MOVING HEAVEN AND EARTH FOR CLIENTS
Having completed many vast earthworks projects over the years – including one of Europe’s biggest bulk earthmoving schemes at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway (SLPEMG) – Winvic won two significant civils and infrastructure contracts in 2020. The first was IM Properties’ Mercia Park, which will become home to leading international businesses Jaguar Land Rover - a project aiming to be Net Zero - and DSV, and the second works at Fairham will facilitate a new sustainable neighbourhood for Nottingham.
MERCIA PARK
The 238-acre Mercia Park scheme is adjacent to junction 11 of the M42 and the civils and infrastructure contract involved an extensive earthworks programme. In numbers, we have excavated and remodelled over 1 million m3 of material to meet the levelling requirements of the development plateaux. As with all of the schemes we deliver, we designed the programme to ensure as little excavated earth as possible was transported away from the site, meaning reduced HGV traffic in the local community and from the highways network, and much of it will be used in the creation of 3000m of screening bunds. In fact, these works that will accommodate multiple industrial warehouses are so huge we employed a Volvo EC950 Crawler Excavator, the largest crawler excavator ever to be used in the UK. In each bucketload, the 90-tonne machine is capable of excavating 7m3 of material to a weight of 39,900kg, so it’s clear why we used it to carry out the vast earth moving task fast and efficiently.
Additionally, we’ve installed 7,500m of underground drainage and delivered a large proportion of the highways programme, which includes a new site entrance and roundabout as well as improvements to the existing roundabout at Junction 11 of the M42. On the latter portion of works – part of a S278 agreement – the resurfacing, traffic signal and footpaths are ongoing and are set to be completed in June. The mains electricity, gas and water testing is underway and these utilities will be connected to the site around the same time. Alongside these works, the extensive landscaping design – which comprises 30,000 trees and shrubs with almost 30-acres of new woodland, equivalent to nearly one third of the site – continues at pace. Circa 50 per cent of the planting has been completed and the remaining three months of the programme has been shaped in line with the season, to ensure the grassed areas and various species will thrive.
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FAIRHAM
At Fairham, up to 3,000 new homes, 1 million sq ft of commercial space and a neighbourhood centre as well as community, health and educational facilities will be constructed, but first we are preparing the 600-acre site for Clowes Developments and Homes England. Enabling and ground works started in September and comprise 30,000m3 cut and fill, 15,000m2 of balancing ponds and preparation for the installation of 7,000m of foul and storm water drainage. The sequential programme of works has been designed to allow the first housing sites to come forward during 2021 and also includes the construction of 1.7km highways and 5,000m3 of embankment to facilitate a future tram route.
Richard Reid, Project Manager
“I’m delighted that the Mercia Park infrastructure works have gone very successfully, and we’re very close to the end of the programme. In particular, we’re proud to have been able to eliminate long-term disruption to road users – where we’ve constructed a new roundabout and raised a significant portion of the B5493 by 600mm – by working in unison with Leicestershire County Council. Instead of effecting numerous road closures over a five-month period for the new site entrance, access roundabout and M42 J11 improvement works, we were able to combine these and complete the complex works under a single closure.”
A YEAR IN INDUSTRY AT WINVIC
Young people are gaining valuable onsite work experience at Mercia Park as part of their Year in Industry at Winvic.
Ammara Dassu, a Civil Engineering student at Nottingham Trent University is working on the Infrastructure work and said:
"I’m thoroughly enjoying working on the infrastructure project at Mercia Park because the project is ever changing and I’m learning new things every day. I’ve been involved in setting out kerbs, drainage, highways, gabion walls and roundabouts as well as liaising with various specialist subcontractors as part of the water management and monitoring scheme. Having now experienced life on site I understand the importance of having hands-on knowledge as a foundation alongside time in the classroom."