Gabion retaining wall, Irthlingborough

Projects

Gabion stone Retaining wall, Irthlingborough, Case Study

Longstanding customer of ours, Whitworths, asked us to construct a gabion stone retaining wall to enable extension of existing parking area at their site in Irthlingborough.

Objective

We were tasked with creating a gabion stone retaining wall 1.8m high and 200m long, to enable our customer to extend their existing hardstanding area, in preparation for future expansion.

About the project

A gabion stone wall had been started many years ago adjacent to the boundary with surrounding fields. This had been done with granite stone. Our customer asked us to extend this to bring it up to a height in order that the existing hardstanding area could be extended closer to the site boundary.

The design included a foundation for the baskets, made with 6F2 recycled concrete. This was already on site and had been processed on site recently, as part of a demolition project. We compacted the 6F2 in layers to bring it up to the required level. The gabion stone baskets were installed with a slight fall to the site, to help with the pressure of the ground that would be put up against the wall later. We used good quality gabion baskets for this, there are varying qualities of gabion baskets on the market, but from previous experience some of the cheaper options available tend to ‘bulge’ in time with the weight. We’ve also learnt to install the internal straps that are available and that go inside the baskets prior to filling them with stone, this also helps to reduce bulging.

The original gabion stone wall that had been done many years ago had been done with granite stone, however we used ironstone on this occasion, this with cost in mind and also local availability. With the baskets in place, we started to fill them with stone. The stone can, generally, be put into the baskets with a machine. But there is some sorting required, which had to be done by hand, particularly with the face of the wall and on top, where the stone will be seen.

The wall was 1.8m high in places and stepped back from the watercourse at 45 degrees. With all of the gabion wall constructed, we put some of the excess 6F2 that was on site, up against the wall. The work to bring the site up to the required level is a long term project, but is ready to be completed at a later date.

It was a pleasure to carry out this work for a longstanding customer of ours, and on our doorstep too, in Irthlingborough. A lot of our employees actually live in the town. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with Whitworths in the future.

Do you have a similar project you would like a price for? Please visit our website and fill out our contact form. We undertake all types of groundwork projects, both commercial and domestic, see here for our full list of services www.jwc.co.uk

Treatment Plant Installation, Silsoe, Bedfordshire

Projects

Treatment plant installation, Silsoe, Case Study

We were approached by our domestic customer in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, who had an old septic tank with various problems and which was not compliant. They wanted a new Treatment Plant fitting in its place.

Objective

Our objective was to install a new treatment plant and re-route the existing drainage to this, from the old septic tank. The septic tank was not particularly old, but was not compliant to discharge effluent into the ground under new EA and Building Regs guidance, and the land drainage or soakaway was not coping well in discharging the effluent, this is one of the most common reasons for septic tanks failing.

About the project

Prior to ordering the new treatment plant, we had to take some levels to site to ascertain the invert level of the existing drainage, this level is critical in determining the length of the ‘neck’ on the new plant, which are all made to order. We use Marsh Industries for all our Treatment Plants and Pump Stations, and have been doing so for over 15 years now. We gave our customer the choice of either an 8-person plant or a 10-person, and they chose to go with the 8-person.

We started by excavating for and installing the new treatment plant, leaving all of the existing drainage running into the old septic tank whilst the bulk of the work was being carried out on site. The plant was laid on concrete and completely surrounded in concrete. The plant has to be filled with water whilst the concrete is being packed around the outside, with the level of the concrete never coming higher than the level of the water inside. On the following day, with the concrete having ‘cured’, the water can then be pumped out. The strength of the plant is dependent on the concrete surround, they are not designed to take the weight and the pressure of the ground around the outside without the concrete.

The effluent from the new Treatment Plant was to disperse into a watercourse on the boundary of the property, which is by far the best way to legally discharge of the effluent, and it’s also the cheapest way, much cheaper than excavating for and laying land drainage. The levels worked for the effluent to discharge to the stream by gravity, which was great. This pipework was installed after the plant install, and the grass reinstated on top.

