The interlocking Plastic Piling blocking moorland grips shown on the RSPB advisory sheet looks both effective and easy to fit. However, neither on the advisory sheet nor on the internet, can I find a contact for actual purchase of the stuff. It also looks as if it would be suitable for blocking up drains, or field ditches in lowland situations, where one wants to achieve raised water levels in a field to encourage a wet grassland habitat.
Can you send me any information on who supplies the Plastic Piling, dimensions etc. and possibility for using more than one layer to block a deeper drain or peat pipe?
Hi.
This isn't something I've had to have a go at before, however the link below is to a company that specialise in plastic products, and they create plastic piling and all the bits that go with it. There's some good info on the site and they are relatively easy to get hold of for more specific information. Hope this helps.
Sarah
www.hlplasticsltd.co.uk/piling.html
Hi everyone,
We have quite a lot of experience up here in the Flow Country with using plastic piling to raise water levels in ditches. We have used two different makes of piling, including those of HL Plastics. I can highly recommend this company (no, I'm not on the payroll!) as we have always found them to be professional and helpful, and the product is robust and easy to work with. The other company we have used in Bendex Plastics, who are based in Manchester (tel: 0161 7778070/fax: 0161 7778886/email plasticpiling@aol.com) who produce a slightly different style of piling which is cheaper but we have had more breakages using these, and our contractors complain that they are less easy to carry around. Overall, the costs probably even out. Dimensions for both are about 300mm wide and 2.4kg/m. They can be cut to length to whatever the customer specifies. I have attached an image of the two types of piling side by side. The Bendex one is on the left and the HL Plastics on the right.
We have certainly found plastic piling dams very effective if installed correctly. The ideal tool for the job is a large rubber mallet (ours are about 12" long by 6"diameter) which can be hard to come by. Otherwise an ordinary mallet will do if you put something between the pile and the mallet when bashing them in (like a bit of wood), to absorb some of the shock and avoid breakages. They are very quick to install, and robust, although not easy to remove if you need to. We have made dams up to 5 piles wide with no problems, but other dams bigger than this would need bracing with a plank of wood.
Hope this helps, if anyone would like any more specific information please feel free to email me.
Katy Robinson
RSPB Forsinard Peatlands Reserve Officer
Hi there
Take a look at the the Water Management Structures for Conservation case study series on the RSPB website. One of the examples illustrated uses plastic piling. Available as a free download here www.rspb.org.uk/sluices
Staffs WT have also used them to create simple control structures to good effect. I have more info if you need it.
Best wishes
Nick Droy
RSPB Wetlands Advisor