Coronation Street, Tree Move

Installing the ArborRaft load bearing system on Coronation Street

The new ITV Media City based in Salford is now the home of the nation’s favourite TV programme – Coronation Street. A major part of the Coronation Street move was the introduction of a tree onto the street, as the uprooting of the existing tree was considered highly impractical. The tree required planting in a specific restricted area and gtSpecifier was called upon to assist with drawing up the plans and visiting the site to prepare the tree pit. There is no doubt the new planting would be a high profile and a sensitive issue, that would require a lot of resource for one single tree, however the gtSpecifier team were only too pleased to assist for this momentous occasion.

The Geo-Cellular Raft System was employed for use at Coronation Street, due to its ease of installation with no requirement for deep pit excavations. It also provided a load bearing structure for an established tree that would require extensive rooting space and growing media containing and abundance of water, oxygen and nutrients.

Stephen Martlew, Landscape Architecture commented,

“The planting of the tree at Coronation Street was a unique project that required a considerable amount of planning and a specification that would be simple to execute on site. The Geo-Cellular Raft System provided answers for many of the concerns with urban planting, by spreading any loads through its raft structure to avoid compaction of the growing media and enabling a substantial tree pit to be created that would provide an unrestricted rooting area. The system delivers a useful and cost effective detail for specifying trees in paved areas supporting the paving and allowing the tree to be planted at a reasonable level”.

Posted on 25 Jan 2018