The plant was conveniently located adjacent to a double garage, with full electrics. This was ideal for connecting the plant up to. We excavated for and laid a 63mm black electric duct to the outside of the garage. The duct was surrounded in sand with electric warning tape to cover, the trench backfilled and the grass reinstated. Our customer appointed their own electrician, but we liaised with him as to what was required. As per building regs, a treatment plant needs its own isolator, which the electrician sited on the inside of the garage. Quite often they are sited outside, but either is acceptable.

We then had to divert the existing drainage from the old septic tank, to the new treatment plant. We excavated for all the pipework first before making the switchover. With everything dug out ready for the final piece of pipework, we ‘bunged’ the pipework from the house and switched the pipework over. This way, our customer was able to continue to flush their toilets and carry on using the system throughout.

The existing septic tank was quite extensive and the customer asked that we fill this huge void underneath their driveway, with some of the spoil that had been generated from the excavation for the new treatment plant. To enable us to do this, we asked the customer to have the septic tank emptied one last time after the switchover had been done. This enabled us to fill it with the excavated material. We compacted it best we could on top, and reinstated with grass, getting rid of all the old manhole covers on the top of the septic tank.

With the electrical connection done by the customer’s electrician we checked the new system over and everything was working great. We reinstated some tarmac on the edge of the driveway, but most of the reinstatement was in grass. We managed to salvage most of the turf that we had taken up and put this back, which just left a few gaps here and there, which we filled with fine-grade topsoil and grass seed.

More info

Do you need a treatment plant installing? Click here to contact us for a quote

If you want to know more about treatment plants, click here to read our dedicated FAQs page

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New Vehicle Crossover, Kettering

Projects

New Vehicle Crossover, Kettering

Objective

We were approached by a regular customer of ours, Astar Living, to install a new vehicle crossover on Windmill Avenue in Kettering. The customer had already approached North Northants County Council and had got permission for a new Vehicle Crossover.

About the project

On our initial site visit we noticed a manhole cover in the middle of where the vehicle crossover was to go, and upon further inspection we found this to be the property of City Fibre. The manhole cover had to be lowered as part of the vehicle crossover works, we also needed to know whether or not the manhole cover was suitable for vehicular traffic, as some of them are not.

We made contact with City Fibre, and unfortunately we were bounced from department to department, and each time we were told that ‘somebody would get back to us’. We had to do a lot of chasing, and the whole process was very frustrating, and it took over 5 weeks to get an agreement from them that they would come and lower the manhole cover.

They agreed to do the work at no extra cost to us or our customer, but it had to be done under our traffic management, and under our Section 184 licence.

It only took us two weeks to get our Section 184 licence – which we need to ‘dig up the pavement’ and install a vehicle crossover. Our next step was to give notice to Highways and book ‘roadspace’. We have to give three weeks’ notice ordinarily for minor works such as this in Northamptonshire, but we also had to co-ordinate with City Fibre to make sure that they were able to come on the dates that we wanted to book roadspace for. Eventually a date was decided on and we applied to Highways for roadspace and were allocated our preferred dates.

The crossover was on Windmill Avenue in Kettering, a very busy road. We were unable to close the footpath and divert pedestrians onto the other side of the road, and so we had to put up a temporary pedestrian walkway in the road, so pedestrians could safely go around our works.

The excavation of the existing path, putting in new sub-base and new kerbs both at the road and at the boundary with the customer’s private property, took two days. City Fibre came the next day as promised, and the tarmac was laid for the new crossover on day 4.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 184 Licence: 2 weeks

Time take to liaise with City Fibre: 5 weeks

Leadtime to use Licence: 3 weeks

Time taken to do the work: 4 days

Total time: 3 months

Want to know more about the ins and outs of vehicle crossovers? See here and click on the ‘Vehicle Crossovers’ tab for more information. If you want us to quote for a new vehicle crossover, click here, choose ‘Dropped Kerbs/Vehicle Crossovers’ in the drop-down box at the top and upload all the relevant information.

New Vehicle Crossover, Hardwick

Projects

New Vehicle Crossover, Hardwick, Case Study

Objective

We were approached our customer in Hardwick, Cambs, for a sewer connection for a new build, which we completed. We were then asked to quote for a vehicle crossover, which the customer had permission to do as part of the planning application.

