Engineering solution for wall, being pushed over by tree.

[benedmonds]

I have to admit I was surprised permission was granted for the removal.. I am not sure the lpa have a TO in post at the moment. I am pretty sure the old one would have insisted on retaining the tree. It is structurally sound and was there before the wall..

Piles and beams would be my solution but interested if anyone had others views.  

 

In the end it will probably come down to £.. and removal likely to be cheaper in long run..

[AHPP]

12 hours ago, Gary Prentice said:

If you're throwing environmental costs into the equation, then to get a true cost/benefit analysis you need to include all the social/economic/enviromental benefits that a mature tree in an urban setting provides. 

Tell me more. I was speaking from an entirely lay perspective. I've never done any of the paperwork for trees. I just take chainsaws to them.

[Mull]

Take the wall away( or a least to a suitable distance from tree) plant a hedge, privacy, beauty, wildlife friendly, what’s not to like!

 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

1 hour ago, AHPP said:

Tell me more. I was speaking from an entirely lay perspective. I've never done any of the paperwork for trees. I just take chainsaws to them.

Savage!

[Billhook]

7 hours ago, Mull said:

Take the wall away( or a least to a suitable distance from tree) plant a hedge, privacy, beauty, wildlife friendly, what’s not to like!

 

Or as Khriss says put up a wooden fence with lap boards for privacy

 

 

[Mark J]

10 hours ago, AHPP said:

Tell me more. I was speaking from an entirely lay perspective. I've never done any of the paperwork for trees. I just take chainsaws to them.

Have a look at:
 

CAVAT: https://www.ltoa.org.uk/resources/cavat
I-tree: https://www.itreetools.org/
The Helliwell System: https://www.trees.org.uk/Help-Advice/Public/What-is-the-Helliwell-system-and-how-much-is-a-po
 

https://www.daa-arboriculture.co.uk/sites/default/files/resources/Evaluation of Tree Valuation Systems.pdf

Edited May 17, 2019 by Mark J

[Guest Gimlet]

21 hours ago, daltontrees said:

I just re-read the OP. The brick wall is on an old sandstone footing. That explains the lack orf resistanc eto movement of the wall and the legth of wall affected by the movement. I withdraw my suggestion fo a concrete beam. It's too late for that. It probably needs a lot of wall and footings removed, mini-piles inserted wherever possible between roots and a ground beam cast on top then rebuild wall.

 

The LPA may well be in the compensation zone and the approval may partly be a refelction of that.

That is effectively what I did with mine. Arches built off deep piles. It was expensive because it had to be deep and it all had to be hand dug. My trees survived unscathed but charging in with a digger and tearing at roots you can't see can be fatal. And you are right that removing the tree in the OP's case will not help the wall. Once the substrate beneath the foundation has been fatally loosened by root heave no amount of patching up will stop continuing disintegration after the tree has been felled. The ground will swell and heave in wet periods and subside again when it's dry and the wall will continue to move and fracture.

 

Even felling the tree and rebuilding the wall with a regular spec footing will probably not help long term given the tree's size. If the stump and root bole is large it will cause subsidence of the new wall as it rots and the ground around it settles so if the wall is rebuilt without the tree there it will still need to be built on a foundation that is deeper than the root bole.

Even if the root bole was dug out entirely you'd still need to dig the foundations deeper than the level of the disturbance given how close the tree is to the wall.

So it's expensive either way and if the client or OP has to pay someone else to remove the tree there's probably not much in it price wise between rebuilding around the tree and removing the tree and rebuilding without it.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Gimlet

[Gary Prentice]

13 hours ago, AHPP said:

Tell me more. I was speaking from an entirely lay perspective. I've never done any of the paperwork for trees. I just take chainsaws to them.

Trees provide many ecosystem benefits: air pollution removal , current carbon storage, carbon sequestration, stormwater reduction etc. These can be assigned monetry values, with mature large trees providing the highest benefits. They also provide less tangible social benefits such as 'well-being', reduced crime levels, connectiveness to nature etc

 

here's so much information and research into he positives of trees/green infrastructure that I don't know where to start. Have a search of i-tree to start with

[Gary Prentice]

19 hours ago, benedmonds said:

I have to admit I was surprised permission was granted for the removal.. I am not sure the lpa have a TO in post at the moment. I am pretty sure the old one would have insisted on retaining the tree. It is structurally sound and was there before the wall..

Piles and beams would be my solution but interested if anyone had others views.  

 

In the end it will probably come down to £.. and removal likely to be cheaper in long run..

It's anybodies guess as to what would be required to repair/rebuild the wall until it's demolished and the foundation revealed. 

 

Taking into account the cost of tree, and possibly sump, removal there may not be that much difference in retaining the tree and using a suitable engineering solution to account for future growth - which as the tree is fairly mature isn't likely to be that great.

 

 

[AHPP]

Thanks,@Mark J and@Gary Prentice. I’ll have a look on the laptop later. I assume these methods of ascribing a monetary value to trees are what the courts use when someone’s suing someone for harming/stealing/converting/etc a tree?