Buttershaw High school was included in Phase 1 of the Government ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme. The scheme entailed the demolition of existing school buildings and the construction of a new school building, car parking and sports facilities.

The school site was constructed over varied topography which required the site to undergo a substantial cut and fill exercise to accommodate the required sports facilities and support infrastructure.

The scheme designers identified a number of locations that would require the use of earth retaining structures. One location required a retaining structure with a retained height of 3.0m to support a new access road, with the school building to the front of the retaining wall. PaSCoE were approached by Thomas Ben Ltd, a specialist sub-contractor, to investigate the most suitable retaining solution taking into account site constraints, planning restrictions and sustainability requirements.

A King Post retaining wall was chosen as the most cost effective and practical solution. The scheme site investigation did not include the retaining wall area; therefore PaSCoE and the sub-contractor undertook a series of trial pits to confirm the soil strata beneath the wall. The wall was designed for a lifespan of 75 years taking into consideration the expected degradation due to corrosion.

On reopening the school was renamed Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College. The retaining wall is supporting live traffic loads and performing as expected.