High Street, Cardiff City Centre

EJ McGrath worked as specialist paving subcontractor to Birse Civils on the repaving of High Street in the heart of Cardiff city centre. Work began in June 2010 against a fixed, immovable deadline, and the first section was completed in under seven weeks, ahead of programme.

The brief

Birse Civils appointed EJM to repave High Street to a date that could not move. The finished paving had to be ready to carry the United Kingdom’s second national Armed Forces Day, held in Cardiff in June 2010. The work ran through a live, busy city-centre street, so it had to progress in sections while keeping disruption to residents, businesses and visitors to a minimum, with strict health and safety throughout.

What we did

• Repaved High Street in the centre of Cardiff as specialist paving subcontractor to Birse Civils
• Worked to a sectional handover programme so completed areas could be released early
• Ran teams seven days a week, with day and night shifts Monday to Thursday, to hold the programme
• Coordinated closely with Birse to keep the street safe and to limit disruption to the public and local businesses

The challenge

The deadline mattered. The completed paving had to carry the national Armed Forces Day parade, attended by HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and watched by around 80,000 members of the public. With no room to slip the date, the first section was delivered in under seven weeks, ahead of programme.

The outcome

Finishing the first section early, ahead of programme, allowed the paving to extend beyond the planned sectional handover. Our performance on the first phase led to continued work on the scheme.