A WASTE remediation contractor has started its biggest-ever project during its 20-year relationship working for a leading UK recycling, resource and waste management specialist.

Ruthin-based Jones Bros Civil Engineering is pulling out all the stops at Erin landfill site, in Duckmanton, near Chesterfield, to complete the scheme, on the site of a former colliery, before winter, for its long-established client Viridor.

The £2.3m contract involves construction of a new non-hazardous waste cell, extension to an existing asbestos cell and final restoration capping.

It is the latest of more than 20 cell construction projects successfully carried out under the current Viridor framework, established in 2018.

In addition to requiring 170,000 cubic metres of earthworks, the 20-week scheme will also involve 35,000 cubic metres of processing, and engineering of a geological barrier to achieve the specified permeability.

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK senior contract manager Dafydd Elis said: “We’ve called on our vast plant fleet, including mobilising a fleet of Volvo A40 ADTs to complement two 50-tonne excavators, to help ensure the large proportion of the works is completed before the winter.

“While it’s a tight programme and some of the challenges include excavating and processing colliery spoil, as well as possible ground water issues, our wide-ranging experience puts us in an excellent position to tackle the project.”

A total of 25 Jones Bros operatives and staff are working on the scheme, which also involves installation of 1,000m of deep ground water drainage and 118,000 square metres of geosynthetics membrane, together with 1,000m of fully-welded leachate pipework and 14,000 tonnes of drainage stone.

The company also successfully completed restoration capping on the Erin site during 2018.