By Simon Griffiths 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • Scaffolding • Screw Piles • Temporary Structures • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Scaffolding – Dyrham Park Roof Repair

When the 150 year old leaking roof of the 17th century Dyrham Park House needed to be repaired, the first step was to cover the whole house in a temporary scaffolding cover to keep the elements at bay.

Investigation showed that the ground around the house could not support the load imposed by the scaffolding.

ABC Anchors were asked by the main contractor Ken Biggs Construction to install over 100 screw piles to absorb the tensile and compressive forces from the complex structure, which weighs well over 200 tonnes.

With a 3 tonne mini digger, installation proceeded quickly, despite the need to work around the delicate building and paved garden structures. Some areas were inaccessible using the 3t digger. It was therefore only possible to install the piles using the ABC 400H hand held torque head.

The screw pile solution was proposed by Integral Engineering Design who worked with the National Trust to bring the project to fruition.

One feature that is quite unusual on this structure is the public access viewing platform, from May 2015 they will have a fully accessible scaffolding tower and lift, with a walkway where you can see the conservation in action and enjoy the views over the gardens.

By Simon Griffiths ABC Anchors • Bridges • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • Screw Piles • Tree Roots • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Blue forest – Belton House Adventure Playground Bridge and Walkway.

This project involved installing foundations for a wooden footbridge and wooden walkway in an area that was very difficult to access with plant machinery and was protected because of listed ruins in the area. The area was also extremely boggy and could only be accessed for a short period between the wet seasons.

All these restrictions meant that the majority of the foundations would have to be installed by hand and all the equipment would have to be brought to site manually.

It was decided that this project could be undertaken using our 60R piles and installing them with the 400H hand held torque head.

For the bridge abutments we installed 6 screw piles at either end onto which a reinforced concrete slab was poured. The screw piles had to be installed to 5m deep to ensure they were in good quality stable ground. Great care had to be taken not to damage any tree roots in the top 1-2m of soil.

The boardwalk piles proved to be even more of a challenge due to the pile positions being in a partially flooded area of natural bog. The only access was via a temporary wooden sleeper bridge which was only floating on the saturated land.

One row of piles was 4m to the side of the access bridge which made it impossible to reach using the 400H hand held unit as before.

It was decided to use a 3t mini digger to install these 12 piles but it was touch and go whether or not the temporary bridge would take the weight of the 3t machine. Careful manoeuvring and a skilled driver proved that it would be possible to install the piles in this way.

Additional sleepers had to be placed into the bog to allow the digger to reach out the 4m to the pile position and once the pile tip was installed into good ground the excavator could then use the pile for support.

The 12 piles were all installed to 6m deep before adequate torque was reached.

This challenging installation proved a great success as the 12 piles now form the base of a spectacular wooden walkway over an area of natural marshland.

 

By Simon Griffiths 89R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • New Build • Screw Piles • • • • • 0 Comments

New Build – 89R Screw Piles Henley on Thames

89R piles were installed for foundations on this site in Henley on Thames. The site was particularly sensitive as it contained roman artefacts which if exposed would have halted the build. The installation of the piles also included a load test on a single pile which is sometimes asked for by the structural engineer to verify installation torque against pile capacity.

By Simon Griffiths 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • Screw Piles • Underpinning • • • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Underpinning – Conservatory

A conservatory which had been unsuccessfully underpinned using concrete, has now been restored to its original level using 60R helical screw piles.

Initial soil tests indicated that competent ground would be located at approx. 2m depth. However, inspection of the failed foundation and the local presence of trees shed some doubt on this information.

Pile installation was very quick with all equipment hand portable on site.

On this site conventional foundations looked OK but were in fact terminated just above a layer of poor ground.

A two man crew took 1½ days to complete the operation.

Piles were positioned to avoid a number of underground services/utilities.

 

Using the ABC 400H hand held driver, which has a continuous torque read out, our operators discovered that the competent ground overlay a 2m thick band of soft material. The piles shown were driven to depths of 5-6m before achieving satisfactory installation torques and standard underpinning brackets were then installed and carefully jacked using our 40KN/pile system.

The photos show the ground beam has now lifted from the conventional concrete underpinning and is restored to its original level.

By Simon Griffiths 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Extension • Foundation Solutions • Installation • Screw Piles 0 Comments

Home Extension – Warminster

Customer Feedback

"We needed piles to support our new conservatory. We are on green sand and there are/have been issues in this area before."

"During preparation for the conservatory cracks were noticed in the neighbours extension wall. There is also a sewer pipe running under the site. All these things meant that we decided against the planned driven piles as the risk seemed to great. Our builders did not come up with any alternative so I had to research the options myself and fortunately came across ABC Anchors and the answer to our problem."

"We are very happy with the process, the installers and the outcome. The piling operation went well and our neighbours who were concerned that the piling may ’shake’ their house said they did not even notice! As you can see from the images the neighbours extension is very close and there is a rainwater pipe running across too."

"We would definitely use you again if needed."

By Simon Griffiths Case Study • Subsidence • Underpinning 0 Comments

Subsidence

Screw piles can be used to stabilise and in some cases lift subsiding properties with very little disruption to surrounding areas.

Subsidence usually occurs because foundation have been installed on poor quality clay soils or where three roots dry out the surrounding soils. Screw Piles can be installed to depths that reach good quality soils that are unaffected by moisture change and soil heave.

 

By Simon Griffiths 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • Screw Piles • Solar • • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Bowler Energy Solar Array

Bowler Energy are a Nationwide installer of wind and solar energy systems using a variety of ABC Anchors’ solutions. In very soft or very hard clays they use ABC 60R screw Piles.

 

The helical screw piles are installed to specific minimum torques to ensure the integrity of the array – even in the severe weather we have been experiencing lately!

By Simon Griffiths 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • Installation • Other Structures • Screw Piles • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Installation of a ‘Caterpillar Walkway’ at Thames View School.

ABC Anchors supplied and installed the screw piles for a tubular steel framed canvas covered ‘Caterpillar Walkway’ at Thames View Junior School.

For the installation localised pockets of Tarmac were removed from the playground to allow 12qty 60R Screw Piles to be installed. One pile for each canopy foot.

 

 

Due to very poor ground conditions and relatively high Compressive/Tensile and lateral loads requested, the piles were installed to a depth of 4m.

The piles consisted of a 60R 2m lead section with 8” 10” helix, a 1m conical extension and a 1m 240mm diameter peat pile extension. These larger diameter top sections were installed to withstand the high side loadings.

All 12 piles were installed to between 3 & 4kNm using an ABC Anchors 500X torque head fitted to a 5t excavator. This installation torque equates to an axial load of between 90-120kN/pile.

All 12 piles were installed with little disruption to the school playground and with little soil away.

Connection from pile tops to steel canopy legs consisted of matching square flange plates with 4 x M16 bolt holes in each plate.