CECA picks I&H Brown's Blindwells earthworks for 30 Projects for 30 Years campaign

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) has featured I&H Brown's reclamation of the former Blindwells opencast mine near Tranent as the latest scheme in its 30 Projects for 30 Years campaign.

The campaign marks the trade body's 30th anniversary. CECA said the series, which runs throughout 2026, highlights schemes built since the association was founded.

I&H Brown carried out the reclamation, ground improvement and earthworks at Blindwells for Hargreaves Services plc. CECA said the 128-hectare site had previously been considered undevelopable for housing because of uncompacted colliery spoil reaching depths of 65 metres.

The ground improvement method

Working with the client's designers, I&H Brown developed what CECA described as a financially viable approach using large surcharging mounds and high-energy impact compaction to improve the ground.

According to CECA, about 12 million cubic metres of bulk earthworks have been carried out to date, and the remediation has helped make provision for around 3,500 new homes possible. I&H Brown's own project page puts the completed site at about 128ha with around 3,000 houses.

The contractor's project page describes the method as building 10m-high surcharging mounds to induce settlement across each phase, and sets out nine earthworks phases for the scheme. I&H Brown calls Blindwells one of the largest earthworks projects in Scotland.

CECA said the company's wider involvement has included roads, drainage, footpaths, landscaping and enabling works for housing, a school and a town centre.

Working around residents

As homes have been occupied, CECA said, later phases of earthworks have needed careful planning and coordination to limit disruption to residents who have already moved in.

I&H Brown said it first broke ground at Blindwells in April 2018, when the site was an open field. The site is a former opencast coal mine northeast of Tranent that operated from 1970 until its restoration was completed in 1998, according to the contractor.

The fourth earthworks phase started in February 2024 and involved moving just under 1 million cubic metres of material, I&H Brown said. That phase also included high-energy impact compaction of more than 150,000 cubic metres and took in the new High Street and shopping area.

What happens next

I&H Brown said it has delivered five phases of earthworks at Blindwells under its long-standing partnership with Hargreaves Services plc.

The contractor has since been awarded a further earthworks contract at the site. It said the latest phase will see its team move more than 2 million cubic metres of material between plots to prepare the ground for future housing.