Angel Bank, Horwich (COMPLETED)

When a flooding river tributary caused bankside erosion that threatened to undermine the garden of one of its properties, Morris Homes Customer Care team turned to Matthews & Leigh for assistance.

Access to the river bank was extremely restricted due to abundant shrub and tree growth, couple with boggy and uneven ground.

Working in partnership with Morris Homes’ technical department, Matthews & Leigh was able to come up with a solution that reinforced the river bank with natural glacial boulders, whilst at the same time assuring minimal disturbance to the existing fauna and wildlife.

Specialist bogmaster excavators, designed not to sink into soft ground, were utilised to load the one tonne boulders into position. But not before a safe and level platform had been dug adjacent to the river side.

The 20 tonnes of boulders and 60 tonnes of loose natural stone infill were transported from the nearest offloading point some 250 metres away by small dump trucks.  To ensure minimum damage to the vegetation, hardwood bog mats were laid across the full route from the offload point to the river bank reinforcement works.

The river was protected from any possible fuel spillage from the machines by a temporary sand bag barricade and spill kits were kept at hand to be utilised in the event of an unlikely accident.

Within four weeks of completion, the bankside vegetation had recovered to such an extent that there was no noticeable evidence that any work had been undertaken.