, with a test-by-test register, a pull-out testing strategy and a targeted laboratory programme to close out formal material confirmation.

Why it matters

Historic structures rarely come with reliable records. This project shows how condition survey, metallurgical screening and structural testing can be combined — carefully, and with conservation in mind — to let a heritage asset be strengthened with confidence rather than guesswork.