An ambitious 5,500-home new market town on the eastern edge of Plymouth. One of the largest residential projects in the country.

The engineering challenge at Sherford is unlike almost any other active civils project in the South West. Delivering infrastructure for a new town — rather than a single development phase — requires a contractor capable of operating continuously across multiple simultaneous phases, adapting to an evolving design, and managing the complexity of a live site as completed streets and facilities open to residents while construction continues on adjacent parcels.

The terrain at Sherford adds further complexity. The site's topography requires significant earthworks to establish the platforms and formation levels needed for road construction, drainage networks and building foundations. Cut and fill volumes across Phase 3AB alone exceed 200,000m³ of cut and 325,000m³ of fill — volumes that demand continuous plant deployment and disciplined programme management to keep the wider scheme on track.

Drainage at this scale is equally demanding. Sherford's surface water and foul drainage networks must be designed, constructed and adopted phase by phase, with attenuation, pumping and flow control infrastructure all needing to function as each new parcel connects to the wider system. The installation of three Foul Pumping Station Attenuation Tanks on Phase 3AB alone — each a substantial precast concrete structure — illustrates the technical complexity and engineering precision the project demands.

Perhaps the most challenging single element of recent works has been the construction of the culvert connecting Phases 2D and 3AB. This structure — comprising 12 precast concrete arches installed jointly by Groundfix and Steve Hoskin Construction — was a critical programme milestone, unlocking the route between two major development phases and enabling the next stage of infrastructure delivery to proceed.

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Groundfix's ongoing delivery at Sherford covers the full spectrum of civil engineering works required to build a new town. Key completed and in-progress works include:

Bulk Earthworks: Large-scale cut and fill operations across multiple phases, establishing platforms and formation levels for roads, drainage and residential parcels. Phase 3AB earthworks involve over 200,000m³ of cut and 325,000m³ of fill, with our in-house plant fleet operating continuously across the site. Earthworks on Parcels 18–21, 25 and to the spine road have all been progressed in the current phase of works.

The 2D/3AB Culvert: Jointly delivered with Steve Hoskin Construction, the installation of 12 precast concrete arches formed the culvert connecting phases 2D and 3AB — a critical piece of infrastructure that opened the route between these two major development zones. Following installation, wingwall construction, backfilling, drainage works and road surfacing across the top of the structure were all completed to programme.

Foul Pumping Station Attenuation Tanks: Three major precast concrete attenuation tanks installed on Phase 3AB to date. The most recent structure measures 28m long, 8m wide and 2.2m high, with an estimated storage capacity of 240m³ and close to 130 tonnes of precast concrete. These structures manage wastewater flows from new development phases into the wider sewage network.

Drainage Networks: Extensive surface water and foul drainage installation across multiple phases, including 900mm diameter storm pipes running from basin 10 around Parcel 22, flow control chambers, valve chambers and the construction of the wider adoptable drainage network serving each new development parcel.

Roads & Highway Infrastructure: Road build works progressing to programme across current phases, including spine road construction, residential road build, wingwall structures and the installation of road surfaces across major infrastructure connections. Groundfix delivers roads to adoptable Section 38 standards throughout.

Structures: Construction of flow control and valve chambers, retaining structures, wingwalls and associated concrete works across all active phases.

Sherford remains one of Groundfix's anchor projects. Works continue across Phase 3AB and adjacent parcels, with the development expected to remain an active programme for the coming years as the new town continues to grow.