Work for South Somerset District Council, after going through the extended procurement requirements to get onto the Council lists we have just completed out third job for them

The first was to correct the levels in the bed of a stream at Merriott to reduce the silting upstream of the new bed protection. The second job involved raising the flood banks at two domestic properties at Ilminster on behalf of the Council, this will protect the properties in time of flood. The third job was a days work to clear the river channel upstream of a council structure. All small jobs, but each is local and makes use of our capabilities and knowledge connected with working in or near water.

Bushy Park. The start of the year saw us embark on our third visit to Bushy Park near Hampton Court for the Royal Parks. This visit involved desilting of Keepers River, through some garden areas. All the silt was pumped to a disposal area about 500m from the work site, this eliminated the damage that would have normally occured in the garden if the silt had been dumpered out.The excavators and ancillary plant moved into the site on timber boards which were then removed so that the grass did not suffer. In our first week on site we saw the snow that paralysed London, however our team managed to get 120 miles to work and were only half an hour late! The end of the project saw beautiful spring weather and the daffodils emerging around the area we worked in. The Client was delighted with the outcome and congratulated the team on their efforts.

Faggoting and Spilling, these old techniques for river bank restoration involving tying in bunches of hazel rods (Faggoting) or weaving in live willow branches (spilling) are still used to provide a firm edge to a watercourse. Whilst at Bushy Park this year we carried out extensive bank revetment using these techniques to repair badly eroded banks along sections of river and 2 lakes.

Using long reach excavators and machines fitted with grabs we took down some 120 alders and desilted the canal plantation for the Royal Parks at Bushy. We first looked at this work about 5 years ago and were finally asked to carry out the works this spring. The area has been transformed and the Parks are now going to carry out the landscaping, finally opening to the public for the first time in many years.

A local resident at Bushy Park supervising our work

Specialist silt removal equipment in use - Designed and built by our own engineers.

Our long reach excavator loading a tracked dumper.