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Benchmarking costs for public realm landscaping and business park infrastructure
Public realm landscaping    
Lower range £/m2
(overall treated area)		 Higher range £/m2
(overall treated area)
Hard landscape 60 150
Soft landscape 5 40
Street furniture 5 25
Signage 2 13
Drainage/services/lighting 5 26
Total costs 100 240
   
Business park infrastructure    
Lower range £/ha (overall
business park area)		 Higher range £/ha (overall
business park area)
Earthmoving 20 150
Roads 60 270
Drainage 20 120
Services 30 75
Landscaping 20 170
Total costs 150 600
These costs are based on surveys of a number of urban design and business park projects.
They represent a typical range rather than absolute maximum and minimum costs.
Costs are at fourth-quarter 1999 price levels based on a South-east location.
Preliminaries are included; allowances for contingencies, professional fees and VAT are excluded.
Costs of amenity buildings are also excluded from the costs of business park infrastructure.
Urban improvements – cost breakdown
element
cost		 £/m2
affected area		 % of
total cost
Enabling works 192 500 7.70 4.61
Carefully take up existing concrete paving slabs and set aside   10 000 m2 @ £5
Carefully take up granite kerbs and set aside   2200 m @ £10
Plane off existing road surface   15 000 m2 @ £5
Take down existing lighting columns, blank off services   60 @ £300
Take down existing bollards and dispose   100 @ £75
Remove existing trees, grub up main roots, fill void with approved
material and imported top soil		   40 @ £500
Paved/road surfaces 2 377 500 95.10 56.90
Granite speed tables, 75 mm sawn slabs 500 × 500 mm bedded on
50 mm compacted bed of sand, granular sub-base		   2800 m2 @ £200
Granite setts, stretcher bond to speed table ramp; 200 × 75 × 150 mm,
bedded on 50 mm compacted bed of sand, granular sub-base		   300 m2 @ £250
40 mm hot-rolled asphalt to BS 594 with 20 mm coated chippings,
50 mm dense bitumen base course, 150 mm dense bitumen road base
and 200 mm Type 1 granular sub-base		   7400 m2 @ £35
Natural Yorkstone pavings, sawn to six sides, 50 mm thick, on type
1 sub-base, bedded on cement:sand (1:3); cement:sand joints		   14 500 m2 @ £75
Supply and lay on foundation granite kerb, 300 × 200 × 1000 mm
square edge		   2200 m @ £90
Supply and lay on foundation granite channel, 300 × 200 × 1000 mm   2200 m @ £90
Drainage/utility covers 285 500 11.42 6.83
Provide new precast concrete road gullies and drain   10 500 m2 @ £10
Provide new precast concrete pavement gullies and drain   14 500 m2 @ £5
Allowance to raise/lower existing covers and frames   item @ £50 000
Footway drainage channels, Aquaslot   14 500 m2 @ £4
Street furniture 101 800 4.07 2.43
Standard bollard, cast iron, including foundation   200 @ £300
Cycle rack, including foundation   10 @ £200
Direction signage, galvanised steel post with enamelled
directional fingers		   10 @ £1500
Litter bins, cast iron   20 @ £450
Outdoor seat, 1.8 m long, cast iron standards with iroko slats   15 @ £600
Outdoor seat, 2 m long, exposed aggregate   15 @ £450
Soft landscaping 280 000 11.20 6.70
5 m high semi-mature trees, including tree pit, guard and ring   140 @ £2000
Lighting 297 500 11.90 7.12
Standard lighting column to traffic areas, including cable and connection   60 @ £4000
Uplighters to trees, including cable and connection   30 @ £1750
Floodlighting to feature area   item @ £5000
Service runs 99 000 3.96 2.37
Diversion of electricity cables in one location   item @ £3000
Resite water valves in two locations   item @ £4000
Resite fire hydrant valve in one location   item @ £2000
Divert British Telecom cables and equipment in three locations   item @ £50 000
Divert cable television equipment in one location   item @ £40 000
Preliminaries and contingencies 545 000 21.80 13.04
Contractor’s overheads, site establishment and site supervision;
traffic management (allow 10%)		   item @ £363 000
