All Posts By

Blackoak

Jan 22
0

Sycamore

By | Case Studies for Housing Developments | No Comments

Blackoak recently completed a tank installation for our client Ringstones, on a 32 no. housing development at Sycamore Avenue in Burnley. This was a great opportunity to showcase our skills. The wheolite product tank that we installed as seen in the photo above was 21.5metres long and 4.4 metres wide. In this instance an attenuation tank crate method would not be adoptable by United Utilities meaning a design change. The depth that we were excavating was 2.5 to 3 metres deep. For the deep excavation we created step shoring to create a safe working space for the operatives involved. Due to size of the pipes, we used a 20 tonne excavator to lift the pipes safely into the excavation. On completion we then proceeded to surround the pipes with clean 20mm pipe bedding for protection. Once we had surrounded the pipes with pipe bedding, we then backfilled the excavation compacting in 150mm layers. Blackoak thoroughly enjoyed the works taken place and we would forward to installing many in the future.

Value: £800,000
Duration: 68 Weeks

Jan 22
0

Tay St

By | Case Studies for Housing Developments | No Comments

Blackoak are currently coming towards the end of the Tay Street project, a housing site consisting of 42 plots. As seen in the photos we take great pride in what we do. They also show some works including how we have installed all internal drainage to the plots, ensuring they are set to the correct measurements. Pipes have been secured by surrounding them in concrete to prevent any movement. Once the internal drainage is complete and the block and beam is in place, we begin prepping the floors for concrete screed. The photos show how we give additional visqueen to overlap the cavity and to prevent any concrete spillage on the brickwork. After the concrete has been installed in the plots, we will cut all the visqueen to ensure a tidy finish to the works taken place.

Value: £750,000
Duration: 52 Weeks

Jan 21
0

Euro Garages

By | Case Studies for EV Infrastructure | No Comments

Like all projects at Blackoak, we begin by making the work area safe for workers and members of the public. A thorough CAT Scan examination is completed to identify any services in areas of excavation.

Once we finished excavating, we were ready to pour the concrete bolt box sections, installed for a large canopy over hanging the charger bays. This was then followed by the installation of all charger bases and the ducting which connects them to the substation, and includes a layer of sand and electric tape used to identify the hazards; installation of timber shuttering to pour the concrete into for the base to sit on.

A short drain connection for surfacing water was connected on to the canopy and we were then ready for reinstatement.

Finally, a short trench had to be excavated across the road entrance to make way for and to connect a light on a traffic island, with a SMA Bitumen finish. We had traffic management in place to protect our workers from traffic, and the works took place at night due to the lower volumes of traffic.

Jan 19
0

Road Planing

By | Industry News | No Comments

Road planing, also known as cold planing, asphalt milling, or profiling, is the process of removing some of the surface on a road, allowing a new surface to be directly overlaid onto the sub layers of the existing. Road planing can remove anywhere from just enough thickness to level and smooth the surface, to a full depth removal.

What is the purpose?

One of the main reasons for milling a road surface is the recycling of the materials. The milling machines that tear up the paved surface in order to recycle it into aggregate in order to be used for a brand new aggregate project. Road planing is less time consuming and costly compared to the complete removal of the road surface. Also if only the surface layer is damaged with a pot hole for example, there is no need to remove the entire road surface which is structurally sound. Road planing can also remove distresses from the paved surface, therefore it will leave a smoother finish and longer lasting surface life. These distresses can include:
– Raveling – Aggregate becoming separated from the binder and loose on the road
– Bleeding – The binder (asphalt) coming up to the surface of the road
– Rutting – Formation of low spots in pavement along the direction of travel, usually in the wheel path
– Shoving – a washboard like effect opposite to the direction of travel
– Ride quality – uneven road surface such as swells, bumps, sag, or depressions
– Damage – resulting from accidents and/or fires

Ok, so what are the different types of road planing?

The Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association has defined five classes of road planing. These
classes are the following:
1. Class I – milling to remove surface irregularities
2. Class II – milling to uniform depth as shown on plans and specifications
3. Class III – the same as Class II but with the addition of cross slope
4. Class IV – milling to the base or subgrade (full depth)
5. Class V – milling to different depths at different locations

So what’s the process?

Pavement milling is achieved by using a heavy-duty piece of construction equipment called milling machines, or road planers. These machines use a large, rotating drum that removes and grinds the surface of the asphalt. The carbide cutters which cut the pavement are positioned in such a way that after being cut, the pavement is automatically moved to the centre of the drum, positioned to be collected onto the conveyor belt. For each class of road paving, a different cutter is used, such as micro milling where there are several times as many cutting teeth. These teeth are packed closely together to produce a smoother road surface compared to regular milling drums. Surely the recycled aggregate can’t be used again? Well you would be wrong the recycled aggregate from the paved surface is taken to a facility where under strict conditions it is added to new aggregate and asphalt cement or recycling agent to bind the two mixtures and reduce the mixtures environmental impact. Asphalt planings are often used as an aggregate substitute in highway and commercial construction forming part of a base or subbase material on roads and as a base layer for new build construction, driveways and car parking.

Jul 21
0

Trinity College

By | Case Studies for Modular Buildings | No Comments

We have found that when constructing new buildings to any commercial property, the requirement of disabled access is an extremely important element to be considered, especially on our modular school projects. Complications can arise due to the difficult positions of the builds and the nature of the area, and sometimes a certain level of ingenuity is required to achieve the high-quality disabled access we pride ourselves with.

When designing the ramp, we must ensure that the falls are within 1:12 and that the widths are maintained. To achieve this, we took the heights of our new building entrance and transferred it to the existing school building and came to conclusion that the most suitable solution was to design a 4-level ramp. Once this was decided and confirmed, we began with; installing timber shuttering form work, drilling H16 rebar uprights into the existing foundation, tying A393 steel mesh to each bar, and carefully pouring concrete into the shuttering to form the new concrete wall. The concrete was left to set for a few days before our operatives stripped the timber shuttering, ready to raise levels of the new path with well compacted MOT and finished off with an asphalt surface. Finally, the concrete wall was painted grey to give it an aesthetically pleasing finish.

Value: £18,000
Duration: 2 weeks

Jul 21
0

Penally Grange

By | Case Studies for Park Homes | No Comments

During our works on Penally Grange Lodge Park in Tenby, South Wales, there were residents present living on site, and thus we had to cause as little disruption as possible. We were given a deadline of 10 weeks from commencement, and completed the works in 8. The scope of works was to install eight 22ft x 44ft concrete bases/pads with amenities and services. Each plot required water, electric, gas, data, sewage, and water drainage, along with structuring roads, footpaths, turfing gardens, building a patio area, tarmacking 2 parking spaces, and other
building works. Each pad was installed using C35 concrete complete with fibres, at a depth of 150mm. The site was then levelled and landscaped around the plots using the material which had been excavated. The patio and gardens were installed with a blue facing brick, and a blue grey Indian stone patio to finish.

Value: £96,000
Duration: 8 weeks