Upper Swan paving, taken on by arrangement
Upper Swan is about 16 km from IBP Paving in Landsdale, which puts it outside our regular day to day area. We still take work there by arrangement, and we start by asking for the job details: the area to be paved, its rough size, photos and where the property is. That lets us confirm the job before anyone drives out. In Upper Swan the requests are mostly long acreage driveways, gravel to paved upgrades, paving around homes and sheds, and first driveways and alfresco areas in the new estate. Each job is covered by our lifetime workmanship warranty and over 20 years in the trade.
Brick clay country on the river flood plain
Most of Upper Swan sits low on the Swan River flood plain, at about 20 m above sea level and down to about 11 m at the river banks. The ground is thought to be mostly alluvium and clay, and Midland Brick and others have run clay quarries near Great Northern Highway. Further east, the Darling Scarp is likely to bring harder lateritic ground, and the uninhabited bushland there, along with Bells Rapids Park, means parts of the suburb are likely to carry bushfire exposure.
Clay is the deciding factor for paving. It swells in winter, shrinks in summer and drains slowly, so we dig out further, lay a heavier compacted base, restrain the edges firmly and set clear falls away from buildings. Water on the flats is likely to sit close to the surface, and the Ellen Brook Nature Reserve wetland lies in the north of the suburb. A paved band around a house also gives a non combustible zone in bushfire prone areas.
Acreage, vineyards and the new Clementine Estate
Upper Swan had 549 residents in 2021, spread across large rural lots. Houses went up on acreage around the former rail siding from 1972, and the rest of the suburb is vineyards, equestrian studs and hobby farms. The first lots in Clementine Estate were released in 2021, adding suburban lots to the rural mix.
That mix gives two kinds of job. On the older acreage, the common request is to replace a gravel track with a paved driveway that stays put in winter, often in a clay brick that suits an older homestead. At Clementine it is the standard new home package: driveway and crossover first, then the alfresco, with drainage worked out before the paving starts.
Draining a clay lot under City of Swan rules
The City of Swan requires stormwater to be collected on site and then either piped to its system or held in soakwells or similar approved retention. On clay, the second option is harder.
The City's guide of 0.0122 cubic metres per square metre of impervious area, roughly 12.2 litres per square metre, is stated as based on sandy soil of high permeability. Soakwell capacity is reduced where groundwater rises above the base, and in that case soakwells may not be suitable. Subsoil drains are required where maximum groundwater is less than 1.2 m below lot level, and no stormwater may be discharged over the crossover or verge onto the road.
Source: City of Swan, Property Development Design Guidelines, Specification D12 (August 2016); Handbook of Stormwater Drainage Design (April 2022).
In practice we test how the ground takes water, then design either soakwells set at least 1.8 m from footings and boundaries or grated drains and pipework to an approved connection. The City of Swan soakwell requirements page has more.
Rural crossovers and the verge
For rural lots the City recommends a two coat bitumen crossover. A brick or concrete crossover is allowed if it stops at least 1.0 m from the road shoulder, with that gap filled by a 30 mm hotmix asphalt strip. On the verge, paving needs written permission through the Application to Alter Verge form, and asphalt, bitumen, concrete, loose aggregate and structures are not allowed at all. Approved verge paving must leave at least one 1 m by 1 m opening per frontage for a tree or garden bed.
Source: City of Swan, Specification for the Construction of Vehicle Crossovers (February 2022); Verge Guidelines; Application to Alter Verge.
Yagan Bridge, Ellen Brook and nearby suburbs
The convict built Upper Swan Bridge over the Swan River was renamed the Yagan Bridge in 2010. To the north, the 83 hectare Ellen Brook Nature Reserve, set aside in 1962, is one of only two remaining habitats of the Western Swamp Turtle. The Vines, Ellenbrook and Henley Brook are nearby suburbs on our list, with Belhus, Brigadoon and Bullsbrook also close. See areas we service.
