A new building on a sensitive Oxford city-centre site needed an LV supply diverted to clear its footprint. The diversion route ran across an old Yorkstone-paved street within a conservation area, with very tight reinstatement requirements set by the city council.
We tendered for this on the back of similar conservation-area work in St Albans and Welwyn. Won it on our reinstatement track record.
What the job involved
- 120m of LV cable diverted on a new route between two existing pits.
- Yorkstone paving lifted whole, individually numbered and palletised on site.
- Trench excavated, duct laid and cable pulled in a single phased programme.
- Yorkstone re-laid in original orientation with traditional bedding and pointing.
- Joints and re-energisation completed under DNO sanction.
Key challenges
- City council heritage officer attended each lift and re-lay — paving had to match exactly.
- Limited daytime delivery slots through the conservation area.
- Pedestrian and cycle traffic continued throughout — multiple TM phases needed.
Outcome
- Reinstatement passed heritage officer's inspection without comment.
- Diversion delivered inside the agreed Section 58 window.
- Council added us to their cable contractor framework for conservation areas.
I've seen contractors butcher Yorkstone reinstatement and it's a year of arguments. None of that here — paving looked like it had never been lifted.
— Conservation Officer, Oxford, Oxfordshire
Need something similar?
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