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CASE STUDY

Heysham Drive, Carlisle

R G Parkins & Partners Ltd were appointed by Two Castles Housing Association to provide Civil and Structural Engineering services for their residential development off Low Meadow in Carlisle.  The development comprised 29 new timber framed properties designed to Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

The initial feasibility work for the site comprised a Phase I Desk Study and Phase II Intrusive Ground Investigation, followed by a Flood Risk Assessment and Surface Water Drainage Strategy in accordance with the mandatory requirements for the Code for Sustainable Homes.

This quickly established that the site was primarily underlain by impermeable glacial clay and therefore an infiltration type Sustainable Drainage System would not be appropriate for the development.  A steeply sloping site further complicated the drainage strategy and therefore a precast concrete box attenuation tank and flow control chamber were designed as part of the surface water drainage strategy to alleviate future flooding.

Technical Approval was gained for the design and were instrumental in the Section 104 Drainage Adoption with United Utilities and Section 38 Highway Adoption with Cumbria Highways.

Foundation and retaining wall designs were also more complex due to the presence of a significant number of mature trees across the Greenfield Site.  Foundations were therefore designed in accordance with NHBC requirements to accommodate the removal of high water demand trees in soils with a medium volume change potential.

Heysham Drive was constructed simultaneously as the adjoining Eden Housing Association development in which R G Parkins & Partners Ltd were also the appointed Engineer. Key to the success of both projects was the partnering approach. R G Parkins & Partners Ltd therefore worked closely with both Clients and Contractors to facilitate the transfer of design information to ensure that both schemes were completed on time and within budget.

Client: Two Castles Housing Association

Principal Contractor: Cubby Construction Ltd

Consulting Engineers: R G Parkins & Partners Ltd

Architect: HMH Architects Ltd

Employers Agent: Elliott Associates

Consulting Engineers: BES Consulting Engineers Ltd

Contract Value: £3.35 million

Contract Period: 58 weeks

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