I & J Bushell Ltd

I & J Bushell Ltd: Groundworks and Civil Engineering in the South East of England

I & J Bushell Ltd is an environmental services, groundworks and agricultural contracting company based in Carshalton, South London. The company states it has over 30 years of experience in a wide range of applications and operates across Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and the whole of the London metropolitan area.

It began by providing conservation and grounds maintenance services to local authorities and councils. Over time it diversified into the environmental sector, carrying out conservation work, rewilding projects and habitat creation. From that base it expanded into construction and civil engineering, offering groundworks and civil engineering packages for housing developments, commercial projects and private homes.

Groundworks and Civil Engineering

The company covers everything from initial site clearance through to full groundworks and civil engineering packages. The work it states it carries out includes:

• Excavations and earthmoving: foundation excavation, bulk excavation, site stripping and clearance, cut and fill operations, muck shifting and muckaway, swimming pool excavation and geological test holes.
• Concreting: foundations, rafts, retaining walls, steel reinforcing and concrete finishing.
• Drainage: foul, stormwater and surface water, land drainage, soakaways, silt traps, deep drainage, sewage treatment plants, tank installation, detention basins, attenuation tanks and sustainable drainage systems (SUDS).
• Infrastructure: road construction, footpaths, car parks, access tracks and underground services.
• Operated plant hire: 360 excavators from 3 to 21 tonnes equipped with tiltrotators and attachments such as grading beams and selector grabs, 180 excavators, dumpers, rollers and other equipment.

Landscaping, Equestrian and Sports Services

With an experienced team and high-specification machinery, the company undertakes commercial landscaping, sports pitch construction and other associated work. Its service list includes:

• Hard landscaping: sub-base preparation, block paving, permeable paving, kerbs, edging, retaining walls, gabion baskets and concreting.
• Equestrian services: riding arena construction, horse walker foundations, stable yard construction and access track construction.
• Sports services: sports pitch construction and renovation, club house landscaping, car park construction and golf course construction, landscaping and shaping.
• Remediation: below-ground de-construction, ground stabilisation, soil screening and soil and subsoil importation.
• Conservation and woodland: access tracks, multi-use tracks, footpaths, cycle paths, rewilding, bollards and earth bunds.

Environmental Services

Client demand led the company to specialise in excavation and associated agricultural machinery for environmental projects. The work it carries out includes:

• Environmental scraping: topsoil stripping and stockpiling, habitat creation and butterfly banks.
• Scrub clearance: scrapes, vegetation removal and rewilding.
• Wetlands: wetland, pond and ditch construction, and flood plain management.
• Desilting maintenance: ditch desilting, pond desilting and wetland management.
• Wildflower meadow creation and enhancement: topsoil removal, over seeding, wildflower seeding and chalk importation.

Agriculture and Amenity

The company has a modern fleet of tractors, trailers, mowers, toppers and other machinery, together with an experienced team of operators. Its services in this area include:

• Vegetation management: flailing and topping mowing.
• Wildflower and grassland conservation management: environmental cuts, conservation cuts, cut and clear, overseeding, rotovating and harrowing.
• Verge mowing: tractor-mounted side arm, banks, rural and urban verges.
• Hedge cutting: tractor-mounted side arm and maintenance of lines of sight.
• Sports pitch reseeding and renovation: overseeding, contravating and grass seeding.
• Haymaking: baling, raking, mowing and tedding.
• Spraying.

Representative Projects

The website lists several projects that illustrate the scope of its work. In Ashtead (Surrey) it worked alongside three local authorities and the Environment Agency to create a wetland and reconnect a brook with its floodplain; the company acted as main contractor and carried out perimeter fencing, reprofiling of the brook banks, installation of woody material as deflectors, excavation of a new meander, creation of the wetland with inlet and outlet channels, and management of approximately 3,500 m³ of clay, soil and excavated material.

In Dorking (Surrey) it carried out all groundworks and external works for a new-build home on a steeply sloping plot in the Surrey Hills, including site clearance, excavation and concrete raft foundation for a garden room, a 3.1 m high retaining wall in Stepoc blocks, underground gas, water, communications and electricity services, four-level house foundations, foul and surface water drainage with pumping stations, manholes and soakaways, landscaping with oak sleeper steps, gabions and paving, and a reinforced raft foundation for the garage.

In Copthorne (Sussex) it worked from the earliest stages on a development of 27 homes in phase one and a further 19 in phase two, with site setup, site strip and test holes, sewers to adoptable standards, excavation and construction of roads and footpaths, three large detention basins, house foundations and concreting, plot drainage, underground services, driveways, patios and car parks, and attenuation tank excavation.

In Coulsdon (London) it re-excavated 3,300 m of an existing ditch and created a soil embankment to prevent unauthorised vehicle access to a SSSI and scheduled historic monument, with passing bays every 150 m, removal and relaying of turf sods to encourage regrowth, and full traffic management throughout the works.

Service Area

The company states it covers Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and the whole of London, with a presence in locations such as Epsom, Cobham, Oxshott, Sutton, Croydon, Guildford, Farnham, Surbiton, Gatwick, Crawley and Dorking, among others.

Location and Contact

1 Little Woodcote Estate, Woodmansterne Road, Carshalton, SM5 4AL, UK · Phone: 020 8394 2136 · Email: office@iandjbushell.co.uk