Brownfield Regeneration: On-Site Concrete Crushing & Material Recovery
A strategic site remediation and concrete crushing project. Tilsley Groundworks utilised mobile crushing plant to recycle demolition arisings on-site, producing certified 6F2 and Type 1 aggregates. This sustainable approach eliminated landfill costs and provided free structural material for the new development.
A strategic site remediation and concrete crushing project. Tilsley Groundworks utilised mobile crushing plant to recycle demolition arisings on-site, producing certified 6F2 and Type 1 aggregates. This sustainable approach eliminated landfill costs and provided free structural material for the new development.
Turning Demolition Waste into Construction Assets
Executive Summary
In the modern construction landscape, sustainable site enablement is not just an environmental box-ticking exercise; it is a commercial necessity. Landfill taxes are rising, and the cost of virgin quarried stone is at an all-time high. For developers and commercial clients across the Midlands and nationwide, the traditional "smash and dump" approach to demolition is no longer financially viable. This project exemplifies Tilsley Groundworks’ capability to deliver value-engineered land remediation. The client’s site was covered in legacy concrete slabs and footings. A standard groundworks contractor might have simply loaded this into lorries and carted it away, charging the client for the privilege. We took a different approach. By deploying our own mobile crushing infrastructure, we retained the material on-site, processing it to specific gradings. This effectively removed the need for hundreds of lorry movements, reducing traffic disruption, carbon emissions, and project costs simultaneously.
Mobile Crushing and Aggregate Production
The tilsley Solution
Our solution was centred on the rapid deployment of our heavy-duty mobile crushing plant. Unlike static recycling centres, our machinery comes to the material. This "On-Site" methodology is key to our nationwide service offering.
For this project, we first utilised our demolition-spec excavators (equipped with hydraulic pulverisers) to break down the oversized reinforced concrete slabs and extract the rebar steel. This "clean" feedstock was then loaded into the crusher. The objective was to produce a high-quality, evenly graded product that could be instantly re-laid to form the new site levels. We managed the entire cycle: excavation, processing, stockpiling, and re-installation, ensuring the client dealt with a single point of responsibility for their entire site enablement package.
Grading Specifications: 6F2 vs Type 1
Technical Implementation
The technical success of a crushing operation lies in the calibration of the output. "Crushed concrete" is a generic term, but in civil engineering, the specific grading determines its structural utility.
Producing 6F2 (75mm Down)
For this specific site remediation, the primary requirement was for a robust capping layer to stabilise the wet clay ground. We set our crusher jaws to produce 6F2. This is a coarse crushed aggregate where the material is graded from 75mm down to dust. The larger 75mm chunks provide excellent mechanical interlock and drainage properties, making 6F2 the industry standard for piling mats, haul roads, and initial capping layers on soft ground.
Capability for Type 1 (45mm Down)
While this project focused on 6F2, our plant is fully adjustable to produce MOT Type 1 equivalent. This is a finer grading, from 45mm down to dust, typically used for the final sub-base layer under tarmac or block paving. The ability to switch between these specifications means Tilsley Groundworks can tailor the output to the exact phase of the build—producing 6F2 for the heavy piling rigs one week, and Type 1 for the road formation the next.
A Sustainable, Cost-Effective Formation
The Results
The result of this crushing operation was a fully remediated, build-ready site delivered well under the original budget. By recycling the existing concrete, we prevented thousands of tonnes of waste from entering the landfill system.
More importantly for the Quantity Surveyor, we generated thousands of tonnes of free aggregate. The client did not have to purchase imported stone to bring the site up to formation levels; they simply used the material they already owned, processed by Tilsley. Whether operating in our "Golden Triangle" of the Midlands or mobilising for larger frameworks nationwide, our concrete crushing service proves that environmental responsibility and commercial profitability can go hand in hand.