Contingency sum (allow 5%)   item @ £182 000
     
Total construction cost 4 178 800 167.15 100
 
Urban landscape indicative rates (table 1)
UNIT RATE £
Enabling works: take up and dispose off site    
Paved areas; setts/cobbles m2 2.50-3.50
Concrete surfaces m2 2.50-3.50
Macadam/bitumen; up to 1000 m2 m2 4.50-5.50
Gravel m2 4.50-5.50
Turf m2 1.50-2.50
Soft landscape m2 8-12
Excavate to reduced levels; including disposal m2 55-65
Make up levels; 150 mm thick granular fill m2 4-4.50
Kerbs and edgings m 4-4.50
Steel edgings m 4-5
Metal railings/guardrails m 4.50-5.50
Timber fencing m 2.50-3.50
Masonry screen walls; 1.5 m high m 10-15
Concrete screen walls; 1.5 m high m 10-15
Clay drains/sewers; max depth not exceeding 1 m m 15-20
Service runs m 12-16
Traffic signage item 15-20
Pedestrian signage item 15-20
Bollards item 15-20
Waste bins on pole upstand item 10-15
Paved/road surfaces (all rates allow for
sub-bases/foundations)		    
Gravel; river or pit; washed; 63 mm thick m2 4-6
Dense bitumen macadam; 40 mm thick m2 14-20
Tarmacadam; one coat; 19 mm thick m2 10-15
Exposed aggregate macadam m2 35-50
Asphalt; hot rolled; up to 60 mm thick m2 10-15
Precast concrete slabs – 65 mm thick m2 20-30
Coloured paving flags – 50 mm thick m2 15-25
Precast concrete blocks – 65 mm thick Interset m2 15-25
Brick m2 45-80
Clay brick on prepared base m2 45-70
Granite setts m2 70-250
York stone slab; 75 mm thick m2 70-100
Limestone m2 60-100
Cobblestone; 50-75 mm diameter m2 45-65
Terrazzo; 16 mm thick m2 60-100
Tactile paving; precast concrete; 75 mm thick m2 40-60
Concrete kerbs m 15-25
Granite kerbs m 50-100
Concrete edgings m 8-15
Granite edgings m 40-80
Steel edgings m 20-40
Drainage/utility covers (all rates include excavation
and any bed and surround/sub-bases)		    
Aco drain: allowing for gullies in running length m 90-120
Cable ducts: allowing for access chambers m 50-80
Inspection chambers; brick; 1050 × 700 × 1500 mm
deep; including cast iron cover 		item 800-950
Inspection chambers; concrete; 900 mm diameter ×
1500 mm deep; including cast iron cover 		item 600-750
Gullies: including cast iron grating and accessories item 100-150
Recessed covers item 100-300
Urban landscape indicative rates (table 2)
UNIT RATE £
Street furniture (all rates include supply, installation
and any fixings/foundations)		    
Steel railings/guardrails m 40-80
Timber fencing; close boarded; 1.8 m high m 30-45
Masonry screen walls; 1.8 m high m 170-210
Zebra crossing; across two-lane road item 3 500-6 000
Pelican crossing; across two-lane road excluding pedestrian barriers item 20 000-35 000
Traffic signage; illuminated item 400-1 000
Pedestrian signage item 100-300
Bollards; concrete item 80-150
Bollards; cast iron item 150-500
Benches; cast iron item 400-1 000
Benches; concrete item 200-500
Tables; concrete item 180-220
Litter bins; cast iron; on pole upstand item 200-350
Cycle racks item 50-300
Tree planters; stand alone; precast concrete;
2 m diameter × 235 mm high		 item 250-300
Soft landscaping    
Seeded areas m2 2.50-5
Turfed areas m2 3.50-7
Planted areas; general m2 9-17
Planted areas; shrubbed m2 17-50
Planted areas; dense m2 20-50
Trickle irrigation pipes m 3-6
Tree pits; 1 × 1 × 1 m deep item 18-21
Tree pits; 2 × 2 × 1 m deep item 100-115
Tree anchoring system; trees to 7.5 m high item 20-50
Tree guards item 200-500
Tree grating in frame (2 m diameter) item 200-700
Nursery stock trees – semi-mature trees 5-8 m high: item 100-130
coniferous item 340-850
deciduous item 500-1 500
Lighting (all rates include supply, installation and
fixings/foundations)		    
12-15 m columns item 1 500-5 000
Lighting to pedestrian areas; 4-6 m columns item 1 000-4 000
Spotlights item 100-500
Uplighters; to trees and other features; including
excavation and so on; costs of timers excluded		 item 250-1 000
Regional variations
All costs in this article are based on schemes located
in south-east England and should be adjusted by the
following location factors for projects in other areas.
