The Eagle Iron Works is located in Jericho, a vibrant district of central Oxford. The 1.13 hectare site is now owned by Berkeley Homes, who plans to redevelop it for residential end-use. The site is bounded by Walton Well Road, the Oxford Canal and the Castle Mill Stream.
Immediately prior to the remediation works, the site was used as a car park for the staff employed in the foundry. Before then, it was in-filled over many years with waste from the foundry on the other side of the canal. The reclamation works, which were undertaken by VHE Construction, involved:
- The clearance of vegetation
- Removal of hard-standing and historic structures
- On-site treatment of contaminated material using a heated bio-pile
- A cut and fill operation to suit the site's required construction levels and to provide a base for the bio-pile
- Excavation of approximately 7,300m3 of contaminated soils
- Re-use of clean site-won materials involving crushing and screening to provide fill material for excavated areas
- The construction of a passive barrier to the south and south-west of the site, formed by excavating a trench and lining it with polythene
- Infilling excavated areas of the site with clean material generated by the bioremediation process
- The monitoring and protection of boreholes
Berkeley Homes has planning consent to redevelop the site for 30 houses, 33 flats and apartments, open space areas and car parking facilities.
