This project was a joint venture for clients Maytrees Medical Practice and Eastville Medical Practice in Bristol’s Eastville suburb. The former 1980s era building was in urgent need of updating. This was to welcome better treatment suites and consulting rooms, a midwifery centre, and an on-site pharmacy. The new £4m 1,800m² health centre and medical facility building includes an adjacent parking area. This required follow-up landscaping and planting upon completion of the build phase. Rydon Construction asked Enviromesh to design and install a 45 linear metre mass gravity retaining wall system. This provided a boundary to the lower car park. The wall would also act as a retaining structure for the additional parking area above, adjacent to the medical practice.
WORKING ON SITE
Due to sharing the main site area with the ground works contractor, this resulted in a congested working space. Enviromesh complete rigorous checks in terms of site-specific details to ensure the health and safety of workers. This ensures the site will accommodate the flow of materials to the site.
A few weather-related challenges cause a slight delay in the foundation works and the initial phase of construction. However, once the reinforced concrete hardened off, work to construct the wall progressed according to plan. During phase one works an electrical substation part way through the wall required relocation. As a result, phase one works ceased to allow completion of this work.
GABION RETAINING WALL
A split-level gabion retaining wall construction meant working at height. This resulted in added health and safety precautions being put in place. This allowed for operating and handling heavy equipment and materials while ensuring the appropriate edge protection was in place.
The wall was 2.45 metres high and continued for some 44.25 metres in length, terminating in a clean finish against an existing site boundary wall. Using a 4mm bi-axial welded mesh basket in the construction, the gabion mesh baskets are BBA certified with a 70-year design life.
Rockfill material was 6G Mendip Limestone from Somerset with a 6N granular backfill compacted in layers not exceeding 300mm, against a non-woven needle-punched geotextile membrane which was also supplied by Enviromesh.
