Stuart | April 10, 2013 | 0 Comments
The Shenfield project is well under way and making good progress in its 2nd week.
The team have installed a new french drainage system within the boggy lawn area with 5 lateral pipe runs of wrapped french drain pipe totalling 300 linear metres.
All trenches have been filled with gravel and the soggy topsoil is being spread out in thin layers to dry out in the spring sunshine.
The aim this week is to condition the soil in dry conditions, smash the soil structure with intense aeration, drying and rotorvation, the soil will be blended with grit, sand and organic compost to achieve a well oxygenated & friable soil structure which will remain porous.
Once the soil conditioning is complete, the entire subsoil formation will be covered with a porous membrane, a 15cm deep gravel layer will be installed, then another layer of porous membrane before the conditioned topsoil is replaced on top of the drainage system.
Whilst this process is carried out, the groundwork team will install a lighting cables and irrigation pipes for the new lawn irrigation system.
Today the sun was out, we managed to part condition approx 80 tonnes of topsoil, theres rain on the forecast so we may have to hold on that process until its dry again, all part of the challenges of achieving perfect soil structure for the new lawn and planting.
The picture below shows the main ditch being cleaned out, all rotted vegetation and silt is cleaned out and the clay walls of the ditch are patted to seal the sides and retain the water within the ditch. We will build a new sleeper bridge next to enable the ride on mower to pass in a few weeks time.
We will keep you updated with progress, we pray for sunshine, approx 3 weeks would be great, once the lawn turf is installed it can rain as much as possible. We live in hope!