About the project

The crossover was a bit involved as it was on a 40mph road, and it was too busy to close the footpath. We had to put up a pedestrian walkway in the road, to safely divert the pedestrians. We excavated the area, which was quite large for a crossover, and was adjacent to a ‘bellmouth’ of a small shopping precinct next door.

We also had a very heavy manhole cover on a surface water catchpit, which had to be lowered. To do this, we had to reduce the ‘corbled masonry’ and fit a modern ‘biscuit’ on top of the catchpit. We re-fitted the original manhole cover as there was nothing wrong with it.

We laid new edging kerbs at the boundary with the new property. At the road we laid new ‘radius’ kerbs to from the entrance onto the crossover. Stone was laid in layers and compacted with a 120mm roller. Tarmac was laid in two stages, with the base course going down in the morning and 6mm tarmac to finish, in the afternoon.

The traffic management was kept up overnight to give the material time to cool down completely. The next day we returned to lay topsoil and grass seed either side of the new crossover, and cleared the site.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 184 Licence: 3 weeks

Leadtime to use Licence: 3 weeks

Time taken to do the work: Less than 1 weeks

Total time: 2 months

Testimonial

Our customer was kind enough to leave us a 5-star review on Google:

“Superb company to deal with.
Excellent communication throughout, most helpful in meeting and exceeding time frames all backed up by a great works team who were polite, helpful and supportive whilst on site.
Thank you all 👍👍”

Click here to see more of our Google Reviews

Do you need a crossover doing? Click here and upload your measurements and pictures etc, and we’ll normally get a quote to you within a few days.

Click here to read our FAQs relating to dropped kerbs and vehicle crossovers.

Sewer Connection, Stockport

Projects

Sewer Connection Stockport, Case Study

We were approached by long-time customer of ours Fox Construction of Chapenhall in Scotland. Fox undertake full refurbishments and new construction of Shell Petrol stations throughout the UK. Their job in Turncroft Lane, Stockport required us to make both a surface water and foul connection to the public sewer.

Objective

Our objective was to lay surface water pipework from the site boundary of a new Shell Petrol Station in Stockport, and to connect into an existing surface water manhole in the carriageway. And then to do the same for the foul, connection into a manhole again. The surface water was 2m deep, however the foul connection was a bit more challenging, the connection into the existing foul manhole was to be made at 4.3m dig depth. The presence of a Medium Pressure Gas Man within our excavation had to be factored in as to how the works would be carried out.

About the project

Despite these works being quite challenging in many different ways, traffic management was quite simple on this one. The two connections to the sewer were made at the back of the site, onto a quieter road, and we were therefore able to use ‘give & take’ traffic management.

However, the road was riddled with services including multiple high voltage electric ducts, large water mains, two gas mains (one of them Medium Pressure) and also two very large decommissioned steel mains, likely to have been gas & water. We also had to contend with lower voltage electric cables & BT ducts.

The surface water connection was done first, this required us to excavate in the pavement and a metre into the carriageway, where connection was made into an existing surface water manhole. The depth of this connection was 2 metres. The excavation was sheeted and a third party core-driller was brought in to core-drill the manhole. The pipework was installed, the excavation backfilled, and the manhole was ‘made good’ inside.

The foul connection required excavation in the footpath also, and then 4 linear metres into the carriageway in the direction of the existing foul manhole. This manhole was 4.3m deep, and United Utilities (owner of the apparatus) required a soffit-to-soffit connection, as is usual for foul connections in particular. The excavation in the carriageway was extensive and required a large pit excavating 4m wide and across half of the carriageway. Within this excavation was an existing Medium Pressure Gas Main, amongst many other services. The presence of the MP Gas Main required us to consult with the owner of the apparatus, Cadent. We put proposals to Cadent which excluded use of the excavator within 1 metre of the Gas Main. Adjacent to the MP main, we had to hand dig, and then the bulk of the excavating was done with a Vacuum Excavator (Vac-Ex), which is basically a big vacuum the size of a very large lorry, see pictures below.

As the MP Gas Main would be passing through our excavation, and the supporting ground dug out from underneath it, the gas main would need to be supported from above. We put proposals to Cadent which included a 5m long steel beam, 150mm x 100mm, placed directly above the gas main. From the steel beam, we strapped the gas main at 500mm centres. Cadent approved all of our proposals and visited site to inspect our method of working, which was all satisfactory to them.

