Ashby Towpath, Hinckley

The Project

• Understanding access restrictions & towpath users

• Clearing the old towpath

• Difficulties in getting materials to site

• Laying new 1.2 m wide towpath

• Installing edging boards and blending towpath in other places

• Finishing site with topsoil & seed

Through having a wide range of floating plant the difficult access was easily overcome. We used a 2.5t marine ready excavator for scarifying and clearing the old towpath. As much of the existing topsoil was blended into the verge to save taking material off site. After laying edge boards where needed and membrane, the grab barge was used to offload Type 1 sub base and then the Centrac top coat directly onto the towpath. 

Our floating grab barge was able to transport some materials to site and self offload directly onto the towpath  with a clamshell. We loaded the materials at our wharf and floated them to site using pusher tugs and hoppers. This kept cost down as larger loose tip orders of materials could be made rather despite the difficult access on site. The grab barge could unload from either it’s own hold tank or the hoppers tank and ensure a steady stream of material for the team working to level and compact the towpath. A centrac top coat was applied and then topsoil brought in where necessary and blended in with grass seed to finish.

These works were undertaken with minimal supervision and to a high standard, in conjunction with our pragmatic approach to these type of projects.