Wixams, Greenway and Town Park, Public Realm Works, Bedford

Wixams, Greenway and Town Park, Public Realm Works, Bedford

Following a competitive tender exercise O’Brien Contractors were engaged by L&Q as Principal Contractor for the construction of a new Town Park and Greenways, connecting 4 new villages.

The development is located on the former Elstow Storage Depot (the largest WWII munitions factory in the world) and is being transformed into a new community consisting of four distinct neighbourhoods providing 4,500 new homes. The development will provide 300 acres of landscaped parkland, 15km of cycleways and new play facilities, four landscaped greenways providing public open spaces and a Town Park.

The site is one of the largest new settlements founded in England since The New Towns Movement, of the first twenty-five years after World War II. The development will eventually be made up of 4 individual villages, 3 miles south of Bedford and cover an area of 384 Hectares.

Greenway Works

The project involves earthworks, including cut and fill / re-profiling works as well as 6 pedestrian bridge constructions. Landscaping works on the Greenway included 47,000 square metres of seeding, including woodland, wetland, wildflower, and amenity grass seeding, 10,000 square metres of native shrubs, hedges, and trees. A total of 4,000 square metres of Breedon Gravel pathways have been laid as part of the Greenway works.

Town Park

The Town Park works included earthworks regrading and cut and fill works, installation of 3 box culvert waterways and crossings. An 8-metre long timber pedestrian bridge, and a 53-metre-long timber boardwalk with viewing platform were constructed. Hard landscaping works included 5,000 square metres of both linear and circular pathways and 2,900 square metres of block paving.

Soft landscaping of 38,000 square metres included 33,000 sq. metres of seeded areas with woodland, wildflower, wetland, and amenity grass, and 5,200 square metres of native shrubs, hedges and trees, bulb planting and ornamental ground cover planting.

Other features within the park area, are street lighting and feature lighting throughout, including bollards, columns uplighters, feeder pillars, ducting and cabling. A super LEAF play area was also installed including perimeter fencing and gates.