Winvic’s £21m contract comprises an extensive earthworks programme, where more than a million cubic metres of material will be excavated and remodelled to make the site flat and accommodate 3,000 metres of screening bunds.
Additionally, 7,500m of underground drainage will be installed also by Winvic, three areas of highway improvements and footpaths throughout the park will be constructed and extensive landscaping works – including up to 30 acres of new woodland – will be undertaken. The civils and infrastructure works began on 2nd June 2020 and are due be complete in December 2021.
The earthworks have been designed to transport as little excavated earth from the site to reduce HGV traffic on local roads. A 90-tonne class crawler excavator is being used by subcontractor Collins Earthworks to carry out a large proportion of the earthmoving task. The Volvo EC950 – actually weighing 104 tonnes in mass excavation trim – is the biggest digger in the Volvo range. It can excavate 7 m3 of material and lift up to 39,900kg in each bucketload.
The introduction of the EC950F at Mercia Park, alongside three EC750s and two EC700s, has enabled the Collins Earthworks team to hit a weekly target of 100,000 cubes of material moved by week two of the project.
Mercia Park, off junction 11 of the M42, will be home to Jaguar Land Rover and DSV Group.
Rob Cook, Winvic’s director of civils and infrastructure, said: “Having completed some vast earthworks programmes in the last few years, Winvic’s reputation in this area is becoming ever more robust. Our clients understand that we deliver schemes of any scale in a safe, expeditious and commercially viable way. Having worked with IM Properties on many other projects, it’s rewarding to know their team have confidence in everything we deliver; utilising the specialist Trimble based machines and remodelling the plateaux intelligently to avoid disposing of excesses of material off-site illustrates our strategic outlook to design, regardless of the sector or size.”
IM Properties project director Jason Jasper added: “When developing a scheme of this scale, it’s important to partner with trusted suppliers who not only have the resources and skills to deliver the project, but share in our commitment to create a best in class scheme, working with the local community and creating a positive lasting legacy we can all be proud of."
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
