Balfour Beaty (2018) Innovative Ground Engineering Solutions

Innovative Ground Engineering Solutions
James McNeill – Head of Business Development

Contents
 Introduction to BBGE
– Rotary Piling
– CFA Piling
– Driven Piling
– Ground Improvement (Colin
Serridge)
 Technical & Practical Considerations at

One Nine Elms
Introduction to BBGE
 Full range of Ground Engineering

services including House Foundations
and Testing Services
 c£96m turnover in 2016
 Schemes range from £5k to £50m
 75% of work outside parent group
 Can field large fleet of rigs
– Rotary Piling - 15 hydraulic rigs
– CFA Piling - 8 rigs
– Driven - 17 rigs
– Mini Piling - 15 rigs
– Ground Improvement - 7 rigs
UK & Ireland Operations
Regional Offices Map
Glasgow
Balmore, Torrance, Glasgow, G64
4AB
T: +44 (0)1360 622000 Worsley
E: enquiries-balmore@bbge.com Chaddock Lane, Worsley,
Manchester. M28 1XW
T: +44 (0)1942 898550
Northern Ireland E: enquiries-worsley@bbge.com
The Gasworks, 5 Cromac Avenue,
Belfast, BT7 2JA
T: +44 (0)28 9044 7608
E: belfast@bbge.com Raynesway (Derby)
Building 36, West Service Road,
Raynesway, Derby DE21 7BG
Ireland T: +44 (0)1332 661491
City Junction Business Park, E: enquiries-
Northern Cross, Majahide Road, raynesway@bbge.com
Dublin 17
T: +353 (0)1 867 3722
E: dublin@bbge.com
Basingstoke (Head Office)
Bristol Pavilion B, Ashwood Park, Ashwood
2430 The Quadrant, Aztec Park, Way
Almondsbury Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG23 8BG
Bristol BS32 4AQ T: +44 (0)1256 400400
T: +44 (0) 1454 877555 E: enquiries-basingstoke@bbge.com
E: enquiries-bristol@bbge.com
OUR CAPABILITIES
BALFOUR BEATTY GROUND

ENGINEERING
Piling Ground Improvement Specialist Technical

Services
CFA Vibro Stone Columns
Large Diameter Piling Vibro Concrete Columns Soil Nails
Driven Precast Concrete Vibro Compaction Ground Anchors
Driven Steel Tubes Vibro Concrete Plugs Pile Testing
Diaphragm Walls Dynamic Compaction Noise, Vibration & Air
Contiguous & Secant Controlled Modulus monitoring
Wall Columns (Pencol) Re-Use of piles
House Foundations Geothermal piles
Mini & Micro Piling Zero waste piles
Selection of Piling Technique
Pile Type Size Typical Design Load Max.

Depth
(mm) (kN) (m)
Vibro Concrete Column 450 < 1,000kN 15
Precast Segmental Concrete 190-450 sq 550 - 2,000 80
Steel H up to 350x400 600 - 4,400 30
Steel Tube up to 762 400 - 7,300 30
CFA 300-1200 400 - 8,000 34
Bored – small diameter rotary 150-600 100 - 1,500 30

Bored – large diameter rotary 750-3000 2,000 - 36,000 80
Rotary Bored Piling
Benefits:
 Up to 3m diameter
 Depths up to 80m
 High Load capacity
 High shear/moment capacity
 Ground is ‘seen’
 Bore can be formed in almost
any ground conditions
The Shard
 84 storeys
 Over 300m (1000ft)
 Three level basement
 Top-Down Construction
 Casting level – up to 19m
below platform
 Installation tolerance of 1:400V
and +/-10mm in plan
 Pile diameter 1,800mm
 Piles 60m deep
Newfoundland, Canary Wharf
 £7m
 53 no. piles (1.5-2.4m
diameter)
 60m long
 £7m
 53 no. piles (1.5-2.4m
diameter) 60m long
 8m rock socket (innovative
cleaning bucket)
 £7m
 53 no. piles (1.5-2.4m
diameter) 60m long
cleaning bucket)
 225m long secant wall
 16 piles within 3m of LUL
Jubilee Line Tunnels
 £7m
 53 no. piles (1.5-2.4m
diameter) 60m long
cleaning bucket)
 £7m
 53 no. piles (1.5-2.4m
diameter) 60m long
cleaning bucket)
 Exceptional drilling tolerances
and collaboration
Other Landmark London projects
 London 2012 Aquatics
 Wembley Stadium  Emirates Stadium

