The goal of this project was to produce a level of plateau on a green field site 175m wide x 105m long for the erection of greenhouses covering 18,500m².

This involved the topsoil strip of the whole site, cutting and filling 65,000m³ of boulder clay, installing 1.5 million litre irrigation pond to support sustainable drainage, and a site drainage system supplying irrigation pond to utilise rainwater. It also involved the supply of recycled aggregate for the construction of service yard and access road to support our sustainability aspirations. 

INNOVATION
The outline design drawings and coordinates were supplied to our engineer who then generated a model for the works. This model was installed into the GPS machine control software on two machines, including a D6 Dozer and 22 Tonne Tracked Excavator. Risk Assessments and Method Statements were also produced for the works.

CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES
The Topcon GPS machine control eliminates the need for marking out the site by the engineer, which both reduces engineer time on site as well as reducing the People Plant Interface (PPI) activity. Both productivity and the accuracy of the work is also increased using the GPS control over traditional profile and traveller arrangements.

The work ran into early autumn and adverse weather conditions resulted in some delays to the cut and fill operations. To ensure suitable compaction of the boulder clay material, it is important that the moisture content is within an optimum range so we had to check this before work commenced.

Due to wet conditions, the batters had to be top soiled using a 10 Tonne Tracked Dumper to allow the works to continue. 

The project met the time, cost and quality requirements of the client. This allowed the client to progress the subsequent installation of the greenhouses before winter set in.

The drainage scheme ensured that rainwater could be harvested and utilised for the operation of the greenhouses, further supporting a sustainable solution for the client. Balanced cut and fill allowed zero export and minimal import of recycled material, ensuring that, at all times, the scheme considered the impact to the environment and sustainability.

This is the fifth earthworks package that we have carried out over the past 20 years for the Client, Blomfield Nurseries. Mr Blomfield was very pleased with the work and said he would use our services in the future for any further expansion of the site.

These works were carried out during the COVID-19 lockdown. To prevent the spread of disease, our operators adhered to the government guidelines which included travelling to work separately, sanitising the machines thoroughly and employing social distancing measures.