Purpose
Blackpool Borough Council’s £1 billion masterplan aimed to renovate the town and encourage more visitors to support its tourism and hospitality industries. We were contracted to create an attractive ‘gateway’ to the town by converting a former rail engine yard at the end of the M55.
What we did
We demolished a bridge and constructed 1.2km of highway, a 650-space car park and a traffic-controlled junction. We also installed piling and retaining walls, extensive street lighting, steel and timber fencing, hard paving and street furniture. We reclaimed 30,000 tonnes of demolition material and 50,000 tonnes of bituminous material, all of which we treated and reused on-site.
We constructed two world championship standard climbing structures, each 20m-tall and consisting of black concrete and recycled quarry waste materials.
The soft landscaping works included laying a 10,600m2 turfed area and 21,500m2 topsoil bark area and planting 650 trees, 68,000 shrubs, 6,000 herbaceous plants, 6,000 perennials and over 50,000 bulbs.
Our public realm works included the construction of a multi-use games area featuring Chinese green granite walling and seats, African red granite walling, a children’s play area, ‘pocket park’ areas, a toilet block, stairways and a leisure services building.
Project successes
Blackpool now has a striking entrance which attracts many visitors to the area, benefitting the local businesses. The landscape was a welcome change for the locals, being a major improvement from the derelict engine yard that stood there previously.
In recognition of the quality of our work, particularly the climbing structures, the project was awarded the Northwest Regional Structural Award.