This week we have been doing some crown reduction work in Norfolk….
The work is being carried out for a big hotel group. All the trees in the hotel grounds have been assessed with regards to risk to the public and any remedial work needed is noted and carried out within the allocated timescale.
The reason for the work being carried out is the trees are in slow declined with lots of die back and dead wood, so we have been reducing the crowns cutting back to live wood and removing any dead. Normally we try to retain some dead wood as its very good for habitat but as these trees were over the busy road and golf course all the dead wood had to be removed.
The work was being carried out as the hotel grounds are always busy with pedestrian activity on one side and a busy road on the other so we had to install three way traffic lights in order to create a safe working environment.
We are using a MEWP (Mobile Elevated Work Platform) for this work because of the number of trees that need work and also the fact that the trees are over the highway a Mewp makes the job safer, easier and quicker. We have two MEWP operative’s that hold there IPAF qualifications allowing them to work safely with the machine.
The work is being carried out by a four man crew this is a lot safer when working in public places and on busy roads. The ground staff are able to clear any more arisings from the road in the two minute time scale in which you can stop the traffic. It also allows one groundsman to watch over proceedings stopping any foot pedestrians from walking through the corded of work area and under the trees which are being worked on.
