Clearing the way for new homes with the Ebsford Enviroscreen Darlington Japanese knotweed Screening

A large-scale residential development was planned for Alexander Street, approximately 1km east of Darlington town centre; this project was of importance as it would deliver a large volume of social housing to an area in significant need of renovation, having been previously classified as being in decline. However, a key barrier to this presented itself in the form of approximately 6000m³ of Japanese knotweed on the site. An infestation of this size poses great financial impediment, and can often deter developers; this along with the environmental impacts is a significant technical issue which Ebsford successfully overcame.

Off-site disposal of the Japanese knotweed infestation was also discounted for a multitude of reasons: environmental impacts, social impacts, and financial costs. This method would have meant a vast number of lorry loads would need to be removed from site, and would also have had an effect on the wellbeing of those in the surrounding area, in that it would have significantly increased the volume of traffic and disruption in a predominantly residential area.

Taking all of these factors into account, Ebsford proposed the innovative Enviroscreen solution. As a result, 96% less waste was required to be removed from site than originally intended; the project delivered success in every aspect, with environmental impacts considerably minimised, and huge financial savings for the client - Ebsford saved the client approximately 50% on the traditional dig and dump method. The scheme may not have been able to go ahead with this option, as proposed outline costs were as high as £400,000.

Ebsford were commissioned to provide consultancy on the POS and attenuation ponds, to incorporate the fine processed material from the process back into the site. This was done underneath the open wildlife and pond areas with 600mm of clean capping from elsewhere on site. Material re-use was maximised on this site, a headline benefit of the Enviroscreen method. Ebsford also worked actively to utilise local temporary labour and plant hire for the duration of the project.