Ocean Road, Urban Tree Planting

Installing the ArborRaft System

Ocean Road is part of the South Shields town centre redevelopment programme. The improvements to Ocean Road will provide a more attractive and pleasant pedestrian route which draws visitors to and from the Foreshore.

Green-tech was approached by South Tyneside Council to develop a hard landscaping solution for the Ocean Road development. The council were constrained by the tree pit sizes on the Ocean Road development due to existing utlities and services within the high street. Green-tech met with South Tyneside’s Engineers, Landscape Designer and Construction Manager to develop a viable solution that would provide loadbearing support, an optimum growing environment for urban trees yet be flexible enough to allow for the inherited services and utilities.

Green-tech proposed a solution, supported by CAD outlines and technical data that would enable South Tyneside Council to fulfill their vision for Ocean Road, yet also meet the needs of the 70+ trees that would be planted.

Green-tech visited the Ocean Road site on many occasions to observe excavations and where required make amends to drawings and plans. As the project progressed, South Tyneside council also evolved the tree pit designs to include irrigation in the form of Mona Plant System and a modified tree grille to accommodate electric power boxes.

Green-tech’s own in-house product specification team, spent 1 week on site to advise on installation of the irrigation and Geo-Cellular Raft System units. They worked with South Tyneside’s own contractors to ensure the installation team was fully trained and competent. In 2014 , phase 1 of Ocean Road is now complete.

Richard Wexham, Technical Development Manager, commented:

‘Working on such a high profile project such as Ocean Road is testimony to the Geo-Cellular Raft System as a whole. We immersed the team within the project and where possible offered bespoke solutions for the on-site problems we experienced. At every stage of the development, Green-tech has been on hand to offer assistance and even guidance with the urban tree planting.’


Posted on 25 Jan 2018