Ballast Netting at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham

Birmingham's prestigious new Critical Care hospital called on Eco Environmental Services expertise to overcome a growing bird problem.

Crows living around the site were picking up the large pebble ballast and mistaking the pebbles for food, dropping the stones from great height in an attempt to open them.

Some of these stones fell onto the extensive glass atria on the site causing expensive damage. Fortunately this was the only type of damage from the falling stones, with no injuries prior to Eco installing the netting system.

Eco were asked to install a tensioned net system that prevented the birds picking up the ballast whilst remaining discrete along the roof area.

"The Pebble Ballast netting has been 100% successful” Project Manager for Balfour Beatty Neil Turner commented "I have it confirmed from the Trust that there has been no further breakages with regards birds dropping stone's since the works have been completed, which is now several months”.

Do you have pebble ballast on your roof? It would be worth protecting it from birds who could cause damage or injuries.