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Grounds Maintenance, Landscape Creation, Arboriculture, Sports Surfacing, Parks management, IOS Managing Safely Training, Ecology & Biodiversity, Grass cutting, Horticulture, Street Cleaning, Soft Landscaping, Hard Landscaping
Our Services
idverde provides a wide range of green services, including grounds maintenance, landscape creation, and advice services, to both private and public sectors across the UK.
Sir Matt Busby Way
The regeneration of the public realm outside the East Stand was awarded to idverde in May 2011. The project aimed to extend and fully pedestrianise the space, revitalising the area to match the stadium frontage.
Background
Located at the very front of Old Trafford’s East Stand, Sir Matt Busby Way is the road and public realm that approaches
Manchester United’s historic football ground. Named after the club’s legendary manager Matt Busby in 1994, Sir Matt Busby Way is one of the most famous sporting vistas in the world.
Our Role
The regeneration of the public realm outside the East Stand was awarded to idverde in May 2011. The project aimed to extend and fully pedestrianise the space, revitalising the area to match the stadium frontage. The newly developed hard landscape creates a safer and more attractive environment for the thousands of supporters that visit Old Trafford each year.
Works began by breaking out the existing road, followed by the lifting and disposal of paving. A cement-bound gravel was then used to create a base for the new roadway and paving.
Drainage works included the installation of a new slot drainage system, followed by a further 300Lm of underground drainage which extended across the car park. This connected into an existing attenuation tank as an outfall for the slot drainage system, and is accessible from 4 manholes which the team also installed. Aspects of these drainage works also required the reinstatement and re-lining of the car park where necessary. Street furniture installed within the public realm included 65 manual retractable bollards as well as 10 automatic retractable bollards, complete with their associated control panels and duct network.
Laying 4500m² of paving was key to transforming the space into a completely pedestrianised public area. The highway that runs up to the public realm was then resurfaced at tie-in locations, and joint sealant was applied to the paved areas.
Challenges
Working adjacent to one of the world’s most famous football grounds presented a number of challenges to the team. Due to pre-arranged fixtures, the project had a short 8 week programme with an immovable completion date. Extensive planning and collaboration with the client and stakeholders ensured that this date was met and no disruption was caused to the club. Access maintenance was also essential, in particular to the Megastore and for Fire Exit routes throughout the project’s duration. Again, in partnership with the fire service and the client, we maintained these access routes successfully, despite paving being installed immediately in front of entrance doorways.
Additional challenges included the excavation of a United Utilities (UU) duct trench, which was requested after the scheme had started. Although UU wanted to install a 11kv power cable one month following completion, we worked with the utilities provider and the client to ensure that works were completed with minimal disruption during the season’s fixtures.