BS5837 tree protection fencing around trees at a school in Littlehampton

Service type: BS5837 tree fencing protection.

Address: Cornfield school, Cornfield Close, Littlehampton, BN17.

Customer needs: Protection was required to ensure the safety of trees and their roots that had been given a preservation order at a Littlehampton school. This needed to be in place before building works could commence near the trees. They required 105m of BS5837 tree protection fencing using Heras fence panels backed up by scaffolding tubes and connected with scaffold fittings.

Difficulties we faced: This project took place on school grounds, so there was plenty of access for our trucks to park and offload our equipment. Our team had to be mindful of pedestrians passing by while erecting the fencing.

What we did: Our BS5837 fencing experts first erected the framework with 3 scaffold tubes as ledgers measuring 1.8m, 0.9 and 0.1 metres high from the floor. Standards (upright tube) were installed every 3 metres and were spiked 600mm into the ground using a sledgehammer.

We then added rakers to every standard (upright tube), which were then connected to a 5ft tube (butt) which was also spiked roughly 600mm into the ground to add extra support to the rakers. Temporary mesh fencing was secured to the scaffolding tube framework using 9mm heavy-duty cable ties and was added every metre on all 3 ledgers.

Other information

• We used round-top anti-climb temporary fence panels that measured 3.5m wide and 2.0m high, along with rubber block feet and standard fencing couplers.
• This protection allowed approximately 1ft of space from the trunk per inch of the tree’s diameter. This provides enough room for the roots in the ground, so they are not damaged.
• We used approximately 42 heras fencing panels, 43 feet and 41 clips for this job.

Hire period: We hired the BS5837 tree fencing to this client for 6 weeks as standard, which should provide them with enough time to complete their project. If the hire was exceeded, we agreed to a weekly hire rate so that the protection remained until the project was complete.