| Decades of silt built up in Queen’s Pool on the Blenheim Palace Estate needed to be removed to prevent this UNESCO World Heritage Site from drying out completely and becoming lost.
The scope of works was to remove circa 300,000m3 (believed to be the largest inland dredging project in the UK) from the lakebed which in some areas was down to less that 30cm in depth to restore it to it 18th century condition. In addition, reed beds were constructed to significantly improve water quality and future proof the retained habitat. Prior to dredging the temporary works including vegetation removal, archaeological investigations and construction of a 2Km haul road and offloading wharf across the historic park. The Dredging programme was to be 40 weeks commencing in June 2022 using a bespoke set up of standard excavators with large digging buckets on pontoon platforms. The machines were equipped with GPS guidance systems to ensure accuracy and placing spoil into brand new hoppers built specifically for the project. Material was then transferred to a temporary offloading point and into awaiting A25 Dumper trucks fitted with sealed bodies. The temporary haul road was installed to transport the lake material across the estate to the deposition site. Cells were constructed to contain the wet material to be placed and allowed to dry. A new landform will be created within the estate grounds. |
Contract: NEC 3 / 4 A,B,C,D,E or JCT
Started: April 2021
Completed: August 2023
Client contact: Dave Sharp