C.R.Reynolds Construction & Development - Established 1980

Action
Supply and installation of over 2000 tonnes of rock armour stone to protect the flood bank from further erosion. The rocks had to be transported 700 metres across rural land to the point of deposition adjacent to the narrow flood bank. Specialist plant was used to transport and carefully position the rocks to the exacting specification requirements.

Stakeholders
There were numerous stakeholders to consider for this project, so careful planning and consistent communication was necessary throughout. The rock armour stone had to be transported across private land, so we liaised closely with the landowner upon contract award to ensure that they approved of the timing of the transportation.

Furthermore, as Hawkins Point is a designated Special Area of Conservation, it was imperative that we worked proactively with concerned stakeholders including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, to ensure that works were completed in a sensitive manner, mitigating the impact on the environment

Challenges and Solutions

• Working with an intertidal zone – Works were to be carried out in the tidal zone of a designated Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and SSSI. As well as the tide posing a challenge, there was also a significant environmental consideration due to the proximity of birds feeding within the intertidal zone, especially at high tide. After careful planning, we subsequently phased our works to avoid high tides, suspending work an hour either side of the high tides to protect local wildlife and our colleagues

Challenges and Solutions (continued)

• Presence of salt marshes – Another notable constraint that we highlighted was the presence of salt marshes adjacent to the work site. These marshes are essential to the local eco-system, and it was therefore necessary that we worked around them in a sensitive nature, in order to minimise any potential environmental impact of the works

Result
Through consistent and proactive liaison with our Client, stakeholders and supply chain, we successfully completed the project within the proposed budget and strict environmental licence requirements. This was despite additional works being requested by our client.

We also completed the works two weeks ahead of schedule, owing to our proactive approach and our willingness to work over weekends to get the job done.

The Difference We Made
This river bank protection scheme will protect the area in the future, mitigating the risk of flooding, and the subsequent potential economic damage and loss of farmland. We completed works sympathetically to ensure that the local eco-system was protected throughout the project.