The excavation at its deepest was 4.3m, which had to be excavated with the Vac-Ex in stages, with us inserting trench sheets, heavy timbers, and acrows as the excavation got deeper. Ordinarily a ‘trench box’ would be lowered into the ground, but with all the services we had to contend with, the excavation had to be sheeted out around and underneath the services. The deepest part of the excavation was directly under the gas main.

With all of the trench sheeting complete, a third party core-driller was brought in and the manhole core-drilled. The pipework was installed for the foul from the site to the manhole. The manhole was very small inside, for its depth, such as they used to be, this is likely a Victorian-era manhole. As with any manhole entry though, an operative has to be lowered down on a winch, with gas tests done prior and during entry into the manhole. Should anything happen to the operative whilst down the manhole, he would be winched out as opposed to somebody going down there to rescue him. All of our operatives have confined-space training for this reason, which has to be updated and renewed regularly. We cannot undertake new sewer connections without these accreditations, and of course it’s what is needed to keep everybody safe.

The deep excavation was filled with primary aggregate, with all excavated material having been removed from site. The excavations for both the surface water and foul sewer connection were reinstated at the same time, and the site cleared of all signage and plant & machinery etc.

This was a challenging sewer connection due to the depth of the foul in particular, and also as a result of the Medium Pressure Gas Main, exactly where we didn’t want it. But as always there is a safe method of carrying out these types of works, no matter what the depth and the difficulties involved.

It was a pleasure to have carried out this work for Fox Construction and JW Clark continue to work with Fox Construction on sites across the UK.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: Less than 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 106 Licence: 4 weeks

Time taken to obtain Section 50 Licence: 10 weeks

Leadtime to use S50 Licence: 3 weeks

Time taken to do the work: 2 weeks

Total time: 20 weeks from enquiry by Fox, to the work being completed

Do you need a sewer connection needs doing? Don’t leave it too late, most people do! Read our article here: How long does it take to do a sewer connection?

Stafford Sewer Connections

Projects

Stafford Sewer Connections, Case Study

We were approached by Pritpal of Dulkoo Properties, in Stafford, he had built a new house and needed a connection to the sewer, for both foul and surface water.

Objective

Our objective was to make a connection to the surface water connection in the Highway, at 1.5m deep and lay pipework back to the site boundary. The foul connection was a bit trickier at 3.5m deep, and from here we also laid pipework back to the site boundary.

About the project

We met with Stafford Highways to discuss traffic management for the job, and despite the works being on a 3-way junction, we agreed on 2-way traffic lights, but with signage on the side road indicating that traffic on the main road was under signal control. We located the surface water pipe on day 1, on the opposite side of the road to the site. The existing pipe was less than 1.5m deep, and the connection was made using ‘junction insertion’ method. The connection was inspected and passed by Severn Trent Water, and then from the connection point we laid pipework back to the site boundary. The STW Inspector requested that the pipework be concrete-protected, due to how shallow it was in the carriageway. With the surface water pipe laid and the excavation backfilled, we reinstated the Highway to Stafford Highways’ spec. As a Class 1 road, this required in excess of 300mm of tarmac to be laid, in three layers.

The new road surface was allowed to cool overnight, and the traffic lights were switched over in the morning, and excavation was started in preparation for the foul connection. At an invert depth of over 3.5m, we expected to find the top of the 450mm foul sewer at a depth of approx. 3 metres. Due to the depth of the excavation, an extensive amount of trench sheeting and acrow props were required to enable safe entry into the excavation for our operatives. Having excavated down to 2.5m however, and having made the excavation safe, we started to encounter groundwater coming into the sides of the excavation deep down, which were unable to control with pumps. The ground was ‘silty’ and the volume of water made it impossible for us to continue. With the water content we had to deal with and the nature of the ground combined, it is not possible to use pumps to remove the water. We consulted Dewatering Services Ltd whom we have used on a number of occasions, and made plans for them to come to site to ‘dewater’ the ground. Unfortunately they were unable to come there and then, and due to the traffic-sensitive nature of the road, Highways required us to abandon the excavation, reinstate the road and remove the traffic management, which we did.

