Trial pit holes for Lady Astor statue complete
ESSENTIAL trial holes have been dug to kick off the beginning of the groundworks for the historic Lady Astor Statue on Plymouth’s Hoe.
The trial pits were drilled in ground on the exact site of the statue outside Lady Astor’s former family home as part of the first stage in determining its suitability for foundations.
The results of those tests will be examined by experts to determine the geological structure and what lies beneath the grass in order for foundation plans to be created and submitted to Plymouth City Council Planning Department for their approval.
The team carrying out the crucial work were prestigious firms AECOM, Geotechnics, ADS Drilling and AJ Architects, who have all supported the project from the beginning.
The Lady Astor Statue Appeal is a community project to raise a statue to the first female MP to take her seat in Parliament, voted in by the people of Plymouth on 28th November 1919. The statue will be unveiled on 28th November 2019 to celebrate 100 years of women in Parliament.
The appeal raised £131,000 in 89 days from public donations from not only the people of Plymouth but from all over the world.
It will be the first statue in the world of the first woman in the UK Parliament and will be unveiled outside her former family home on 28th November this year to mark 100 years of women in parliament.
Dave Cage, Business Development Manager of Geotechnics, said: “We’re on site to do a job, but we also love becoming part of the project, and each community story.
“We’re excited to be involved with this amazing community project in Plymouth, an area close to the hearts of our local Devon team, and to contribute to the building of a statue to Lady Astor, a project by the people for the people.
“It will be amazing to see the completed statue, a symbol of not just Lady Astor’s achievements but of the importance of women’s role in politics and our wider society. We are keen supporters of women in engineering and in promoting STEM subjects in educating our leading women of the future.
“Hannah Dwane our Regional Operations Manager for the South West has taken the lead on supporting this project and will herself be supervising the drilling and logging the findings on site in order to ensure the statue is founded on solid ground.
"We’re often the first on site on any project and work hard to deliver high quality results we can all be proud of. Every single member of our nationwide team of geologists, scientists and civil engineers brings their own individual expert knowledge and experience to the team.
“The company’s 35 plus years of experience have taught us that everything has to be right from day 1 and we need to engage with and be in tune with our clients and the wider community. Understanding their issues and concerns and ensuring effective communication is at the heart of everything we do.
The project is also supported by the team at AECOM who have given their time, energy and massive expertise generously since day one of the appeal.
Gary Alker from AECOM, said: “AECOM have been providing a range of professional services in support of the crowd funded Nancy Astor Statue Project. These services have included: Principal Designer, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering and Ground Engineering.
Ground investigation of the site is being undertaken this week on Plymouth Hoe by Geotechnics Ltd and ADS Drilling Services, with support from AECOM.
AECOM’s next phase of work involves finalising foundation design and construction details and preparing Pre-Construction information for the various contractors tasked with construction. This includes a large foundation for the stone plinth and statue, and paving work - All to be completed ready for the grand unveiling on the 28th November 2019.”
Award-winning Abi Jones from AJ Architects said: “It was incredibly exciting to finally see works beginning - this is moving on to the next stage and moving on from planning to getting on to site which is really exciting. I’ve never worked on a project like this before and I don’t know many architects who have worked on a statue before and it’s been a steep learning curve but a very very enjoyable one with lots of supportive and wonderful people involved.”
Lady Astor Statue Project Manager Alexis Bowater added: “We have been absolutely blown away by the tremendous support prestigious firms such as AECOM, Geotechnics, ADS Drilling and AJ Architects have given us - without their generosity, professionalism and determination to work with us this project simply couldn’t happen. We are an on tight budget and an even tighter deadline so a team like this is incredible. We can't thank them - and every other professional who has helped us - enough.”
At the end of the day the trial pit holes were refilled and the site was returned to its previous state.
