Ekki Hardwood Piling and Decking – Ludham – November 2022
We were approached by our client in the Spring of 2022. They had been recommended to use DRE Marine & Civils via a friend and neighbour for the quality of work and company ethos. We also stood out due to our offering of the durable and proven FSC Certified Ekki piling and decking, offering a cost effective and attractive alternative to steel sheet piling.
Project details;
Remove and dispose of 26 metres of decking and frame work, and 10 metres of failed softwood piling.
Excavate just over 100 tonnes of spoil and install new FSC Certified T&G Ekki piling, Ekki framework and Non-slip Ekki decking as per customer supplied drawings.
Return in the spring to landscape once the spoil has dried.
Resolution;
We started off working from the land, removing the old failed softwood decking, framework and piling, and stacking them to dry. Ekki being an extremely dense and heavy hardwood, and access across the customers lawn being impractical, we then mobilised Elite Pontoon Hire Limited’s modular Nato pontoons to bring the materials in, and provide a working platform for our excavator in some of the more awkward areas. Once the piling was in we got to work installing the framework. As so much of the land on the Broads is prone to sinkage, as best practise we always pile in the vertical supports for the decking to the same distance as the piles. Once the substantial framework was bolted in place, we went about creating a set of steps for getting on and off a paddle board and finally laying the grooved non-slip Ekki decking
Thanks to the customers faith in us and Ekki, a product underutilised in the UK, the end result was a beautiful, durable mooring that should last in excess of 25 years. They were so happy in fact, when we returned to level off the spoil, they also employed our services to dredge and pile their adjacent pond and create a gorgeous Ekki bridge.