Continuous Flight Auger (CFA)
Benefits:
• Quietest Form of Piling -
Vibration Free
• Max depth 34m
• High load capacity
• High shear/moment capacity
• Mixed granular/cohesive soils
• Quick and thus cost effective
• Sockets up to 4m in Weak
rocks
CFA Piling
 Bristol Guided Busway

– £2.1m
– 600mm diam CFA up to 20m
deep
– Supporting concrete ramp
slabs and bridge piers
Secant Wall – Hanging Female Piles
 87 The Avenue, St John’s

Wood
 600mm diameter piles
 Minipiles used where working
height restricted
Secant Wall – Hanging Female Piles
 Leicester Square
 26m deep basement
 Hanging secant wall
King Post Wall
 Cost-effective alternative to
Contiguous Wall or sheet piling
 Low noise/vibration
 H-Beam inserted and
concreted into drilled hole
 Precast Concrete or Timber
planks used
 Occasionally sprayed concrete
used between king posts
 Not water retaining
Leading in Innovation
 Re-use of existing foundations &

piles
 60 Holborn Viaduct, London
 Coring, CCTV, sonic logging and
static load testing
 Re-Warranting of existing piles using
RUFUS guidelines
BBGE – Geothermal Piles
Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre, London
(The Crystal)
Construction News 21.4.11

Driven Precast Concrete Piling
 Factory Product
 Unlimited depth
 Piles can be raked
 Not affected by
groundwater
 Immediate follow on
 Clean site / no spoil
 Self-proving
 Can be used in low
headroom
Driven Precast Concrete Piling
 Factory Product
 Unlimited depth
 Piles can be raked
 Not affected by
groundwater
 Immediate follow on
 Clean site / no spoil
 Self-proving
 Can be used in low
headroom
House Foundations Benefits
• Speed
• Efficiency/waste minimisation
– all manufacturing takes
place off site
• Full package service incld.:

• Pile installation
• Cropping
• Capping
• Precast ring-beam installation
• Stitching
• Heave protection where required
• Beam and block floor
• NHBC Approved
Precast Joint Types
Uni-joint (Class D) Multi-joint (Class A)

Pointed piles
Piling in Aquifers
Geothermal Driven Piles
Largest precast pile
manufacturer in the UK
30
Ground  Vibro Stone Columns
Improvement  Vibro Concrete Columns
 Dynamic Compaction
 Pencol
Vibro Stone Columns – Bottom Feed
Vibro Stone Columns – Typical Layout
(Housing)
600mm minimum
foundation depth
Lightly Reinforced
foundation
Vibro Stone Columns
Stafford Norton bridge – Railway Embankment Support
 West Coast Main Line
 Staffordshire Alliance
(Laing O’Rourke, Atkins
and VolkerRail).
 Embankments up to
8m high
 11,290 No. Vibro Stone
Columns.
 Approx 48km total
linear metres of stone
columns, with lengths
ranging from 2 to 8.5m.
 Stone column spacing
ranged from 1.35m to
3.0m (triangular grid).
New Product - PENCOL
Rigid Inclusions
Rigid Inclusions - The principle
Applications – Where can it be used?
1. Industrial warehouses and commercial buildings

2. Heavy storage
3. Ground Bearing Slabs
4. Shallow foundations, strip foundations and retaining walls
5. Tanks, silos
6. Road and railways embankments
Testing & Analysis Services
 Pile Testing
– Dynamic Pile Testing
– Static Load Testing
– Integrity Testing
– Cross Hole Sonic Logging
 Noise, Vibration and Air Quality

