Updated: Friday the 25^th of May, 2012 Ovenden Earthmoving Company Ltd

Established in 1973 to carry out earthworks for the construction of the Channel Tunnel, we have steadily increased our business and are now the area's leading earthmoving contractor. We strive to form stable partnering relationships with our clients, and we believe that the customer is always right. We have an excellent team work ethic and our clients know they can rely upon us and trust us. This is part of the reason why so much of our work is repeat business with established customers.

We believe that safety and taking care of the environment are of prime importance. Through our environmental and health & safety policies, tool box talks, training, staff awareness and risk assessments we ensure the welfare, health & safety of our employees and clients as well as the environment.

Among our fleet of equipment and plant are:

• CAT D6T Bulldozer

• Komatsu WA600-3 Wheel Loader

• Volvo Wheel Loaders L150 / L180 / L220

• Volvo Excavators EC240C / EC360C / EC460C / EC700CI

• OM Jaw Crusher ARGO

• OM Jaw Crusher SATURNO

• Pegson Maxtrac 1300 Cone Crusher

• Pilot Crushtec Twistertrac VSI Crusher

• Powerscreen Chieftan 2100 2 Deck

• Powerscreen Chieftan 2100X 3 Deck Rinser

• Powerscreen Chieftan 2100X 3 Deck with Track & Rinser

• Powerscreen Chieftan 2100X Bivitec

• Powerscreen Warrior 1400

Our past and ongoing projects have included planned and emergency work such as:

• Emergency construction of a rock revetment to protect a falling concrete wall at Bawdsey, Suffolk

• Handling 320,000 cubic metres of sand dredged during extension of the Ronaldsway Airport on the Isle of Man

• Restoration at the Beddington Landfill

• Deepwater berth and reclamation area at Peterhead Port in Scotland

• Coastal defence works for Hastings Borough Council, Havant Borough Council

• Beach renourishment at Jaywick, Essex and from Heacham to Snettisham, Norfolk

• Shingle Recycling at Seaford, East Sussex

• Site preparation for the Park Farm East new housing development in Ashford, Kent

• Construction of new rock armour revetments at Warden Bay, Isle of Sheppey, Kent and at The Beach, Carlyon Bay, Cornwall

Earth Moving

We undertake all aspects of earthmoving, including major road schemes, local bypasses, embankments, golf courses, reservoirs, landfill cells, landscaping and remediation works.

Our CSCS-trained, directly employed personnel have a wealth of experience and skills, and this, combined with our comprehensive fleet of equipment and plant, enable us to complete any earthworks project successfully, within budget and on time. We believe that partnering with our clients improves both the efficiency and quality of projects, so we actively promote partnering.

Crushing & Recycling

Land restoration and recycling form a significant part of our business, and through continual investment, we now offer a complete crushing and screening service. We use our own landfill sites for inert wastes, and we use recycling centres for the processing of demolition materials and soils into recycled aggregates and soils.

We carry out contract crush and screen services for major contractors such as Viridor, Lafarge and Tarmac to name a few. We produce sub base and single size aggregates from concrete, bricks, blocks, rail ballast and asphalt as well as high quality crushed glass for fibreglass and asphalt production.

Our crusher fleet includes:

• Tracked Mobile Primary Jaw Crushers

• Tracked Mobile Secondary Cone Crushers

• Tracked Mobile Vertical Shaft Impact Crushers

• Combined Shredder Crusher and Screener

Our screening fleet of tracked mobiles in various sizes are fitted with dust suppression and magnets. Excavators can operate with hydraulic breakers, magnets, pulverisers and the "Dig a Crusher," an excavator bucket with a jaw crusher mounted inside). Loading shovels all have weighloaders and printers.

Coastal Defences

Since our first coastal defence project at Sandwich Bay in Kent in 1997, we have carried out similar beach nourishment projects in many areas of the UK and Europe. We have built a variety of rock structures, including groynes, revetments, reefs and hybrid rock / precast concrete reefs ranging in size from 3000 to 80,000 tonnes, and many beach nourishment projects have involved the use of hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of fill.

We have invested heavily in up-to-date specialist plant such as low ground pressure bulldozers, wheeloaders, dump trucks, grapples and excavators, all running on biodegradable oils that help safeguard the fragile coastal environment while work is being carried out.

Our strict maintenance schedules, comprehensive workshop facilities and spare parts stock, and fitters on 24-hour callout ensure that our coastal defence equipment is available on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week basis.

