The brief

Alun Griffiths engaged EJM to self-deliver the civils and hard landscaping at the heart of the regeneration: to take up the existing streets, install new drainage and kerb lines, and lay the natural stone paving that gives the town centre its finished character. The work covered several linked streets and had to be phased around live shopfronts, traffic and pedestrians.

What we did

• Site clearance, carriageway breakout and earthworks across Fore Street, Holyrood Street, Boden Street and Howards Row, with subsoiling, topsoiling and Type 1 build-up to hold the finished levels
• New surface-water drainage: pipe runs and connections, gullies, chambers and ACO channel outlets
• Granite, stone and HB2 kerbing, bullnose and drop kerbs, with dished, linear and stone channels, including the Blue Lias rill channels through Fore Street and Holyrood Street
• Natural stone paving laid in phases: flagstone paving, setts and Blue Lias flags, with tactile paving to crossings
• Blue Lias masonry and repointing, reusing historical flag paving to blend levels into existing surfaces
• Tree pits and planting, plus careful removal, storage and reinstatement of street furniture: benches, litter bins, cycle racks, a BT phone box, post box, notice boards and a public sculpture

Working in a live town centre

The scheme ran through a trading high street, so access, traffic management and pedestrian routes were controlled street by street and phase by phase. On Fore Street our teams uncovered an unstable culvert beneath the carriageway; we carried out investigation and CCTV surveys and installed a 20mm mild steel plate, around 12m long, to bridge it so paving could continue safely. Existing bedding depths and ground conditions varied across the site and were reworked to keep the new stone paving true to level.

The outcome

EJM handed over a fully remodelled town centre streetscape: new drainage, kerbing, natural stone paving and reinstated street furniture across Fore Street, Holyrood Street and Boden Street, all self-performed with our own teams and plant as part of Chard’s public realm regeneration.

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The brief

The University wanted a coherent, high quality landscape setting for the completed building: new courtyards, entrances, steps and circulation routes that tied the contemporary works back into the historic villas, while keeping the surrounding campus open and in use throughout. EJM held the contract directly with the University and self-delivered the groundworks and hard landscaping, with specialist subcontractors for the balustrade, lighting and soft-landscaping elements.

What we delivered

The works were set out across nine zones covering the entrance courtyards, the Level 0 inner courtyard, the main entrance, the driveway and the cycle and motorcycle parking areas. Scope included:

• Groundworks and excavation, with new drainage, gullies, linear slot drains and manhole works
• Reinforced in-situ concrete stairs, retaining walls and foundations
• Hard landscaping in concrete paving, tactile paving, and granite-aggregate setts and kerbs
• Heritage stonework, rebuilding and repointing Brownstone walling and laying dressed Pennant stone paving to match the existing villas
• Brick and blockwork planting and retaining walls with stone copings
• Resin-bound and coloured tarmac surfacing to the footpaths and driveway
• Frameless laminated glass balustrades, handrails and gates
• External lighting supply and installation, including recessed LED fittings set into the stone walls
• Street furniture, planters, benches, cycle stands, bollards and tree grilles

Working around a live building

The building was occupied and the surrounding streets stayed in use, so the works were carefully phased and access kept clear at all times. Where the paving programme was extended, EJM laid temporary surfacing to maintain a safe fire-escape route from the building and to protect raised services, keeping the site safe for building users throughout.

The outcome

EJM handed over a finished external realm that blends contemporary paving, lighting and glazed balustrades with restored heritage stone, completing the setting for the University’s Humanities Building.

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The brief

The ramp surfaces had failed, and the concrete deck beneath, which sits directly above plant that powers the building, needed a new waterproofing system. The stone flagstones lining each ramp are a defining feature of the entrance and had to be retained. The package combined heritage stonework with deck waterproofing and asphalt surfacing on a live, publicly accessible civic building.

What we did

• Surveyed and recorded the position and orientation of every feature flagstone before lifting, so each could be returned to its original location and pattern
• Carefully lifted the flagstones and removed them off site for specialist cleaning and sealing, replacing any beyond repair with carefully selected matching stone
• Broke out the failed asphalt and weak lean-mix concrete down to the sound substrate, with noisy breaking out carried out at weekends and out of hours to avoid disturbing occupants
• Applied a liquid-applied waterproofing membrane to the prepared deck, turned up and bonded to the stone channels either side, with integrity testing before resurfacing
• Laid new Tarmac Ulticolour coloured asphalt to the required falls, then re-laid the cleaned flagstones on a mortar bed to the original pattern
• Sealed all joints with colour-matched sealant, renewed the channel white lines, reworked the fire hydrant chamber and cover, and removed, stored and reinstated the cycle racks on shallow fixings that do not penetrate the new membrane

The challenge

Because the deck sits over plant serving the building, the exposed concrete had to be made watertight at the end of each shift, by permanent membrane or temporary covering, so nothing below was ever at risk. Every flagstone was handled to protect its surface and arrises so the finished ramps matched the original.

The outcome

We handed back two fully waterproofed and resurfaced entrance ramps with their historic flagstones conserved and reinstated, delivered on time and within budget around a live building with public access maintained throughout.