– Remote or attended monitoring
– Reports and Prediction
– Hand/Arm and Whole Body Vibration
monitoring
– Workplace Noise Assessments
– Sound Insulation Testing
 Platform Testing
– Plate bearing tests
Ground Improvement Solutions
Colin Serridge : Chief Engineer (Ground Improvement)
Ground
Improvement
 Dynamic Compaction (DC)
Ground
 Vibro Stone Columns (VSC’s)
Improvement  Vibro Concrete Columns (VCC’s)
 Pencol Rigid Inclusions (PRI’s)
Ground Improvement Guidance
Ground Improvement Specifications: ICE Spes’ covers Vibro
Compaction; Vibro- Stone Columns; Vertical Band Drains; Dynamic
Compaction
ICE Specification for Ground treatment (1987)

Ground Improvement Specifications: Vibro Stone Columns
Ground Improvement Specifications: Dynamic Compaction and Pencol
Rigid Inclusions
Dynamic
Compaction
Dynamic Compaction
• Can be viewed as a form of instantaneous surcharging and usually undertaken as a series of

tamping (treatment) passes over the treatment area using controlled dropping of a heavy steel
tamper (weight) suspended from a crawler crane.
• Different combinations of energy levels employed. Designed to achieve improvement to specific

layers within the depth range requiring improvement.
• Most common approach is to consider the ground in three layers.

• First tamping pass aimed at treating the deepest layer by adopting a relatively wide grid
pattern (approximately equal to anticipated treatment depth) and a suitable number of drops
from full-height capability of crane (high energy).
• The middle layer is then treated by an intermediate grid (second pass), often at the mid-point
of the first pass, with a lesser number of drops and reduced drop height.
• The surface layers then receive a contiguous (continual) tamp of a single or small number of
drops and often with a smaller weight from a low height on a continuous pattern to compact the
uppermost soil layers (< 500 mm), disturbed during the earlier higher energy treatment passes.
Dynamic Deep Compaction (DC)
Plan View
Assessment of Dynamic Compaction treatment depth
Menard and Broise (1976) originally proposed that the effective depth of treatment (Z e) was
related to the metric energy input expression of:
__________________________________________________________________________
Ze = (WH)0.5 where W is the weight of the tamper in tonnes and H the drop height in metres.

A coefficient k was later introduced by subsequent researchers to allow for differences in soil
type.

Ze = k (WH)0.5

Typical values of k for different soil types are:
k = 0.30-0.35 (stiff clay fill) ; 0.4 (old refuse); 0.5 (sand fill).
___________________________________________________________________________
The range of treatment depth therefore varies with soil type but can also vary with initial soil
strength and energy input as well as the depth to the groundwater table.

The shape of improvement in the ground tends to be similar to the Boussinesq distribution of
stresses for a square foundation. The higher the drop height the greater the impact velocity on
the ground and transfer of energy to greater depth .
Soil suitability for Ground Improvement
Treatment of opencast backfill (Gildersome, Leeds)
Dynamic Compaction – Possible routes for ground-bourne vibration
Vibro stone column benefits column
(VSC) objectives
Soil suitability for Ground Improvement
Vibro Stone Columns – Top Feed
Vibro Stone Columns – Bottom Feed
Vibro Stone Columns – Typical Layout
(Housing)
600mm minimum
foundation depth
Lightly Reinforced
foundation
Vibro Stone Column Layouts – Wide Strip Footing
Vibro Stone Columns
Stafford Norton bridge – Railway Embankment Support
 West Coast Main Line
 Staffordshire Alliance (Laing

O’Rourke, Atkins and VolkerRail).
 Embankments up to 8m high
 11,290 No. Vibro Stone Columns.
 Approx 48km total linear metres

of stone columns, with lengths
ranging from 2.0 to 8.5m.
 Stone column spacing ranged

from 1.35m to 3.0m (triangular
grid).
Vibro stone columns for highway embankment support
Ground Improvement Interfacing of different techniques
Interfacing of G.I. techniques
CFA VCC VSC Band drains

