At the end of March, the Invasives team started a new project at the site of the former Birmingham Wheels complex in central Birmingham. The 40 Acre site has been controversially taken back into the control of Birmingham City Council with a plan for redevelopment. Japanese knotweed was present over the site in numerous locations and Ebsford won the competitive tender process to establish the quantities present and commence a control program.
As part of our tender submission the site was surveyed by Alex Brook, to establish the true extent of the Japanese knotweed issue that was present. This was undertaken during the latter part of 2021 and the plans used to prepare our tender submission and cost the works. The plans generated are excellent and win the department so much work, highlighting the need for accurate records and showcasing the skill and attention to detail fostered by the Ebsford team. At the start of the project 74 areas of JK had been identified across the site covering a total of 3140m², however once excavation works started it quickly became apparent that this would not be a straightforward undertaking!
Extensive networks of rhizome were found around the areas of JK that had been recorded and as a lucky consequence of being delayed from starting the work until the Spring, we were able to identify new growth appearing on an almost daily basis.
The program of works consisted of identifying and excavating all the areas of JK on site to stockpile the contaminated materials at a central point. The central point became several different stockpiles, suitably located to make the excavation works take as short a period as possible. Even then the volumes moved made this exercise challenging and careful site management by the team was required.
Site works took almost 2.5 months to complete with the stockpiles all fenced to prevent accidental disturbance. Monitoring over the summer months confirmed the expertise of the supervisors with minimal regrowth found across the extensive areas. Further works are anticipated to complete the eradication of the Japanese knotweed on site.
