Groundworks Contractors Cornwall & Devon | J Keane Plant Hire
Mon–Fri 7am–6pm DEPOTS IN TRURO AND LAUNCESTON, COVERING CORNWALL AND DEVON
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Our own teams and plant

Groundworks acrossCornwall & Devon

Complete groundworks packages, self-delivered.

From site clearance and bulk dig to drainage, foundations and finished external works, delivered by our own crews with our own plant, aggregates and haulage behind them.

Our groundworks

The work we do

Domestic · Commercial · Public sector
Site Clearance

Vegetation, hardstanding and structures cleared and disposed of under licence.

Bulk Excavation

Dig-and-cart, reduced level dig and cut-and-fill with our own fleet and haulage.

Drainage & Attenuation

Foul and surface water systems, attenuation tanks and soakaways to spec.

Foundations

Trench fill, strip and pad foundations set out and poured to engineer’s drawings.

External Works

Slabbing, kerbing, block paving and hard landscaping to finish the plot.

Roads & Car Parks

Sub-base, binder and surfacing for estate roads, accesses and parking areas.

Recent groundworks

Work we have delivered

1 / 8 Public sector
Newquay · for Kier
Treviglas Academy

Reinforced concrete slab, attenuation tank, drainage and surfacing for a new school building.

Working under Kier Construction on a live school site, we laid and poured the reinforced concrete slab inside the new steel frame, then installed the attenuation tank and ACO drainage run, set path edging kerbs to line and level, laid the sub-base and finished the car park and access in tarmac, all phased around term-time access.

1 / 3 Public sector
Langarth · for Cormac
Topsoil screening

Topsoil screened on site for the new football pitch at Langarth Garden Village.

Our 14 tonne excavator and dumpers fed a tracked screener on site, separating stone from topsoil so the material could be re-used on the pitch rather than carted away, saving haulage movements and disposal cost on one of Cornwall’s largest developments.

1 / 6 New build
Carbis Bay · new build
New-build groundworks

Deep excavation, crate soakaway, foundations and a carport retaining wall.

A steep coastal plot dug out for a new house: deep excavation, a crate soakaway wrapped in geotextile for surface water, strip foundations, a reinforced carport retaining wall and the finished slab, all worked around tight access off the main road.

1 / 7 Highway works
Helston · for Cormac
Crash barrier installation

Reinforced concrete base for a new highway crash barrier, formed and poured beside a live road.

Working beside a live carriageway, we broke out and excavated the existing verge, carting the arisings away as the dig progressed. Formwork and a steel reinforcement cage were set to line and level, then poured and finished ready for the barrier posts, with pedestrian access and traffic management maintained throughout.

1 / 8 Extension
Penpol · private client
Extension substructure

Extension substructure on a creekside plot: footings, drainage, blockwork and slab.

Set out and excavated the footing trenches with a mini excavator, laser-levelled to depth, with spoil carted off site as the dig progressed. Footings poured, then the underground drainage run in and bedded, inspection chambers set, substructure blockwork built off the footings and the sub-base laid and compacted ready for the slab, all in a tight creekside garden with restricted access.

1 / 4 Private client
Coverack · with Cornwall Pools
Swimming pool installation

Full groundworks package for a new swimming pool, from the dig to the finished landscaping.

Excavation for the pool structure, underground drainage, then decking and landscaping to finish, delivered in partnership with Cornwall Pools Ltd so the pool build and the groundworks ran to one programme.

One accountable contractor

Plant, labour, materials and muckaway, from one number

Because we own the fleet, employ the operators and supply the aggregate, there is no waiting on third parties and no gap in responsibility. One schedule, one point of contact, one invoice.

Plant Hire

The same excavators and dumpers we use, to hire.

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Haulage

Grab lorries and tippers, spoil out and material in.

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Materials

Sand, stone, sub-base and topsoil by the tonne.

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Our process

How a job runs

01
Site visit

We walk the site, check access and agree the scope with you face to face.

02
Fixed quote

A clear, itemised price with the schedule and any provisional sums spelled out.

03
On site

Our own crew, plant and haulage arrive on the agreed date and work to schedule.

04
Handover

Site left clean, with as-built information and duty-of-care paperwork.

Accredited & trusted

Cleared to work on tendered sites

Constructionline Gold pre-qualification, SSIP-assessed health and safety, CHAS accreditation and ISO 9001 & 14001 certification, all audited independently each year. It is the paperwork main contractors and local authorities ask for before you set foot on site, and it is in place before we quote.

Constructionline Gold Member SSIP Accredited CHAS Accredited
Where we work

Groundworks teams across Cornwall & Devon

Directly employed teams working from Truro and Launceston across both counties, from Penzance to Exeter, on residential, commercial and local authority projects.

West Cornwall Mid Cornwall North Cornwall East Cornwall Plymouth & West Devon Exeter & East Devon Nationwide on request
FAQs

Before the dig starts

Yes, that is how most of our jobs start. We set out from the approved drawings and work to levels on site, so the footings, drainage and slab all end up where the engineer intended.
Footings are excavated to the depth shown on the drawings and left open, so they can be seen and checked before anything is poured.
We do. Foul and surface water runs, inspection chambers, and crate soakaways where the ground will not take a straight connection. It is all part of the same package as the footings.
Yes. Cut and fill, levelling and retaining walls are all part of the job on a sloping plot. Send over what you have and we will tell you what the ground will need.
We stop and talk to you before going any further. Rock usually means bringing a breaker in, and buried services need locating properly, so either way you will hear from us before the cost changes.
Groundworks is everything below the surface and up to the slab. Landscaping is the finish on top of it. We handle both, so there is no gap between the two trades to argue over.

Got a groundworks package to price?

Send us the drawings or book a site visit and we’ll come back with a clear quote.

Contact Our Team