Just over a week later, we set up the traffic lights all over again….! And Dewatering Services Ltd came to site. In preparation for their arrival, we had re-dug down to a depth of just over two metres, and reinstalled the trench-sheeting system. The Dewatering system included metal rods being pushed 5m into the ground, the whole system was installed in a day. 24 hours later and the excavation had been dried out, we excavated down another metre or so to get to our target depth of 3m, and installed more trench sheets and supports further down. We located the top of the 450mm concrete sewer at 3.15m down from the road level. The concrete sewer was encased in more concrete, which needed to be broken off carefully with a handheld breaker, to gain clear access to the pipe for core-drilling. We instructed a professional core-driller to core-drill into the concrete pipe. With the hole having been cored, we fixed a clay saddle onto the 450mm sewer and secured the saddle and the first clay pipe, with extra-strong and quick-setting mortar. From the connection point we continued to lay 100mm clay pipes towards the boundary. This included excavating under numerous existing services both in the carriageway and in the pavement and cycleway.

The dewatering equipment was removed from site as soon as we came up to 1.5m dig depth, near to the site. The excavation was backfilled and the carriageway, pavement and cycleway all permanently reinstated.

The project was a reasonably challenging one, due to the dig depth and the water content within the ground. But it is not unusual to encounter groundwater such as this, especially at this depth, and we have plenty of expertise in this area, and often at much deeper depths as well. It was a pleasure to have carried out this work for Pritpal, and we wish him every success with this project and any others we are able to help with going forward.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 106 Licence: Our customer already had this

Time taken to obtain Section 50 Licence: The licence only took a few weeks to obtain….

Leadtime to use S50 Licence: …….but we had to wait in excess of 3 months before the work could be started, due to other works being undertaken in the area, a road closure around the corner. Highways will not often permit two jobs to run concurrently within a certain radius, and we are never able to carry out works in what is a ‘diversion route’ for another road closure.

Time taken to do the work: 3.5 weeks including us having to go away for a week and then come back with Dewatering Services

Total time: 4.5 months including the delay in being able to use our Section 50 licence, due to other roadworks being carried out in the vicinity.

Do you need a sewer connection needs doing? Don’t leave it too late, most people do! Read our article here: How long does it take to do a sewer connection?

Stagsden 2 x New Builds

Projects

Stagsden 2 x new builds, Case Study

We were pleased to have been approached by James Taylor from Stagsden, Bedfordshire, and invited to quote for groundwork for 2 x new builds. We had previously worked for James’s father whereby we did the groundwork for another new build, again in Bedfordshire

Objective

Our objective was to demolish 3 existing farm buildings, which were to be replaced by 2 new dwellings. We were instructed to carrry out demolition, footings for the new builds, masonry to underside of block and beam, installation of block and beam floor, installation of 2 x treatment plants for the new builds and rainwater drainage including soakaways.

About the project

Demolition

Our first task on site was to demolish 3 existing farm buildings. Our customer, acting as Principal Contractor, facilitated an asbestos survey, as we suspected at least one of the roofs to be asbestos. The roof was indeed asbestos, and we recommended WJ Redden from Wellingborough, to safely take down the roof and remove the material from site. With the asbestos safely removed, we bought an 8 tonne machine to site, with a grapple bucket attached, and set to demolishing each of the three buildings in turn. The mixed waste was put into skips and removed from site. Any hardcore from the walls and floors was kept on site, to be crushed later on for future use.

Footings

One of the two barns was to be built with a standard concrete ‘strip’ footing, the drawings detailed 1m dig depth, however we proactively went down to 1.2m due to the top of the dig appearing to be made-up ground. Building Control and the Warranty Provider were happy with the dig, and we continued to pour the concrete footings. On the second barn a piled foundation was required, due to the close proximity of trees on site. The customer had instructed a structural engineer to design the ringbeam, which would sit on the piles. A pile design was put together by the same structural engineer and we instructed a third party piling company. The piles were steel casings driven into the ground, welded together as they were dropped in, and then filled with concrete and reinforcing bars. With the piling complete, we broke off the top of each pile and cut the metal casing on each to the correct height, and then bent the reinforcing bar into where our ringbeam would sit. The ringbeam dig was lined with cellcore to the bottom and then permanent formwork installed all round. The ringbeam was constructed on site and each section lowered in and fixed together. Claymaster was required on the inside of the permanent formwork, all part of the design and as a resut of the trees on site. The concrete ringbeam was poured, completing the foundations for both barns.