Inner London 1.10
Outer London 1.04
South-west 0.93
East Midlands 0.90
West Midlands 0.88
East Anglia 0.93
Yorkshire and Humberside 0.90
North-west 0.92
North 0.90
Scotland 0.92
Wales 0.88
Infrastructure indicative rates (table 1)
UNIT RATE £
Roads    
Costs include all earthworks, drainage, pavements, lighting,
signs, fencing and safety barriers where necessary. The
maximum depth of cut assumed is 1 m. Costs of features
such as interchanges, side roads, bridges, culverts, gantries,
retaining walls and so on are not included and are given
as an average extra cost for all features		    
Two-lane road 7.3 m wide, rural location m 1200-1500
Extra for features each 900
Two-lane road 7.3 m wide, urban location m 1300-1600
Extra for features each 1900
Four-lane road, dual carriageway, rural location m 1600-2000
Extra for features each 1250
Four-lane road, dual carriageway, urban location m 1500-1800
Extra for features each 2050
Bridges and underpasses    
Costs include excavation, concrete works, deck waterproofing and finishings and parapet. Rates are based on the area of the bridge deck    
Road bridge; insitu concrete    
15 m maximum span between abutments m2 1100-1200
20 m maximum span between abutments m2 1000-1100
Road bridge; insitu concrete with PCC beams    
12 m maximum span between abutments m2 1150-1200
17 m maximum span between abutments m2 1100-1150
Road bridge; insitu concrete with steel beams    
20 m maximum span between abutments m2 1100-1200
Footbridge; insitu concrete with PCC beams    
10 m maximum span between abutments m2 900-950
Pedestrian underpass; 3 × 2.5 m high m 3500-4500
Vehicle underpass; 7 × 5 m high m 18 000-23 000
Car parking    
Surface car parking m2 37-50
Surface car parking; landscaped m2 60-85
Infrastructure indicative rates
UNIT RATE £
Land drainage    
Costs include excavation and backfilling of trenches and laying clay drain pipes with 75 mm diameter lateral runs, average 60 mm deep, and 100 mm diameter main runs, average 750 mm deep    
Land drainage to parkland at 30 m centres and main
runs at 100 m centres		 ha 2000-2300
Land drainage to sportsfields at 10 m centres and main
runs at 33 m centres		 ha 5500-6500
Services runs laid in trenches (including excavation)    
Water main    
PVCu water main; 75 mm; on granular bed/surround m 20-25
Electric main    
Clayware duct; 100 mm; on granular bed/surround m 20-25
Gas main    
MDPE pipe; 65 mm; on granular bed and surround m 20-25
Telecommunications    
PVCu duct; 100 mm; on granular bed and surround m 15-20
Drainage    
Clay or PVCu pipework; 100-150 mm; on granular bed/surround m 20-30
Cast-iron pipework; 100-150 mm; on concrete bed
and surround		 m 50-60
Clay pipework; 375 mm; on granular bed/surround;
up to 3 m deep		 m 40-60
Ductile iron pipework; 375 mm; on concrete bed and surround m 90-110
Concrete pipework; 900 mm; on granular bed;
up to 3.5 m deep		 m 110-130
Brick inspection chamber; cast iron cover; 900-1500 mm deep item 625-700
Polypropylene inspection chambers; ductile iron cover in
plastic frame; 480 mm diameter × 1250 mm deep		 item 250-375
Precast concrete inspection chambers; concrete cover slab
and frame; 1500 mm diameter × 900-1050 mm deep		 item 500-625
Road gully; vitrified clay or precast concrete; cast iron grating; concrete surround; 450 × 900 mm deep item 100-120
Above-ground services    
High-voltage electricity    
33 kV overhead power lines (cost/run) km 50 000-60 000
33 kV underground power lines (cost/run) km 140 000-150 000