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EJ McGrath were appointed as main contractor for our repeat client North Somerset Council to transform the dilapidated Precinct in Portishead.

Working to a strict budget, we provided new footpaths along a section of the High Street and paved the entire precinct.

Works included

• Paving Block Paving, Resin Bound Paving and Kerbing
• Addressing drainage issues
• Installation of street furniture
• Traffic management for minimal disruption to pedestrians, shops and road users and maintaining the highest levels of Health and Safety in this busy public environment.

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We were the specialist paving and stone masonry contractor for Fitzgerald Contractors on One Central Square, part of the £89m Cardiff Central Square / Transport Interchange scheme, which includes the BBC Wales studios.

What we delivered

• Over 4,000m² of granite paving
• Kerbing and cladding
• Feature bench installation

Drawing on our public realm experience, we delivered the package on budget and on programme.

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We worked for Birse Coastal as paving and stone masonry contractor on the £32m Weston sea defence scheme. On site for over two years, our role grew continually from the early stages through to completion.

Paving

• Over 13,000m² of granite paving along Weston seafront, 60mm Chinese granite in varied lengths, widths, colours and finishes, all laid to strict ratios to meet the vision of project artist John Maine RA

Walling

• Cladding and coping to the new engineered secondary splash wall, over 2km long, with Blue Lias to the seaward face, reclaimed Mendip Limestone to the landward face, and Caithness sandstone copings
• Restoration and rebuilding of Victorian walls using traditional materials and methods

Seating

• Over 30 seats installed, from Limestone and Portland stone blocks to finely crafted multi-piece granite seats, including a special artistic piece at the ‘Waves’ slipway

Result: A multi-year package on a flagship coastal scheme, where consistent quality earned an expanding scope.

The relationship between Birse Coastal and EJ McGrath at the Weston-super-Mare Sea Defence and Seafront Enhancements project began in 2007. From a small order for some masonry work, the relationship has continually grown, culminating in a significant subcontract order for complex paving and masonry over the length of the 2km-long seafront. EJ McGrath has demonstrated a commitment to quality and safety at all stages and has made a significant contribution to the success of the project.

Chris Hill, Project Manager, Birse Coastal

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EJ McGrath’s role

Working as public realm and groundworks subcontractor to Skanska, EJM took the scheme from a run-down, level-constrained site through bulk earthworks, drainage and surface-water management to a finished, high-specification civic space. The package brought together heavy civil engineering and fine finishing trades on a live town-centre site under tight programme pressure.

Scope of works

• Bulk level reduction, with over 3,000 tonnes of earth removed
• A new encapsulated attenuation tank holding around 250,000 litres of surface water
• New service ducting, plus ACO and Gatic drainage
• Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) base construction
• Relocation, restoration and extension of the historic Italian Garden walls
• Bespoke cast white concrete cladding, copings and an integral stage
• Iroko timber seating, granite kerbing and over 4,000m² of granite paving
• A high-volume illuminated feature fountain

Delivering on site

Sequencing was everything. EJM coordinated deep groundworks and attenuation installation ahead of the surfacing and stonework, integrating new drainage and ducting beneath thousands of square metres of granite paving while protecting and reinstating the gardens’ Italianate heritage features, all to a non-negotiable completion date.

Outcome

The result is a durable, high-quality civic square and restored Italian Gardens reconnected to the town centre. The completed scheme went on to win the Pedestrian Environment award in 2020, recognition of a complex public realm project delivered to a high standard and on programme.

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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.

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Continuing our work in Weston, Princess Royal Square was a highly varied scheme, dozens of types of granite paving, cladding, masonry and seating, each completed to a high standard. We laid over 4,000m² of granite paving using the Steintec mortar system, completing in February 2011.

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Working for Oakbourne Construction, we delivered the paving to four new community fire stations across Gloucestershire, completing in July 2012. Careful coordination with the other trades kept the project management team’s programme on track.

What we delivered

• Over 800m² of high-specification 80mm granite paving, internal and external
• Flood-grouted to full joints using our specialist grouting machine
• New stations at Gloucester North, Cheltenham East, Gloucester South and a community life-skills centre

We have employed E J McGrath to lay granite paving on several large, high-specification projects, at S Park One in 2011 and on four fire stations for Gloucester Fire Service in 2012. On all the projects it has been a pleasure to work with them from start to finish.

We received excellent specialist advice on design, specification and pricing early in the projects, which we were able to present to the design team to improve the quality and buildability of the paving. The pre-contract pricing and health and safety paperwork was well documented and completed promptly.

Despite unpredictable delivery dates on the granite, which was imported from China, E J McGrath remained flexible with commencement dates and worked hard with adequate manpower to meet programme targets. The standard of workmanship is excellent, as was the operatives’ attitude to health & safety and coordination with other trades.

The final accounts were agreed amicably and promptly; any variations were fairly priced and, where possible, agreed before the work was carried out. Throughout all the projects the service we received was helpful, reliable and professional.

Justin Littlechild, Director, Oakbourne Construction Ltd

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