A team of Van Elle piling engineers have gone the extra mile for a customer following site setbacks that threatened project completion.
The team, working to support the construction of a huge new distribution centre for an online retailer, have installed more than 100 piles per day on the site after discovering that ground conditions were not as expected – a problem which needed an urgent fix.
Initial site investigation work had not revealed the true ground conditions on the site, meaning that the original designs for the piles installed have almost doubled in length.
Sean Gothard, Contracts Manager, said: “When we got on site the ground conditions weren’t as we expected them to be. As a result we’re having to drive to new depths of around 11-12 metres compared to the six to eight metres that was initially required.
“We’ve had to engineer and deliver the new solution quickly to prevent more delays to the project but we’re all set to go now.”
The team is installing around 2,700 top driven tube piles on the site, ranging from 273-339mm in diameter. Once completed the team will have installed more than 30km of steel tube.
The team are using a five-tonne hammer to drive the piles in, which will support the huge new structure near Swindon. Van Elle are working with The Buckingham Group to build the distribution centre.