Vibro Concrete Columns (VCC’s)
Vibro Concrete Column (VCC) transition zones (Philosophy adopted on
Manchester M60 and Sheffield -Tinsley dedicated bus route)
Inter-facing of Different Ground Improvement Techniques
Effectiveness of Load Transfer Platform Over VCC’s
M60 Widening J5-J8 - Zones 18
Piezometer Readings VWP-Z28-1 to VWP-Z28-3
26.0
25.0
24.0
G ro u n d w a te r L ev e l (m a O D )
23.0
22.0
21.0
20.0
19.0
18.0
26/11/04 24/12/04 21/01/05 18/02/05 18/03/05 15/04/05
Date and Time
VWP-Z18-1 (VCC) VWP-Z18-2 (VCC) VWP-Z18-3 (VSC)

Reading Viaduct (REW Embankment Support)
£4.5m Contract
304 No. CFA 1050mm Piles
for the various structures
663 No. CFA 900mm Piles for
the various structures
2000 No. Vibro Concrete
Columns (VCC’s) end-bearing
in Thames Terrace Gravels
above Chalk and with
overlying LTP for intervening
reinforced earth wall
embankment support.
Construction detail above vibro concrete columns
Vibro concrete columns (construction of enlarged heads)
PENCOL
Rigid Inclusions (typically 350 mm diameter)
Specification and Guidance
Rigid Inclusions - The principle
LOAD TRANSFER EFFECTS
Load transfer/distribution with Pencol
73
Load transfer and settlement
74
The Installation Process – Auger Displacement
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Displacement As Auger is extracted Completed Pencol
Auger penetrates the grout / concrete Inclusion
to design depth is pumped under
pressure
Construction Sequence
Cross-section through slab Pencol Rigid Inclusions
Slab or
embankment
84
Cross-section through Pad footing Pencol Rigid
Inclusions
85
TM
PENCOL Rigid Inclusions - Summary of Main Benefits
• It is Ground Improvement, so ground
bearing slabs, raft foundations and
strip / pad foundations can be used.
• Suitable in very soft clay and peat
(where stone columns can’t be used)
• Displacement system often used
(produces limited or no spoil)
• Excellent settlement control, even for
heavy loading conditions (up to
250kN/m2)
• Embankments can be built quickly
(no delay or staged construction)
• Global Slope Stability is improved
• Fast. Up to 2,500 lin m per week
• Overall – Should provide cost and
programme savings in comparison to
a piling solution, i.e. conventional
reinforced pad and strip footings and
reinforced ground bearing floor slab
PENCOL – Load Testing of individual inclusions
TM
Plate Load Testing – 7 no. (1 in 200)

Pencol - Load Testing of Treated Ground
Direct Kentledge Load Test

HS2 N1 & N2 Ground Improvement
application
EMBANKMENTS
Rigid Inclusions : Transition zones at piled abutment/embankment interfaces;

embankment support over deeper weak alluvial deposits and glacial deposits;
embankment-cutting interfaces. 400 kN capacity in Mercia Mudstone based upon
1.0 m penetration into strata with SPT N = 25 /qc tip resistance = 3 MPa (or qc tip
resistance = 10 MPa in granular strata).
Vibro concrete columns: As above but limited capacity in Mudstone owing to limited
socket/penetration.
Vibro stone columns :Low embankment support over deeper weak alluvial deposits.
Dynamic Compaction: Possible consideration for landfill materials if remote from
existing structures and services.
89
Avonmouth, Severnside Chep Pallet - Pencol
Client: Chep Pallet
Main Contractor: Winvic
Engineer: Upton McGougan
Saved over £300k (£10/m2)

on piling and slab costs
PENCOL – Avonmouth - Scope
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

