Bayswater

Overview
The Portsmouth Street project was a fantastic opportunity that demonstrates our ability and expertise as we were tasked with providing power, phone and water connections to 13 new builds as a part of a 44-home residential development. With connections from multiple access points and a tight timeline – we collaborated efficiently with other trades to ensure seamless service installation for the client.

Works included the following:
• Trench digging – removing dirt and hard filling underground services with 300mm of gap 7 aggregate, in preparation for remaining gap 65 backfill
• Installation of 2 telecom chambers to connect to the street supply with a 50mm duct – ensuring fibre connections to the 13 new builds
• Installed a 120mm aluminium power cable to supply 4x power pits. The cabling included 3 breach joins with a tail down at each end which is where bimetallic connectors were used to with copper ends on the aluminium cable
• Ducting from the pits and chambers to the house boundaries so that connections to the individual houses could be completed even after concrete was poured and scaffolding removed

Challenges
Safety is always our top priority, particularly working in such proximity to other trades. To ensure the safety of everyone on site, we’d triple check plans and measurements, highlighting boundaries, rows, foot paths and set up exclusions zones for where our digger would be working and where trenches will be open, communicating with the project manager on next steps with each phase of our works to ensure we were clear of other trades on site.

Another big challenge for this job was future proofing works so that connections and ducting can still be accessed and managed at later stages of the overall build after concrete is poured. Communication with the project manager and other trades was key as we marked out the trench lines for services.

Timeline
As with most jobs - the weather presented a unique challenge. Stormy weather meant our dug out trenches would fill with water. We had protocols in place to ensure this water was routinely pumped out, allowing for works to continue. In addition, our team sealed off stock piles of clay by compacting it down, preventing it from washing onto the road. These measures ensured we were able to get on with the job with minimal disruption.