Good morning,

We have Adam back on site, and he is being prompt this morning by providing our update - thanks Adam.

Last weeks progress

• Pile mat is complete, with back blinding and ramp at south end of site 
• Placement of bags to coffer dam wall complete
• Debris netting to fencing install for dust/debris containment from pile operations complete
• Bulivant (Piling contractor) mobilised to site on Wednesday 10th August and commenced pile casing install - we did have a machine breakdown so progress was slow, all fixed now

Planned works for next week:

• Bulivant to continue with pile casing installation
• Scaffolders due Tuesday to extend handrails at north and south end of site, to allow demolition to be completed on existing parapet walls to be rebuild
• Esh to remove last of parapet walls at south and north end of site, approx. 3m at either end
• Esh to start remove of arisings from pile operations, and commence blinding works to capping beam formation

As always we are here to answer any questions, just drop me a line.

Christine

Good morning,

I hope you had a good weekend.  We just wanted to provide a plan of works for this week.

• Continuing with the excavation and piling mat
• Establishing working area
• Removing waste from riverbed
• Importing stone to provide hardstand for piling mat

Later this week, we should be in a position to start the piling work, which may cause an increase in vibration and noise.  The site team monitor this closely by the installed vibration monitor.  However if there any concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch.

We will continue to keep you all updated, as will our site team who are always happy to chat to our neighbours.

Christine

Good afternoon,

I am sure you have all seen the activity on site this week, as the team have been making the most of the good weather whilst it lasts.

They say a 'picture is worth a thousand words', so I thought you may all like to see the photos that Ged has sent over from site.  They have now removed the Himalayan Balsam from the opposite side of the bank.  A section of the wall has now been removed and the works on the cofferdam continues.   All of this is shown in the photos attached.

Adam returns to site next week and will hopefully provide an update on Monday or Tuesday of the next stage of our works.

Have a lovely weekend, and I hope the sun continues to shine for us all.

Christine

Good morning,

Just a quick update of what is going on this week on site.  No photos, but I will chase some for later this week or early next week.

This weeks activities

• On Monday the site team picked and bagged Balsam 5-10m both upstream and downstream of working area, both banks. Bag the plants, and leave on site to rot down. These will be disposed of at a later date off site,  in a manner to be agreed with the appropriate authorities
• The team will continue with cofferdam install
• They will also start to reduce ground level for pile mat. As our works progress, the existing dumpy bags to be lifted and  re-used in cofferdam. The Tilt and Turn machine is due on site Thursday morning which will allow the team to start this work
• As coffer dam progresses, they will Install clean stone under pile mat, inside of coffer dam, in river/existing failed retaining wall location
• The dirst delivery of clean stone (40 tonne) is on site today and will be installed later this week

As Adam is off on holiday, we have Ged on site overseeing the works for a couple of weeks.  I did ask Ged what a 'Tilt and Turn machine' is.  He was very kind and didn't laugh at my question, he even sent me a diagram to explain, which I have shared with you all. It is not the best image, just a photo of my screen, sorry.  The machine basically allows the operator to dig side ways, as well as straight ahead.  Due to the tightness of the working area on this site, this machine is a necessity.

Enjoy the rest of your week.  I will aim to provide a further update next week.

Christine

Good afternoon,

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I had a catch up with the site team today, and they have provided an update.

Last week I posted that that our team had identified Himalayan Bolsam.  As we said, our team did have to stop work to prevent the spread of contamination. See below for further details of events last week.

• The Balsam has now been removed from the existing dumpy bags stabilising failed section of wall. On Monday the Blsam was bagged and left on site as per PBA advise.
• PBA Advanced Ecology attended site last Wednesday to view Balsam situation and advise. Stone under the tarmac,(stripped last week) not considered contaminated.
• Existing Bags and stone in water course to be treated as contaminated waste.
• Started to place bags last Thursday to form cofferdam.
• Additional bags for coffer dam were delivered Friday, and we continued with cofferdam installation

I will post in the next few days, the planned work for this week.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Christine

Good afternoon,

I thought this would be a good time to introduce myself and the team, following an earlier post which I have responded to.

My name is Christine Taylor, I am the Customer Service Manager for Esh Stantec, the contract partner carrying out the work in your area.  I was supposed to visit site the other week with Rachel, but due to unforseen circumstances I could not make the appointment. However one of my team, Becky Gartland, did come out and meet some of our new neighbours, and provided my telephone number.  Whilst we are on site, carrying out the work, I am happy to help with any queries, and customers can contact me via the portal or phone.  

The Contracts Manager (Esh Stantec) for the work is Julian Curtis, some of you may have met Julian on the Teams events prior to the work beginning.  Adam Saunders is our Project Manager on site, who is happy to help our customers with any questions you may have.  I will hunt some photos down and post them on this portal, so names can be put to faces.

As I mentioned earlier, I have put a comment on a previous post but I think it worth reposting on here.

On Monday, our site team came across Himilayan Balsalm near to our works.  They immediately contacted the relevant agencies to prevent financial penalties, and to ensure the safe removal and disposal of the plant.  The team are liaising with both the Environment Agency and Newcastle City and are confident this is under control.  They have advised this will cause minimal impact on the timescale of our works.  If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I will endeavour to call out to site soon and hopefully meet some of our customers.  In the meantime, please stay safe.

Christine

Good afternoon

The next customer meeting will be held next Friday, 25 June at 4pm. You will receive the invitatin directy from your local councillors.

It would be great to see as many people as possible so we can share our plans to get started on site. If you are unable to attend and would like further information after the meeting please let me know.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thanks

Rachel

Hi everyone

We are hoping to hold the next customer meeting on Friday 25th June in the afternoon to share details of the next steps to getting the site mobilised and the work started.

Thank you for your patience.

Kind regards

Rachel

Good afternoon

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the long weekend.

Our start date on site has been put back a couple of weeks and we now currently estimating a  start date of week commencing  Monday 5th July. I’m sorry for this slight delay which is because of some last minute updates to the contractual element of the project impacting on the start date.

I’m pleased to let you know that the 20mph speed limit on Killingworth Road will be in place from Monday 28th June for the duration of our work.

Have a lovely bank holiday

Rachel

Good afternoon

The next residents meeting is on Friday 30th April at 4.30 on Teams.

Here is the link to the meeting:

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZWQ5ZGM2NjQtNzc3ZS00NzAyLWJhM2QtY2FiZTMzMjEzYzk1%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2259927d0c-c8a8-4495-9443-6403dc1c7a6f%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2227c99148-29dd-441b-ac98-41c7e6d9aba8%22%7d

Thanks

Rachel