Client: Oldham Borough Council and ESS Modular
Scope: Full groundworks package, including enabling works, foundations, drainage, services, MUGA, car park and access road
Environment: Live school site
Whole Project value: £5.7m
Shanco delivered a full groundworks package at Crompton House School in Oldham to support the construction of a new £5.7m modular school building. Working with ESS Modular and Oldham Borough Council, the team carried out enabling works, foundations, drainage and services, alongside a new MUGA, car park and access road. The work was completed on a live school site, so access, safeguarding and programme control were critical throughout.
The Project
Crompton House School required new groundworks and external works to support a modular school building and extension. Shanco delivered the full package, including the infrastructure needed for the new building and improvements to the wider school site.
The Brief
The brief was to carry out the works around an operating school without disrupting pupils, staff or teaching. The project also had to support a tight modular construction programme, manage poor ground conditions and provide safe access for deliveries, contractors and school traffic.
The Challenges
The new building area sat on a gradient with poor ground conditions, so the site had to be levelled and retained before the main build could progress.
The MUGA area was also on steep, unused ground, which created a risk of excessive spoil removal and imported aggregate if it was excavated in the normal way.
The school remained in operation throughout, so noisy work, vehicle movements and access had to be carefully sequenced around school hours, holidays and exam periods.
The works also had to fit around restricted access routes within the site and maintain safe movement for everyone using the school.
How Shanco Delivered
Shanco installed a reinforced concrete retaining wall to support the levelled area for the new modular building.
The team then carried out piling works, including a substantial piling mat and working platform to support the rig, before casting 150 CFA piles at depths of up to 16 metres and forming the reinforced beam foundations.
For the MUGA, Shanco used specialist lime stabilisation and cut-and-fill works to level the ground without the cost and disruption of removing and replacing large volumes of spoil and aggregate. A gabion basket retaining wall was installed to hold back the higher ground, followed by land drains, reduced fines aggregates and a permeable asphalt finish.
The external works also included a new 1,500m² car park, access route, geo-cellular attenuation tank, drainage, interceptor, lighting bases and service ducting. Shanco also carried out alterations around the existing school to improve access across the site.
Outcome
Shanco completed the groundworks package for Crompton House School, helping to prepare the site for the new modular building and wider external works. The project was delivered in a live school environment, with poor ground conditions, access limits and programme pressures managed through careful planning and sequencing.