Drainage

We installed all foul drainage prior to the masonry being done. This included laying underground drainage pipes to the positions of foul stacks inside each barn for the foul. As there is no public sewer in the village, we installed two treatment plants, one for each barn. These were ‘6-person Marsh Ensign’ treatment plants, a modern-day equivalent of a septic tank. These were installed in full concrete surround as per the manufacturer’s specification. We laid a drainage field for each treatment plant, within the site. Soakaways were installed for rainwater drainage, and pipes laid from the downpipe positions on each house, to the soakaways.

Masonry

The oversites were reduced to give 200mm clearance under where the block beam would sit, and then we did the masonry to the underside of the block and beam. This consisted of a total of 300mm, so a block and a brick in most places, on both the inner and outer courses. Facework would be done later on by the building contractor doing the superstructure.

Block and beam

The block and beam was installed, using 150mm beams throughout and 3.5N blocks, and finished with a cement slurry. This concluded this part of the project for us.

A building contractor was instructed to take over soon after we left, but we expect to return to site at a later date when the new dwellings are built, to install services from the Highway, to each barn. With the services in, we will install a road from the Highway to the new barns, at the moment the road is a hardcore track, suitable for construction traffic throughout the build.

It was great to have worked with James on this project, especially as we had worked for his Dad on a similar project many years before. And we look forward to returning at a later date to install the services and to put the final road in.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 2 weeks

Time taken to demolish 3 existing barns and remove waste from site: 1 week

Time taken to install foundations for both barns: Total of 3 weeks including piling contractors coming to site

Time taken to install all drainage: 2.5 weeks including installation of 2 x treatment plants and drainage fields

Time taken to do masonry for both barns: 1 week

Time taken to install block and beam: 1 week

Associated works including site set-up and clearing site at end of project: 1 week

Total time on site: 9.5 weeks

Woodcote Sewer Connection

Projects

Woodcote Sewer Connection, Case Study

Objective

We were delighted to be approached by Greenham Construction from Newbury, a first-time customer. They were building a high-end property in Woodcote, South Oxfordshire, and needed the property connecting to the public sewer.

About the project

The property being built was a long way from the Highway, and the levels didn’t work with getting into the public sewer by gravity. Therefore a pump system was installed within the site, an MDPE pipe was laid in the track leading to the site, and a ‘break chamber’ installed a few metres from the boundary with the Highway. This was all done by the customer, with us instructed to do the gravity work in the Highway.

The customer already had the Section 106 approval, which detailed connection onto the public sewer by way of new manhole construction. We put a quote together for our customer based on information provided to us, the Thames Water Asset Drawing, and also what we were able to see on Google Earth and Google Street View.

The customer was happy with our quote in principal, so we did a site visit whereby we lifted manholes to check pipe depths etc. The road was fairly narrow for the work that was required and we were concerned that a road closure would be required, which would have added a few thousand pounds to the cost. Ordinarily we need to leave 3.5m carriageway width outside of our works, but we were only able to leave 3m. However Oxfordshire Highways were happy with 3m available carriageway, so the works were able to proceed using ‘give & take’ traffic management, which is normally the cheapest method.

We started on site two months after our initial contact with the customer. Upon locating the existing sewer we found the pipe material to be asbestos, which are still quite common. Our operatives are asbestos-trained for this reason, and we took all necessary precautions to ensure that the existing pipe in the road was cut safely and as per H&S regulations relating to asbestos.We constructed the new manhole on top of the existing sewer using concrete 1.2m diameter sections, finished with a ‘biscuit’ and a 150mm D400 manhole cover.

We then excavated for and laid the pipework from the new manhole, to the boundary with the customer’s property. The pipework we laid was a bit under 2m deep, and consisted of a few metres in the carriageway and the remainder in the tarmac footpath. As this was a quiet road, we closed the footpath and diverted pedestrians onto the other side of the road whilst the works were carried out. With the pipes laid, trenches backfilled and reinstated, the Highway was reopened and the site cleared 6 days after we started.

