Winvic has been appointed by IM Properties to construct Mercia Park , a 238-acre employment park located in north west Leicestershire, adjacent to junction 11 of the M42.

The £21 million civils and infrastructure contract comprises an extensive earthworks programme, where over 1 million m3 of material will be excavated and remodelled to accommodate the development plateaux and 3000m of screening bunds.

In addition, Winvic will also install 7,500m of underground drainage, together with constructing three areas of highway improvements and footpaths throughout the park. Extensive landscaping works – including up to 30 acres of new woodland – will also be undertaken.

The earthworks have been designed to transport as little excavated earth from the site to reduce HGV traffic in the local community and highways network.

Currently, a Volvo EC950 Crawler Excavator is being utilised on site to carry out a large proportion of the vast earth moving task; it is the very first of its kind and the largest crawler excavator to be used in the UK. The 90-tonne machine is capable of excavating 7m3 of material – and lift up to 39,900kg – in each bucketload, facilitating fast and efficient movement of earth.

Rob Cook, Winvic’s Director of Civils and Infrastructure, commented:

“Having completed some vast earthworks programmes in the last few years, Winvic’s reputation in this area is becoming ever more robust. Our clients understand that we deliver schemes of any scale in a safe, expeditious and commercially viable way. Having worked with IM Properties on many other projects, it’s rewarding to know their team have confidence in everything we deliver; utilising the specialist trimble based machines and remodelling the plateaux intelligently to avoid disposing of excesses of material off-site illustrates our strategic outlook to design, regardless of the sector or size.”

The civils and infrastructure works began on 2 June and are due be complete in December 2021.

Jason Jasper UK Project Director, from IM Properties, added:

“When developing a scheme of this scale, it’s important to partner with trusted suppliers who not only have the resources and skills to deliver the project, but share in our commitment to create a best in class scheme, working with the local community and creating a positive lasting legacy we can all be proud of.”