We’re 4 months in to the Northgate project and councillors and residents have kept up the pressure on Sedgemoor and Wilmott Dixon to address issues of concern as promised. This months the lights went out. Residents weren’t happy. The solution? They’re getting them fixed and adding some extra bulkhead lighting for good measure. At this Friday’s meeting ward councillors met with Sedgemoor officers for a catch up.

Lights

There are 3 lights along the path by the Northgate school. All went out and have been out for some days . Sedgemoor confirmed that all the cables were  live, so they’re investigating what went wrong and the suspicion is that Western Power maybe pulled the wrong fuse from the feeder pillar. The upshot is they’re getting them back on but Wilmott Dixon cant do it so Western Power have to br brought back in. It may be dark over the weekend but at least it’s not winter darkness yet and there’s lighting coming from the school itself.

A further light on the Blacklands cut-through has been out throughout this but there is no intention to replace it as the bulkhead lighting in the alleyway is deemed sufficient. However, residents drew attention to a dark spot and so additional bulkhead lights are being installed.

Next Phase of Work

There is currently work in the school periphery to make the drains connect. And the ‘one sewer diversion’  has now been enabled which means they can now start to do piling on the cinema building and then on the 2^nd building.

The Piling Rigg operator apparently came down with covid but this in fact  gave them the window to do the sewer work. So they’re now back on track. They had in fact lost 2 days already due to the Brewery basement being found but they have now caught up.

The next phase of works will see ground beams on the buildings.

On the Brewery Field people noticed ammounts of  rubble being disposed of under the top soil. This is being raked and broken further so its not compacted. There will be a Sheepsfoot(or hopefully a ‘lambsfoot’ as it might be quieter)  machine brought in.  This is essentially a big drum with sheep type feet. This will break down the rubble and brick and will help drain the site.

Design drawings show that levels are being raised but in fact this will be less obvious than people think. This is a good thing in fact. The Swale is there for the run off. However, some residents were concerned that whilst water is  absorbed into a lot of the site what if there was  torrential rain? Would it all go into swale? The answer is Yes. The gradient will only in fact ammount to a slight and imperceptible doming of the site

Timescales

The next thing people will see is the excavation of swale which  will start this month.

There will also be some Pile testing. This basically will be testing the  integrity in preparation for the foundations.

People will see the first ‘Ramp foundation’ s around the base of building ( largely emergency exits)

Flat bed lorries will start bringing in sizeable ground beams. So there will be a modest increase in 18 wheelers in the vicinity.

There will also be work on substructure drainage and duct work. This will include ground excavation to get the drainage in place and wiill basically  be a trench taking services along the eastern boundary.

Structural steelworks will start on 23^rd August which will herald the first sight of the main structure and so residents will start to see the first building  emerging from the ground. Largely through the little spyholes that have been put in the fence.

Planting and seeding will be October