Unique precast underground cave
proves the perfect environment for
award-winning cheese
Working with MJ Fry Engineering of Martinstown in Dorset,
Milbury Systems (an FP McCann company) has created
an underground ‘cave’ near Dorchester to store and mature
cheese.
Designed and manufactured at Milbury’s Gloucester plant,
67 prestressed Vertical Cantilever (VC) panels and 38 solid
prestressed roof panels made up the bulk of the construction,
together with the necessary ancillaries and panel foundation
rebar needed to complete the project.
The ‘cave’ was installed after MJ Fry Engineering had
completed substantial groundworks, excavating a hole in the
side of a hill that was deep enough to accommodate a 3 metre
ef ective internal wall height, with an additional 3 to 4 metres
f
of soil / backfill on the external top. This was integral to the
design, to allow for an additional surcharge load from a light
duty tractor which mows the grass on the top of the soil fill.
The client, Ford Farm, an award winning cheese
manufacturer, is now using the cave to store and mature
cheese. Some of the joints in the prestressed panels have been
left unsealed to allow for nominal ingress of water into the
cave; this assists in the maturing process of the cheese stored
within it.
A cheese matured in the cave has already won its Dorset
producers a top industry award. A return to traditional cheese
making methods saw Ford Farm’s Traditional Farmhouse
Cheddar crowned Supreme Champion at the International
Cheese Awards. The prestressed, man-made cave – along
with the famous Wookey Hole natural caves – provide a
fantastic environment for the maturing
of Ford Farm cheese due to its constant
humidity and all year round temperature
which results in the cheese taking on a
deliciously distinctive flavour.