Dewpond renovation at Kingley Vale Nature Reserve

PHB were approached by Natural England to renovate and re-line an existing old dewpond deep in the heart of their SSSI at West Stoke near Chichester.

The site is managed by Natural England and is home to one of Europe’s most impressive yew forests containing yews as much as 2,000 years old. The chalk grassland is home to a great number of flowers and herbs that form a diverse and intricate mosaic of species.

The dewpond is the only natural source of water in the vicinity and therefore forms an important part of the ecology of the reserve. Having been poorly lined many years ago the pond was struggling to hold water and the resident flora and fauna, including newts, were as risk.

The nearest road was over 1 mile from the dewpond and so one of our large low ground pressure Hydrema articulated dump trucks was used to transport materials carefully along the access tracks. The pond was successfully rebuilt using a flexible butyl liner sandwiched between heavy duty geotextile membranes. The entire system was then covered and clay lined with locally sourced material to protect the liner and maintain a natural effect.