# Building an arena on a hill?



## kit279 (10 June 2009)

Has anyone built their arena on sloping or hilly ground? Did you have to get contractors to level out the ground for you? Did they build up the ground or dig out a section? Was it expensive? 

Any advice would be very welcome - I've managed to find some grazing to buy but rather surprisingly for around Cambridge it happens to have quite a steep slope to it!


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## milliepops (10 June 2009)

The arena at my yard is on the side of a hill - IIRC it was partly dug out and partly build up.  It is slightly under 20 x 40 and I think that was to save the costs...

Sorry, not much use, but I just wanted to say be aware of how the weather might affect you.  We are near the top of a hill, and the wind rushes up the hill so that it is often blowing a gale on the school, while seeming quite calm elsewhere!  We have also lost a lot of surface as a result.


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## Booboos (10 June 2009)

We did it in our previous home but it does cost more. You want to do a mix of building up and digging out. The main problem with building up is that anything you use will need some time to settle (the more you need to build up the worse it will be and the more money you will need to spend on hardcore for the built up bit). The main problem with digging out is what to do with the soil you take out and, depending on how much you dig out, whether you will need to retain the remaining soil so that it does not fall back down.

Might be best to get a professional in for this kind of job as it can be quite demanding to do right.


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## HayleyandBob (11 June 2009)

We had ours done and it was dug out 3 metres and built up 3 metres the opposite side, but it was worth it as we were on a heck of a slope so ridign was impossible with out sliding down it 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 i think the digging out cost in the region of £5000 but i coudl be wrong ...ill check later... we did the fencing ourselves so that didnt cost much and then we dug the drainige ourselves to with a hired mini digger, we tehn had a woodchip surface layed which wasnt the suface i would have chosen bt planning wouldnt allow anythign else 
	
	
		
		
	


	




  ill digg out (no pun intended ) the reciepts i have a feelign it might of been £5000 in total! it certainly wasnt the £25000 that iv heard others cost !
The dug out bit...(excuse the ponio)





The built up part...





hope this helps X


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## Worried1 (11 June 2009)

We had a 2.7 metre fall on our slope where we planned to build our school. We went for the option of digging out the top end and building up the bottom end - this made it a much cheaper option as we did not have to pay to remove the earth. We had to allow some settling time for the earth to stabilise but then were able to proceed.

We had professionals in to do the gorundwork as unless you know what you are doing it could be a costly mistake.

If you go with the option of building up - don't concrete your posts in immediately, there will continue to be some settling and you need to allow your fence to move slightly. You can then retighten the fence and secure once the movement has finished.

We used a people who we knew and as they had a cancelled job they were quite flexible and a bit cheaper, we also used our own machinery which reduced rental costs.

Please PM me if you want more info I can also send you some pics of before and after to give you an idea of what we did.

We now have just a 12 inch fall which is 'normal' for most schools and that incline aids drainage but is so slight a tennis ball wouldn't roll on it.


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## Thistle (11 June 2009)

Mine has been dug out and built up too.

Come and visit us and have a look, not far from you.


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## millimoo (11 June 2009)

Our Arena is on a steep hill thats slopes away more on one side to the other.
Planning permission was granted for the long side to be cut into the hill, but the contractors arrived in torrential rain and an old land drain popped out of the bank being dug so we had to build the short side into the hill.
Its 2.5 meters into the hill side, and the other end quite frankly looks like the Derby Bank on one corner - approx 3 meters (other corner 2 meters).
It was built by Trackright 8 yrs ago, and whilst we've had a some settling on highest corner of the built up end, its only resulted in some slight wobbling of the fence.
When constructed, the soil dug from the bank was pulled across to build up the level. However they spent hours driving over and over a few inches with a huge caterpiller - it took them nearly a week to build up the level and compact it down. It was the talk of the locals, and they had wagers on how long it would take to slip - it didn't / hasn't.
We had major flooding in February from the roadside (the road was like a river and found a way across to the Arena field) above the end dug into the bank which washed away the top 3rd of the surface. 
KLH Arena's did the repair, and re-dug the drains etc, it turns out he was the guy who originally levelled the site for us - Trackright are not trading anymore I don't think. I would recommend giving him a call, and although based in Bridlington will build anywhere in the UK.... he's got a lot of experience with groundworks and won't use inferior surfaces


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## Thistle (11 June 2009)

Keith from KLH did our arena too. It's the only arena I know locally that never floods! He knows a bit about groundwork!

Unfortunately he now tends to do more local work although I am going to try to persuade him to do my new arena when I move house.


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## ponypatter (11 June 2009)

we're on a half build up/half dig out. Works fine provided the angles of the retaining banks are ok (over 45deg, or under depn on how you look at it). Due to the slope we didn't have drains put in (bar two which have membrane wrapped round them), but this may have been a mistake as with all this rain the water is collecting on the surface and then draining off at the edges where the stonework underneath has small gaps - this is happening so fast its taking some of the sand and rubber with it. I've spent the last few nights (in the rain) digging up the edges and securing them. We had a well known local contractor do the work and don't blame them - but maybe some points for you to consider (i.e get drains or a membrane which will prevent surface leakage!). Would have been money well spent, but as it was costs were close to £10,000 (we're home counties) before surface!!!


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