The brief

NMCN engaged us as the specialist groundworks, drainage and Section 278 subcontractor on this residential infrastructure scheme off Hambrook Lane, near the Stoke Gifford Bypass. The package covered both the Section 278 works to the adopted highway and the Section 38 adoptable infrastructure serving the development.

What we did

• Site clearance, including hedge and tree removal, demolition of an existing stone wall and taking up of existing kerbs, edgings and tactile paving
• Bulk earthworks: topsoil strip, cut and fill, embankment reprofiling and topsoiling, with arisings retained on site
• Extensive foul and surface water drainage, with vitrified clay and precast concrete pipe runs from 100mm up to 1050mm diameter, precast manholes up to 3600mm diameter and over 7m deep, headwalls, culverts and a 280mm HDPE foul rising main
• Surface water attenuation, including attenuation ponds, large diameter Weholite storage tanks and hydrobrake flow controls
• Reinforced concrete structures, including valve and foul main chambers and feature wall foundations
• Utility ducting and diversions for Wessex Water, Western Power Distribution and BT, plus a new electricity substation base
• Kerbing, footways and paved areas, block paved and concrete carriageways, and new road junction construction

Working around site constraints

The site sat between Hambrook Lane and the Stoke Gifford Bypass, with access constrained throughout, so we established and maintained a temporary haul road off the Stoke Gifford Bypass, together with a site compound and wheel wash, for the duration of the works. Several drainage runs were carried out under reduced six hour working windows and road closures.

The outcome

We handed the completed highway, drainage and civils package back to NMCN, delivering the full scope with our own directly employed teams and plant.

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About K:Port

K:Port is an award-winning, low-carbon transport hub: a sheltered charging station for electric vehicles, e-bikes and e-scooters beneath a sweeping timber canopy clad in solar photovoltaic panels. Designed by Hewitt Studios LLP, the structure uses carbon-sequestering, responsibly sourced timber and integrated PV to generate its own clean energy, with provision for sustainable drainage and smart, vehicle-to-grid charging.

EJ McGrath’s role

Our scope was the complete groundworks and civils package that turns a bare marina-side plot into a working charging hub, the unseen engineering the canopy and charging technology depend on.

What we delivered

• Reinforced concrete foundations and bases to carry the timber-and-solar canopy
• Surface-water drainage, including sustainable drainage (SuDS) provision
• Utility trenching and ducting for the EV charging infrastructure and power supply
• Kerbing, hardstanding and surfacing to the charging bays and approaches

Working at a live marina

The hub sits in a busy, public waterfront setting, so the works were sequenced to keep the marina open and minimise disruption. Because K:Port is a modular, pre-fabricated structure assembled on site in a matter of weeks, our foundations and service connections had to be set out precisely and completed to programme so the canopy could be craned in and connected without delay.

Outcome

The result is a striking, sustainable piece of public infrastructure, and a strong example of EJ McGrath self-delivering a complete civils package, on a constrained live site, to enable an innovative low-carbon building. Architecture and canopy design by Hewitt Studios LLP.

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The brief

ISG appointed us on the groundworks package and the accompanying Section 278 package. The task was to take the site from cut and fill through to finished external works, and to upgrade the surrounding public highway so the new school could be accessed safely. All of it was carried out by our own teams and plant.

What we did on the school site

• Cut and fill earthworks across the whole site to formation levels, including rock and hard dig
• Reinforced concrete strip and pad foundations, column bases with cast-in holding-down bolts, and a lift pit
• Substructure brickwork and blockwork, damp-proofing and radon protection
• Foul and surface-water drainage, precast manholes and cellular soakaways
• Land drainage to the sports pitches and a fenced multi-use games area (MUGA)
• Roads, car park, footpaths and playground, with kerbing and surfacing
• Bin store and cycle shelter bases, habitat areas and soft landscaping

What we did on the public highway (Section 278)

• New and widened carriageway, footways and a cycleway on Silver Street, Llynwood Close and Silver Close
• Precast kerbing, tactile and corduroy paving, road markings and signs
• New foul and surface-water drainage in sizes up to 450mm diameter, with precast manholes
• Road lighting columns and CCTV masts, with associated ducting
• Service trenching and ducting for the diversion of Wessex Water, Western Power Distribution (WPD) and BT apparatus
• A run of around 60m of precast box-culvert units, installed as a surface-water attenuation tank in the new footway

The challenge

The Section 278 works were carried out in a live public highway under traffic management, running alongside ISG’s school-build programme. The box-culvert attenuation tank was craned in section by section into a live footway, and we coordinated three statutory undertakers along the same corridor to keep the works moving.

The outcome

We completed both packages to hand ISG a finished school platform and an upgraded public highway serving the new Norton Hill Primary School.

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We were the concrete, stone masonry and paving contractor for Kier Construction and Willmott Dixon on the new Bristol & Bath Science Park ("SPark").

What we delivered

• 4,000m² of 90mm granite paving in various sizes, colours and finishes
• 2,000m² of granite kerbs and channels
• 500m² of stone walling, plus hundreds of metres of vertical granite cladding and copings
• 700m³ of pumped concrete in preparation for paving
• Steintec bedding and jointing mortars throughout, a system we had already proven on multiple schemes

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We were on site for over two years on this logistically demanding city-centre scheme, with more than 200,000 people passing through the works each day. Delivery meant tight sequencing and traffic management with the public alongside us throughout.

What we delivered

• Full groundworks, including ducting and drainage
• Over 8,000m² of kerbing, paving, setts and cobbles
• Installation of large granite seating and planter units

E.J. McGrath have recently completed the natural stone paving and hard landscaping elements of a £9.6m remodelling of Bristol City Centre. My involvement was as a Client’s Representative, and I am delighted to advise that the quality of the paving work carried out by this contractor was exceptionally high, and their engagement with the Client team exemplary.

I have over 40 years’ experience and have never before been presented with such high-quality work requiring the minimum of supervision. McGrath’s team are quite exceptional and take huge pride in every aspect of every element, with a ‘do it once and do it right’ work ethic.

Whilst there were many challenges throughout, the end result is a high-quality plaza at the very heart of this major city, incorporating a public transport hub. E.J. McGrath can be justly proud of this fine public space, it was a pleasure to work with them.

M.J. Brewer I.Eng MICE, Civil & Contracts Project Manager, Strategic City Transport, Bristol City Council

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