Glendalough paving and drainage, about 13 km from Landsdale
Paving in Glendalough is as much about water as it is about pavers, and that is where IBP Paving starts. We replace driveways and paths, lay courtyards for units and villas, and install soakwells and other drainage built for the suburb's low ground. Our base in Landsdale is about 13 km north in a straight line. The work comes with a lifetime workmanship warranty and over 20 years of experience laying paving across Perth.
Valley of two lakes
The name comes from an Irish hermitage and means valley of two lakes, a fair description of a suburb lying between Herdsman Lake and Galup. The land was once part of the Perth Wetlands, and it was drained and cleared by the Oblates. The Little Sisters of the Poor have run their home on Rawlins Street since 1921. Today Glendalough Open Space and the Glendalough Reserve form part of Herdsman Lake Regional Park, and Cayley Reserve survives as a remnant of the old wetland.
Soft ground and a shallow water table
Drained wetland behaves differently from the dry dune sand found further north. In the low parts of Glendalough the water table is likely to be shallow, and the ground may hold pockets of peaty or organic sand, as is thought to occur in adjoining Osborne Park. Both matter to paving:
- Base. Organic material compresses under load, which is a common cause of sunken pavers. We excavate it where we find it and replace it with compacted crushed limestone.
- Soakwells. A soakwell needs dry ground beneath it to drain. On a lot with high groundwater we use shallower, wider units or other approved systems, and we plan surface drainage so water reaches them.
- Falls. Paving is graded away from the house towards grates and garden beds, because ponding sits longer on low ground.
The coast is around 6 km away, so salt should not be a concern for paver choice here.
Glendalough's post war housing and infill
The State Housing Commission bought the land in 1949, making Glendalough one of its first post war developments, and the suburb was gazetted in July 1954. In 2021 it had 2,628 residents in 1,353 dwellings, and alongside the original houses the suburb is likely to include units, villas and infill dwellings. The jobs follow from that. Original driveways and paths are likely to be near the end of their life and call for a full replacement on a new base. Unit and villa sites need shared driveways, paths and courtyards, with drainage designed for each dwelling. And where an old house is replaced, the new build needs its paving and soakwells laid out from scratch.
City of Stirling drainage and crossover rules
The City of Stirling requires every lot to keep its rainfall on site, through soakwells or an approved alternative such as a holding tank or an infiltration basin. Standard lots are designed for at least a 1 in 1 year, 60 minute storm, equal to 15 mm across the site, and capacity is the impervious area multiplied by 0.015. Glendalough has one rule that matters more than elsewhere: a Drainage Management Plan, with storage for a 1 in 20 year storm, is required where groundwater is within 1.2 m of the surface. Because one trigger is the water table, two neighbouring lots can end up with different requirements, so we check before we size anything. Roof water and paving runoff are infiltrated separately, the City encourages permeable paving, and soakwells sit at least 1 m from structures and boundaries. The full criteria are on our City of Stirling soakwell requirements page.
A crossover needs a Crossover Installation Application before it is built or changed. A single residential crossover can be 3.0 to 6.0 m wide in concrete, coloured concrete, heavy duty pavers, or exposed aggregate or liquid limestone that meets AS 1379, but not asphalt. The setback from a street tree ranges from 1 m for a small trunk to 4 m for a trunk over 600 mm in diameter.
Sources: City of Stirling, On Site Stormwater Drainage Criteria (June 2024); Crossover Policy and Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non Residential.
Suburbs around Glendalough
From here we also service Osborne Park, Mount Hawthorn, Leederville, Wembley and Churchlands on the far side of Herdsman Lake. See areas we service for the rest.
