The project had major environmental benefits for the client as it meant the concrete railway sleepers they produce could be distributed nationally by rail reducing CO2 and keeping lorries off the road.

Approximately 2 hectares of vegetation and trees were removed – 1.5 hectares using larger machinery to efficiently clear the site. The remaining 0.5 hectares was initially to be cleared with hand tools under the guidance of an ecologist due to the potential for the presence of slowworms. Our range of machinery allowed us to provide a mini-digger with tree shear and mulching head, which we could demonstrate applied a lower ground pressure than a man on foot. This smaller equipment was used to clear some of the remaining areas, keeping the work with powered hand-tools to a minimum.