Crane spotting

Piling work near railway bridge

You may have spotted a crane on site near the railway bridge this week. We have been using this for some piling work – the only piling work that will happen as part of our work here.

Up to 8m long steel sheet piles were driven into the ground to stabilise the edge of the outfall between the most eastern part of the moat and the Creek. We are currently investigating this outfall further, to potentially install eel easements (allowing eels to pass, facilitating their migration and helping restore eel population in the moat).

It’s the final countdown (for rock)

Our rock work is now nearing 90% completion with only two small sections, near the railway and near Peronne Rd bridge left to place. The last delivery of surplus rock from our sister project Southsea has already arrived and is awaiting final placement. With most of the rock in place, the main work on the embankment west of the railway bridge will start from early next week.

Gabion (and on and on…)

Preparation work in the area near the new planned social spot has now started, where we will soon be installing a number of gabions. Gabions (from Italian gabbione meaning “big cage”) are cages filled with rocks, protecting against erosion. We are using these to stabilise the “crossing” over the moat near the railway bridge. This is also the area where King Fisher tunnels will be included, to recreate natural nesting sites for these amazing birds.

Bank vole on the run

Another amazing wildlife visitor was spotted near our prep work for the gabions: bank voles. They are very active and agile (hence hard to photograph…) and skitter around woodlands and dense vegetation looking for food such as blackberries, nuts and small insects. They use their large ears to listen out for their many predators, such as kestrels and foxes (living life on the edge in Foxes Forest!)