• Construction of an external
concrete yard 28,000m2
• 3,162 No. inclusions under
ground bearing slab
• 92 No. buttressing inclusions
(lateral support around edge of
slab) associated with earth bunds.
• Total linear of approximately
41,000 m
• Completed in 7.5 weeks with two
rigs (600-700m per shift)
PENCOL – Avonmouth - Specification
TM
• Achieve a bearing capacity of

50 kN/m2 for the building
ground bearing slab (2.6m grid
spacing)
20 kN/m2 for the external area
ground bearing slab (3m grid
spacing)
200kN/m2 under pad
foundations
• Total settlements <20mm
Avonmouth – Ground conditions
Inclusion
Penetration of
the inclusions
of 0.5 m into
the stiff clays
PLAXIS - Finite Elements
PENCOL Design
TM
Calculation by axisymmetric model
Checking of the loads in the
inclusion and the % of
Calculation of the settlement sharing with the ground
- Input geometry of soil

profile
- Input Parameters of Inclusions
soil, including :
Young's modulus,
Friction angle, Soil
• plus loads…
One Nine Elms
Technical Challenges - Introduction
 Project Overview
 Site Constraints
– Ground Conditions
– Thames Water Sewer
 Piling
– Large Diameter Deep Piles
– Existing Piles
– Pile Testing
– Plunge Columns
 Diaphragm Wall
– Size of Panels
– Depth of Wall
– Specific Constraints
98
99
100
Site Constraints
 Ground Conditions
– Significantly varies across the site
– ‘Pingo’ Glacial Feature
– Impacts London Clay and Lambeth Group
– Impact on Thanet Sand
– Site split into three areas for Design.
101
102
103
Ground Profile 1 Ground Profile 3 Ground Profile 2
Ignored in Capacity Ignored in Capacity Ignored in Capacity
Calculation Typical Pile Calculation Typical Pile Calculation Typical
-10mOD -10mOD -10mOD
2100mm 2100mm Pile
diameter Effective diameter 2100mm
RTG stress diameter
-15mOD -15mOD
Calculation -15mOD
Total Stress
Melange or Effective
London Total Stress (sands, Stress
Clay Calculation gravels and Calculation
Qus = London Total Stress Qus = clay) (the lower is Qus =
32492kN Clay Calculation 25814kN used) 16529kN
Qub = Qub = Qub =

69272kN 69272kN 69272kN
Total Stress SWL = SWL = SWL =

or Effective 29040kN Total Stress 23010kN Total Stress ???kN
Lambeth Stress or Effective or Effective
Group Calculation Lambeth Stress Lambeth Stress
(the lower is Group Calculation Group Calculation
used) (the lower is (the lower is
used) used)

Effective
Thanet Effective Effective
Stress Thanet Thanet
Sand Stress Stress
Calculation Sand Sand
Calculation Calculation
104
Site Constraints
Existing Piles
Thames Water Sewer
105
Site Constraints – Thames Water Sewer
106
Section through the site
107
108
Pile Construction – Existing Piles
109
Pile Construction
 Total – 256 No. Piles
 Maximum Working Loads –

– 29 MN River Tower
– 36 MN City Tower
 Pile Diameters – 900mm to 2100mm
 Tension and Compression Loading
110
Pile testing
 Required to validate the design parameters
 Representative across the site
 Preliminary Pile Tests should fail the pile

– Applied load needs to be high enough
– Must be representative of the applied loads
 Loads upto 60MN on One Nine Elms
111
Pile testing – Reaction Test
• Large set up
• Time to set up
• Limits site
movement
• Maximum
load
• Difficult to
split shaft and
base
112
Pile Testing – Traditional Method
113
Pile testing – Alternative Method
114
Pile testing – Osterberg Cell
115
116
117
Test Pile Design
118
Pile Testing – Summary
 Pile moved significantly (Base Movement)

