In a manoeuvre billed as the circular reuse of materials, OCL Regeneration, a member of Holcim, has been contracted to scrape up the old second world war-era concrete runway at Ford Airfield in West Sussex and turn it into foundation and paving materials for a new Vistry residential scheme on the site.

Established in 1918, the airfield was used in the second world war for night-time raids over northern Europe and during the D-Day invasion.

Now, Vistry is building a 1,500-home neighbourhood called Fordham on the site.

The concrete runway is 250mm thick and laid on an asphalt base. The base contains hazardous waste, which has to be specially handled, treated and reprocessed to comply with Environment Agency standards.

First, a place to stand

OCL began by using some of the runway to make a hard-standing compound to store plant, vehicles and materials for the project.

This 6,000 sq m area was first stabilised using an insitu treatment, then paved with cement-bound granular material made from part of the runway that was planed and milled.

The next phase will see full remediation start and the rest of the runway removed. The materials will be processed and repurposed in the compound to create a Type 1 recycled aggregate and capping for the foundations of the development’s spine road.

“This is not only circular in nature, it is also highly cost-effective and will reduce carbon emissions as it helps drastically reduce haulage and truck movements,” said Roger Eke, business development manager at OCL Regeneration.

The contract is scheduled to run to the end of the year.