Ground set true before the dig MARK AND LEVEL
IHB Groundworks Ltd is a computer systems design and professional technical services studio that also runs a groundworks and excavation atelier from 206 Wardle Road, Rochdale - OL12 9JB, United Kingdom (GB). Our crews lay out foundation lines, trench drainage runs and strip sites across the Rochdale valley and the wider North West, working from drawings, survey data and the firm setting-out habits that keep a dig within a thumb width of the plan. Every project begins on paper and on the peg rail, never on a guess. See how the crews work
Six crews, one peg rail
Each dig sheet below is set at its own offset because no two plots ever line up. Open a sheet to read the full service description.
IFoundation Trenching Crews
Trenches dug to line and level for strip and pad foundations, with sides trimmed clean and spoil stacked where the offloader can reach it. Our crews read the engineer drawings, set the pegs and check every corner before the bucket touches soil.
HDrainage Pipe Lays
Foul and surface runs laid to falls that actually work, with gravel beds, surround and marker tape installed as one continuous operation. We record invert levels as we go so the certifying engineer receives a clean as-built sheet.
BSite Clearance Strips
Topsoil, scrub and old hardstanding removed in controlled passes with the arisings sorted on site. Anything worth reusing is stacked for the landscaper; the rest leaves in weighed loads with transfer notes filed the same day.
GSlab Base Preparations
Reduced dig, geotextile, compacted sub-base and sand blinding levelled for the follow-on slab. The tape line is pulled across the full bay and checked at the centre, the quarter points and both corners before we hand the base over.
WDriveway Sub-Base Works
Excavation and layered stone for private drives, farm tracks and yard access, with crossfall set so water leaves the surface instead of standing in it. Edges are retained with kerb and haunch where the ground cannot hold its own line.
RRetaining Wall Footings
Trenched and poured footings for garden and boundary walls on sloping ground, sized against the wall height and the load behind it. Where the slope is steep we step the trench and record each step on the setting-out sheet.
IHB Groundworks Ltd opens its spring dig calendar and sends setting-out crews across Rochdale, Oldham and Bury as soon as the ground softens enough to hold a peg.
Mark first, dig second, level third
The depot at 206 Wardle Road keeps a single setting-out bench where every job begins. Survey data, drainage drawings and the client brief are laid side by side, and the crew leader copies the key dimensions onto a trench board before a machine is booked.
On site the pegs go in, the tape line is stretched across the bay, and the dumpy level is set on a stable tripod. Only when three check readings agree does the excavator start work. The habit costs an hour in the morning and saves whole days when a service pipe turns out to run six inches from the line on the drawing.
Because IHB Groundworks Ltd also works in computer systems design, the same teams build the site records as structured data: peg coordinates, invert levels and load notes export cleanly to the client, the engineer and the warranty file. Digital habits do not replace the plumb bob; they simply make it auditable.
A day on the peg rail
- 07:00 Brief at the benchDrawings checked against the site plan and the previous day notes.
- 08:30 Pegs and tapeCorners set, tape stretched, level established and signed off.
- 10:00 First dig passSpoil separated, trench sides trimmed, string line kept taut.
- 13:30 Service checkCable and pipe locators swept across the run before deepening.
- 16:00 Depth tags inNew depths tagged, next day plan marked on the trench board.
Accuracy that survives the first frost
Ground moves after a dig. Trenches soften, spoil heaps settle and the corners that looked true in July can drift by November. IHB Groundworks Ltd designs every setting-out sheet so a second crew can recover the same lines later without guessing, using pegs set well clear of the excavation and depth tags recorded in the site file.
Pegs clear of the dig
Reference pegs sit outside the working area so spoil and plant never knock them out. Each one is tagged with a depth note and a coordinate that matches the drawing.
Bench mark on the wall
A single bench mark is agreed with the client and painted on a stable wall. Every depth decision on site is measured against that mark, not against the last cut.
Sheets that fit a file
Setting-out sheets are typed, numbered and stored in the client folder within a day of the visit, so the engineer receives records that can be read without a phone call.
Householders, builders and site managers
Much of the work is small: a single extension footing in a back garden, a soakaway for a farm cottage, a driveway rebuilt after winter flooding. Those jobs still receive a peg rail and a tape line, because a small dig can do just as much damage when it drifts.
Larger contracts arrive through builders and site managers who need a crew that arrives with its own level, its own locator and a working knowledge of the drainage drawings. IHB Groundworks Ltd holds the plant to match, from compact mini excavators for gated gardens to tracked machines for open ground, all maintained at the Rochdale depot between hires.
A tight radius, properly covered
Crews travel from 206 Wardle Road across Rochdale, Wardle, Littleborough, Heywood, Oldham, Bury and the surrounding valleys. Anything further afield is quoted individually, with travel written plainly on the estimate.
Working hours run Monday to Friday from 7:30 to 17:00 and Saturday mornings from 8:00 to 12:00 by arrangement. Site visits for quotations are free within the core area, and a crew leader will walk the ground with you before any figure is put on paper. Ring +12244881722 or write to grounds@ihbground.hair to arrange a time.
Tell us what the ground has to do
Send a plan, a photograph of the plot or simply a description of the work you have in mind. A crew leader will reply with the questions that matter: access width, service locations, spoil space and the depth the drawings call for.
Quotations are set out in plain English with depths, lengths and waste allowances written against each line. No hidden plant charges, no surprise for the skip.
Depot and contact
IHB Groundworks Ltd
206 Wardle Road, Rochdale - OL12 9JB, United Kingdom (GB)
Mon to Fri 7:30 to 17:00
Saturday 8:00 to 12:00 by arrangement