Customer:Community Sports Arena Ltd
Value: £0.5 million
The new, state-of-the-art £4.5 million multi-purpose arena is to be built through a joint venture of Leicester Riders basketball team, Leicester City Council and Leicester College.
The 11500m2 former Gasworks site required an extensive remediation project to be undertaken, ensuring all historic contamination was removed prior to the construction phase of the development. This involved VHE carrying out onsite bioremediation, offsite disposal and the re-engineering made ground.
The reclamation works undertaken by VHE included general site clearance and the excavation of residual floor slabs, foundations and below-ground structures, with concrete hard standing and sub-base materials being reprocessed for re-use onsite. A key element of the works was the excavation and removal of a substantial area of spent oxide contaminated soils. Made ground was excavated in order to treat or remove any underlying contamination. This was excavated to a depth of between 2 to 3m or to the base of contamination, limited by groundwater levels.
Onsite biophysical treatment of 1071m3 of hydrocarbon contaminated soils and 2105m3 of soil stabilisation on geotechnically soft materials was undertaken and checked for suitability against site target criteria. Grossly contaminated soils were disposed of offsite to licensed treatment facilities and landfills.
The arena build programme commenced following VHE’s involvement onsite. Once construction is complete the building will be capable of staging major indoor events as well as being home to the Leicester Riders’ Basketball team. The arena will also be home to a fitness suite, classrooms, offices, bar and café. It will also provide teaching and learning for the students of Leicester Sport College.