The facts
Client: London Development
Agency
Location: Lower Lea Valley,
London
Services: Remediation Cost
Planning
Sector: Environment
Start/Completion: 2005 - 2007
The project
The Lower Lea Valley site
spans across a 220 ha brownfield site in East London. It has a
legacy of heavy industry, dating back to the early 19th Century,
including chemical and oil works, bone works and
landfilling.
These industries meant that the site
had been classified as a high contamination risk. Hence remediation
was a crucial part of the project.
An initial remediation cost was
estimated at £192m. This was broken down into £3m for site
investigation and “incidental items”, £54m for earthworks and a
further £135m to the remediation works. In comparison Capita
Symonds' estimates were higher at £226m. With earthworks(£83m)
being a key driver to the increased costs.
If the original costs estimates were
used it would be highly likely to run over budget as the
remediation works would not be sufficient for the required site
area.
Whilst Capita Symonds estimated a
higher remediation cost, this was duly justified due to necessary
changes in the planning application. The changes implemented
include:
- Changing the topographical
relationship with the surrounding area
- Naturalisation of the riverine
environment
- Site levelling
- Access to other site areas or
stations in the surrounding region
Without the increased estimation the
sustainability of the project as a whole would be significantly
compromised with the associated impacts including-
- An exacerbated flood risk
- A compromised the bridge design
- Potential residual contamination
- Aesthetic impacts
The Lower Lea Valley remediation
project was a key project for Capita Symonds and integral to the
overall success of the regeneration project. The re-costing was
vital in ensuring that the remediation work was carried out cost
effectively.