Past Project: Felixstowe South Flood Alleviation Scheme Suffolk

One of our past projects was the Felixstowe South Flood Alleviation Scheme in Suffolk, which we carried out for Van Oord UK Ltd. This twenty-four week project consisted of demolishing the existing timber and concrete groynes and removing the existing armour and bedrock. Dredged shingle was pumped ashore; we received this and placed it into the new beach profile. We constructed twenty-one new Rock Armour Groynes.

In total, we removed 1500m of concrete groynes and 1200m of timber groynes, and constructed 74,000 tonnes of new rock groynes. We recovered 10,000 tonnes of existing rock and excavated 95,000 cubic metres for a total beach renourishment of 240,000 cubic metres.

Past Project: Belvedere Energy From Waste Project

This three-month project for our client Costain involved the breakup and removal of 12,000 cubic metres of ground slabs and underground obstructions. Concrete was crushed and screened to be used in piling mat, and upon completion of piling, the crushed concrete was re-excavated and stockpiled. We were also awarded additional works for excavating and demolishing piles down to the formation level for structural foundations.

Past Project: A228 Hoo Bypass Rochester Kent

As part of the construction of the A228 Hoo Bypass in Rochester, Kent, we carried out new road construction, excavation, embankment filling and surplus material disposal for our client, Alfred McAlpine.

The project involved the excavation of 63,000 cubic metres and 55,000 cubic metres of topsoil. We also carried out formation of 71,000 square metres with deposition of 83,000 cubic metres and compaction of 18,000 cubic metres Type 1. Topsoiling of 46,000 cubic metres to embankments was added.

Past Project: Beach Renourishment in Abruzzo Italy

Further to a very successful contract completed for Dravosa in Rimini, Italy, two years ago, we have recently been awarded a further contract by this client for beach renourishment in Abruzzo, Italy, under a Joint Venture of SIDRA (Dredging International Subsidiary) and DRAVOSA (Van Oord Subsidiary).

The work will involve the spreading of approximately one million cubic metres of sand on seven beaches in the area over a four-month period. Four of our CAT D6 LGP Bulldozers, along with operators and a full-time mechanic, have been sent to Italy for this project.

Rochester Riverside Project, Rochester, Kent

For the Rochester Riverside Project in Rochester, Kent, our clients were a Joint Venture between Edmund Nuttall Ltd and Van Oord Ltd. The two year, £2 million contract involved the following work:

Nuttall Works:

• Break out and crush 20,000 cubic metres of hard stand areas and underground obstructions for inclusion in the permanent works;

• Loading, carting and placing 350,000 cubic metres of dredged sand as fill. The sand was marine delivered into lagoons.

Van Oord Works:

We supplied the labour and plant for the installation of band drains for shortening fill settlement time, and constructed and maintained watertight lagoons for the reception of dredged material.

Past Project: Shoreham & Lancing Sea Defences

We carried out a 44 week, £1.13 million contract for our client Van Oord UK Ltd for improvements to the Shoreham and Lancing Sea Defences. We constructed twenty new Rock Armour Groynes as well as beach renourishment with 300,000 cubic metres of shingle.

The project involved the demolition of 1640 linear metres of old timber groynes and the excavation of 54,000 cubic metres of beach. We placed 25,000 square metres of geotextile and 99,000 tonnes of rock during the beach renourishment.

M2/A2 Widening Chatham to Rochester Kent

The three-year, £6 million project for widening the M2/A2 between Chatham and Rochester Kent involved using a combination of lorries and dumptrucks for several cut and fill operations with mainly chalk. We carried out excavation for the road box and formation trim, then placed capping and Type 1.

Drainage and storage lagoons were excavated and lined with geotextiles and bentomat, and we constructed reinforced earth embankments with geotextiles and geogrids. We excavated and structurally backfilled the major structures, constructed the central reserve and carried out topsoiling.  

Red Rhino Crusher

The Red Rhino 5000 Series Mini Crusher is the newest addition to our crusher fleet for crushing up to 55 tonnes. The Red Rhino, with a weight of 2750 Kg, is only 1180 mm wide making it perfect for use in small spaces such as driveways or pavements. The redundant material can be crushed and reused on site as a sub-base for new pavements, resulting in huge cost savings. 

SAFEcontractor accreditation

We expect SAFEcontractor accreditation, which requires successful completion of a safe practice vetting process of the health and safety procedures and records of a business, to underscore and showcase our commitment to safety in all projects we undertake.