A Belfast building firm has broke the UK market with its innovated walling technique, by securing a contract to erect a wall almost half a mile in length.

Family-owned Colinwell Concrete, established in 1888, recently joined forced with an English firm to formulate a new market for it Allan Block system in the UK.

The retaining wall system is manufactured under licence from its American developer.

Colinwell's Joint Managing Director Phelim McQuillan said: "Our distribution partner, SCP Environmental, helped secure the contract for the £750,000 wall which was built as part of a major warehouse project in Chepstow in Monmouthshire.

-- Advertisement --

"It's our first major exporting success in terms of breaking into the big market in Britain. In fact, this was the largest single segmental block retaining wall ever to have been built in Britain and was a major undertaking for us.

"We manufactured some 60,000 wall blocks in Belfast for this project and they were shipped out in a total of 75 lorry loads."

Winvic, the groundwork contractor, installed the system.

Twenty people are employed at Colinwell's Colinglen Road plant in Dunmurry, where the Allan Block system and other architectural masonry products are manufactured.

(PR/JM)