 Pile 1 – 150mm
 Pile 2 – 60mm
 Pile 3 – 130mm
 Pile 4 – 90mm
 Shaft friction results validated design assumptions.
 Base Capacity lower than design assumptions (no design impact)
 Base Stiffness varied across the site
– Additional test pile required
119
Plunge Columns
 Installed to allow Top Down Construction
 173 Plunge Columns on One Nine Elms
 Pile Positions are critical to tie in with columns
 Pile diameters need to be reviewed for pile / column tolerance
120
Plunge Installation
Setting frame position
Locating lugs set onto casing
Plunging frame platform positioned Plunging frame lowered into hole

Plunge Installation
ColumnGround Level
Installation
Plunged column lowered

into concrete, guided by
plumbed frame.
Plunge Installation
Removal of frame
Column/frame left for 12
hours.
Concrete hardens
overnight
Following day or night

shift, follower
disconnected from
column and plunging
frame removed
Plunge Columns - Completed
Diaphragm Wall
 800mm wide
 Total Length – 460 Linear metres
– Constructed in 77 Panels
 Panel depth up to 42m
– Dependent on retaining excavation
– Vertical Load from structure
– Depth to provide cut-off in cohesive strata.
 Pre-Treatment required due to bentonite loss
Diaphragm Wall
Grouting
Summary
 Challenging Ground Conditions
 Large piles – even for London
 Plunge columns in many piles
 Coring
 Grouting
 Diaphragm Walling
Thank You
Any questions?

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Innovative Ground Engineering Solutions

James McNeill – Head of Business Development

 Technical & Practical Considerations at

 Full range of Ground Engineering

BALFOUR BEATTY GROUND

Piling Ground Improvement Specialist Technical

Pile Type Size Typical Design Load Max.

Precast Segmental Concrete 190-450 sq 550 - 2,000 80

Steel H up to 350x400 600 - 4,400 30

Steel Tube up to 762 400 - 7,300 30

CFA 300-1200 400 - 8,000 34

Bored – small diameter rotary 150-600 100 - 1,500 30

 London 2012 Aquatics

 Wembley Stadium  Emirates Stadium

 Bristol Guided Busway

 87 The Avenue, St John’s

 Re-use of existing foundations &

Construction News 21.4.11

• Full package service incld.:

Uni-joint (Class D) Multi-joint (Class A)

1. Industrial warehouses and commercial buildings

 Noise, Vibration and Air Quality

ICE Specification for Ground treatment (1987)

• Can be viewed as a form of instantaneous surcharging and usually undertaken as a series of

• Different combinations of energy levels employed. Designed to achieve improvement to specific

• Most common approach is to consider the ground in three layers.

 Staffordshire Alliance (Laing

 11,290 No. Vibro Stone Columns.

 Approx 48km total linear metres

 Stone column spacing ranged

CFA VCC VSC Band drains

M60 Widening J5-J8 - Zones 18

Piezometer Readings VWP-Z28-1 to VWP-Z28-3

VWP-Z18-1 (VCC) VWP-Z18-2 (VCC) VWP-Z18-3 (VSC)

Load transfer/distribution with Pencol

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Plate Load Testing – 7 no. (1 in 200)

Direct Kentledge Load Test

Rigid Inclusions : Transition zones at piled abutment/embankment interfaces;

Client: Chep Pallet

Main Contractor: Winvic

Engineer: Upton McGougan

Saved over £300k (£10/m2)

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

• Achieve a bearing capacity of

- Input geometry of soil

Qub = Qub = Qub =

Total Stress SWL = SWL = SWL =

-52mOD -52mOD -52mOD

 Total – 256 No. Piles

 Maximum Working Loads –

 Pile Diameters – 900mm to 2100mm

 Tension and Compression Loading

 Required to validate the design parameters

 Representative across the site

 Preliminary Pile Tests should fail the pile

 Loads upto 60MN on One Nine Elms

 Pile moved significantly (Base Movement)

 Installed to allow Top Down Construction

 173 Plunge Columns on One Nine Elms

 Pile Positions are critical to tie in with columns

 Pile diameters need to be reviewed for pile / column tolerance

Plunging frame platform positioned Plunging frame lowered into hole