Millbrook Place in Crewe is a 305-home residential development designed to combine sustainable living with modern amenities, including electric vehicle charging points for every home, extensive green spaces, a community orchard, and play areas for all ages. The site faced significant challenges due to prolonged wet weather, which left glacial till subsoils with a high moisture content of 38%, making compaction unachievable and the material unsuitable for engineered fill. Without intervention, this material would have required off-site disposal and replacement with imported aggregates, leading to increased costs, higher transport emissions, and a greater environmental impact.
Ecofill was engaged by Taylor Wimpey Homes to apply its Pr-Ecofill solution, working in two phases across the north and south sides of the site and treating a total of 14,000m³ of material. The process reduced moisture content to 16%, enabling the previously unusable subsoil to be incorporated into adoptable highways, car parks, compounds, and piling mats. Each batch was carefully managed and tested, including moisture content analysis, CBR testing for stiffness, and undrained triaxial testing for shear strength, confirming the material met engineering requirements with a CBR of 5% or above and shear strength exceeding 40kPa.
By treating the material on-site, Ecofill eliminated the need for disposal, significantly reduced reliance on imported aggregates, and avoided thousands of lorry movements. This led to measurable environmental benefits, including preventing 478 kg of NOâ‚“ emissions, 5,390 g of PM10 particulate matter, and saving 84,371 litres of fuel. The project demonstrates how innovative material management can transform challenging wet subsoils into valuable, reusable resources, delivering both technical and sustainability advantages while supporting cost-effective construction practices and reducing the overall carbon footprint.
