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highways

Warburg Crescent Tree Root Damage to Footway

Client: Oxfordshire County Council / Oxford City Council

Budget: £5,500

Department: Highways and Engineering (Infrastructure Solutions)

Completed: November 2024

Summary

The ODS Highways & Engineering team manage the Section 42 agreement in partnership with Oxford City Council for Oxfordshire County Council.

Warburg crescent was identified via our Inspection regime and engineering assessment along with many complaints from local residents and Councillors.

The scope of work was drafted up by the technical team and the budget cost submitted to OCC for approval.

Requirements

To remove the existing surface without damaging the tree roots, and constructing a new surface which was free from slips and trips hazards for the general public to use.

Challenges

  1. The tree root damage to the footway pushed up the tarmac surface.

  2. The tree was surveyed and the report came back to say it was healthy We had to come up with a solution to protect the tree and it’s root system, along with levelling the surface for residents to access the block of flats.

Solutions

We used a product called Eco mulch, an Eco friendly product made from recycled materials, which had to be approved by Natural England, and a proven method to deal with the issue.

Although there are many factors involved in healthy tree growth, some of the key ones are:

  • Root access to water and air

  • Unrestricted root growth

  • Protection from soil compaction

  • Protection of roots from extremes of temperatures

  • Maintenance work

Results

The resurfacing project was successfully completed, significantly improving the quality of the communal area and without creating any damage to the root system of the tree.

Feedback

ODS delivered the scheme to a high standard with minimum disruption.

Before

After