Prior to construction and as part of the bulk earthworks, foundation and landscaping of the scheme at Watermore school, FP McCann’s retaining precast concrete L Walls and horizontal prestressed panels have been installed to the perimeter boundary of the site as part of a king post system. This system accommodates the changes in land elevation.

Once complete later this year, the Watermore school, in Frampton Cotterell, near Bristol, will comprise of 12 classrooms, a school hall and a kitchen along with multi-use open space and new car parking.

Midas Group, one of the UK’s leading independent construction and property service companies secured the South Gloucestershire Council contract and has employed the services of Chepstow based groundworks and civil engineer Certus Construction to undertake ground infrastructure and drainage works.

The 50 linear metres of retaining L Wall has been supplied in heights ranging from 1 metre to 2.5 metres and fixed on a concrete base foundation. Where heavy tree rooting prevented the laying of a solid foundation, galvanised steel king posts were driven into the ground to receive the horizontal prestressed concrete panels.

There were 111 square metres of 160mm thick concrete panel walling installed to heights of approximately 3.0 metres. As each section of the L wall and king post wall was completed, the soil was backed up to achieve the required site levels.

Both the prestressed precast concrete wall panels and L Walls have been supplied from FP McCann’s Lydney factory in Gloucestershire. With a strict delivery window between 9.00 am and 3.00 pm loads were scheduled to minimise disruption around the existing school day.

Commenting on the L Wall and King Post Wall systems, David Peacey Director at Certus Construction says, “The reinforced concrete L Wall units are simple to install and provide an effective robust soil retention barrier. Prestressed concrete horizontal walling panels from FP McCann are the obvious choice to complement such a king post system. Speed of construction, strength and durability of the finished walls is key to the overall build programme.”