It was a pleasure to carry out these works for Greenham Construction and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 1 week

Time taken to obtain Section 106 Licence: (Customer already had this)

Time taken to obtain Section 50 Licence: 3 weeks

Leadtime to use Licence: 4 weeks

Time taken to do the work: 1 week

Total time: 9 weeks

Do you need a sewer connection needs doing? Don’t leave it too late, most people do! Read our article here: How long does it take to do a sewer connection?

Weavers School, Wellingborough

Projects

Weavers School, Wellingborough, Case Study

Objective

We were approached by Weavers Academy in Wellingborough, to lay an electric duct from an onsite substation, to a classroom block, for a new 3-phase connection.

About the project

The work was done in the school holidays so as to minimise disruption to the school, and also with safety of the pupils and staff in mind. National Grid required that we lay 40 metres of 125mm diameter duct, which they supplied. A CAT survey was done to identify some underground services, we also dug some trial holes and lifted various manholes to ascertain a line of trench.

The tarmac surface was covered with a fine 0-6mm gravel, which we swept to one side, to be put back later.

The trench was sawcut and broke out by one team, whilst a second team carefully excavated the trench 700mm deep. The 125mm pipe was laid in a soft sand surround, with warning tape to cover, and a draw cord pulled through.

The trench was backfilled with some of the excavated material, and then Type 1 MOT granite, all compacted in layers with a trench wacker. The tarmac was reinstated as 60mm base course and 30mm of 6mm topping, a bit more than was there previously. We swept the fine gravel back over the top, and the site was handed back to the customer 5 days after we started and ready for when the school opened the following week.

Customer review

“I would like to say the crew we had on site were a credit to your company, very polite and aware of their surroundings especially working at a school, the crew we had really were spot on and as I said a real credit to the company, please pass on our thanks to them as I didn’t get to see them before the job finished.”

Timeline

Time taken to quote for the works: 24 hours

Time taken to do the work: 5 days

Irthlingborough Cemetery

Projects

Irthlingborough Cemetery, Case Study

Objective

Being based in Irthlingborough and with so many of our employees having grown up in the town, we were really pleased to be able to undertake this job for the Town Council. The cemetery paths at the back of St Peter’s Church had been in urgent need of resurfacing for many years.

About the project

The council were keen that the site be kept open in the main, whilst the works were taking place. But it was not practical to fence off huge sections off the cemetery, therefore we just closed sections of the path where we needed to.

Some of the paths were in reasonably good condition, but with some trips here and there. We did minor repairs where we had to, and prepared these paths for resurfacing. Some of the older paths at the bottom of the cemetery were in such a bad condition that they needed taking out altogether and starting again from scratch. On these paths we excavated the existing tarmac enough for us to be able to construct new paths entirely.

We used 4×1 timber edging for the sides, as new edging kerbs would have been cost-prohibitive. These were fixed at regular intervals with 2×2 posts driven into the ground. Between these we laid geotextile membrane before laying and compacting 100mm of Type 1 Granite.

Our resurfacing contractors of choice, Edwards Surfacing, came to site a week after we started. They laid 60mm of base course in the paths where we had excavated the old, and then topped this with 30mm of 6mm topping. On the paths that were just being resurfaced, Edwards applied a bituminous spray, on top of which 6mm topping was laid.

With the tarmac work complete and with Edwards having left site, we laid 10mm screened topsoil to both sides of the new paths throughout, and brushed in grass seed to finish. We also undertook some minor repairs within the church grounds as well whilst we were there.

It was a pleasure to carry out these works for Irthlingborough Town Council, though this is not the first time we have worked for them. A lot of our employees live in Irthlingborough and some have done so forever! So it was a very special job for us, and in beautiful surroundings, despite the time of year, with lovely views across the Nene Valley.

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Gabion stone Retaining wall, Irthlingborough, Case Study

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Treatment plant installation, Silsoe, Case Study

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New Vehicle Crossover, Kettering

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New Vehicle Crossover, Hardwick, Case Study

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Sewer Connection Stockport, Case Study

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Stafford Sewer Connections, Case Study

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Stagsden 2 x new builds, Case Study

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Woodcote Sewer Connection, Case Study

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Weavers School, Wellingborough, Case Study

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Irthlingborough Cemetery, Case Study

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