The repairs include rebuilding 23 metres of the wall to strengthen it to reduce the risk of a future collapse.
Concrete will be used to reinforce the existing wall, which will be covered with the original stone recovered from the brook, to maintain the wall's natural appearance, in keeping with the local environment.
Friday 21 June 2024
We’ve made a good start to the retaining wall repairs, with materials delivered on site on time and the much drier weather is giving us a helping hand. Our team will be on site over the weekend.
So far, this first week, we have:
Set up the site operations, including cabins and installed signs for the diversion route.
Set up the pedestrian and cycle access. Some people have chosen to walk straight through our site. For your own safety and that of our workforce, please keep to the marked route through our operations. Motorcyclists and mopeds are not permitted through the works.
Conducted a radar scan of the road to identify any buried utility pipes and cables. Dig trial holes to confirm location of pipes. This work could not be done until the road was closed.
Placed reminders about the changes to the bus services at all local bus stops in Bradwell to alert people to catch the shuttle bus at Batham Road.
Installed the pipes and pumps to create a flume to help us safely divert the Bradwell Brook, which is next to our site.
Worked with our ecologist to safely remove several crayfish and 2 bullhead fish downstream.
Started work to remove the existing wall parapet to the road surface, removing the coping stones which will be cleaned up, removing all the old mortar and then stored off site.
Friday 28 June 2024
Following the positive feedback to our last update, we’ve got some more news to share.
So far, this week, we have:
Used our 8.5 tonne excavator to remove the existing road surface on Stretfield Road. With the site exposed, the earth behind the collapsed retaining wall appears to be firm, helping to minimise the risk of any further collapses and additional work on site.
Removed 23 metres of the retaining wall parapet by hand to the level of the road.
Completely removed a 3 metre section of the old retaining wall to the level of the stream, to lay the new, stronger concrete foundations which we'll use to rebuild the retaining wall. We've laid 23 metres of the new foundations so far. The foundations have been dug 600mm into the underlying bedrock for additional strength.
Reused the stonework we removed from the original retaining wall to cover over - 'face up' - the new concrete supporting wall to 1 metre in height, restoring the original appearance of the wall.
Enhanced the diversion, road closed, don’t use sat navs signs around the Hope Valley – close to 100 signs are now in place.
Spoken to several haulage companies about why their vehicles were in the centre of Castleton and asked them to remind their drivers to follow our diversion signs.
Reported an HGV to Derbyshire Police for enforcement action after it was spotted along Winnats Pass, breaking the weight limit along the route.
Friday 5 July 2024
We’re making good progress on site and, subject to good weather and no unforeseen issues, we remain on schedule.
This week, we've rebuilt a further 6 metres of the retaining wall to a height of approx. 1.2 metres.
In summary, this week, we have:
- continued to remove sections of the old retaining wall, working on 4-6 metre stretches of the wall at a time
- dug new foundations up to 0.6 metres deep into the underlying shale bed rock. The bed rock is very firm, requiring the minimum depth foundations
- poured a new concrete foundation and a concrete wall up to 1.2 metres high
- faced the concrete with the original stonework up to a height of around 1.2 metres
We will repeat this process, step-by-step, to gradually rebuild the entire retaining wall back to a height of 2 metres to be level with the road surface. A further 0.9 metres of wall will be needed on top of this, to restore the stone safety parapet.
Friday 12 July 2024
Despite a much wetter week on site, we've been able to maintain progress and remain on schedule.
This week, we've rebuilt a further 10 metres of the parapet safety wall to a height of approximately 1.5 metres. This is double sided and completes this section to full height.
We have just 5 metres of the old wall left to remove in the next few days before we focus on rebuilding the remaining sections of wall.
In summary, this week, we have:
- continued to remove sections of the old retaining wall, working on 4 to 6 metre stretches of the wall at a time
- completely rebuilt a 10 metre long by 1.5 metre high section of the wall
- built another concrete footing 2.5 metres in length and rebuilt the stone wall to approximately 1.2 metres high
Thursday 18 July 2024
Full details about the arrangements made by Severn Trent Water to maintain access to public transport services during their Grindleford utility roadworks are now available.