D committed to building high quality new homes across the West Country for more than thirty years . As a wholly owned subsidiary of London and Devonshire Trust , they have built over 1500 new homes and created over thirty new communities . One such development at Gwallon Keas , St Austell , is built on clay laden soil and they encountered a common problem facing new build developers . During construction , the use of heavy machinery can unavoidably cause compaction panning in areas designated to be the gardens of new houses . Even with land drainage installed and soil ripped , the compaction can reach such a depth normal treatment will not relieve it and provide the natural drainage needed . Consequently , with seven gardens of the new houses , severe waterlogging was occurring .
AERATION , IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE
Terrain Aeration hitches a lift
evonshire Homes has been
D committed to building high quality new homes across the West Country for more than thirty years . As a wholly owned subsidiary of London and Devonshire Trust , they have built over 1500 new homes and created over thirty new communities . One such development at Gwallon Keas , St Austell , is built on clay laden soil and they encountered a common problem facing new build developers . During construction , the use of heavy machinery can unavoidably cause compaction panning in areas designated to be the gardens of new houses . Even with land drainage installed and soil ripped , the compaction can reach such a depth normal treatment will not relieve it and provide the natural drainage needed . Consequently , with seven gardens of the new houses , severe waterlogging was occurring .
To rectify it , they were given what they called ‘ some silly quotes ’ with no guarantee the solutions would work . A ground works contractor recommended compaction specialists Terrain Aeration and Devonshire Homes decided to proceed with them . However , there was just one further problem , how to get the Terrain Aeration ’ s Tracker Terralift machine , compressor and aggregate backfill material into the gardens with limited access .
The solution was a crane presented itself with the arrival of a crane to lift bags of topsoil into the gardens . Whilst Terrain Aeration has had machines lifted before , they have never been this high . The fences between the seven gardens had been taken down , so the Tracker Terralift could move along the gardens to do its work . This comprises the machine ’ s JCB road hammer and probe driving down to a depth of one metre .
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It is a solution Terrain Aeration has specialised in for over thirty years , treating areas ranging from back gardens to sports pitches , golf courses , bowling greens , race courses , parks , trees and public spaces .
At this depth , a blast of compressed air is released to a maximum of 20Bar ( 280psi ). This has the effect of fracturing the compacted soil and creating fissures . The treatment is worked on a grid system at two metre spacings so the fissures interlink . As the probe withdraws , dried seaweed is injected which expands when it rains and keeps the fissure open to allow normal drainage . The probe holes are then backfilled with aggregate It is a solution Terrain Aeration has specialised in for over thirty years , treating areas ranging from back gardens to sports pitches , golf courses , bowling greens , race courses , parks , trees and public spaces . For Devonshire Homes , it provided a timely solution , albeit one which , on this occasion , needed a crane to carry it out .
Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www . terrainaeration . co . uk
42 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | September / October 2023