3-Bachy Soletanche Geotechnical Specialists Piling Walls Anchors News 140108

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Bachy Soletanche - Patience pays off in Waterford, Ireland

As part of Ireland’s 15 year initiative to improve motorway and duel-carriageway networks, a 20km long new bypass around Waterford city on the N25 Rosslare Harbour to Cork route is currently under construction. The project’s key structure, the River Suir Bridge is starting to take shape, as leading geotechnical specialist, Bachy Soletanche Limited (BSL) undertakes the bored piling for the foundations on the south side of the river in a contract worth around €1 million.
The impressive 475metre long cable stay suspension bridge is designed for a four-lane traffic crossing, which in turn will ease the heavy traffic that currently passes through Waterford. As its name suggests, the town is on a major North-South coastal roadway from Dublin to Cork, but there is a very wide river to cross in order to progress.
Before the River Suir Bridge project could get underway, several years of pre-planning took place. Since then, BSL has taken a keen interest in the project, as Ged Neary, general manager for Bachy Soletanche Limited’s Irish Division explained:
“When complete, the River Suir Bridge will become the longest suspension bridge in Ireland. For that reason we wanted to be a part of the project, knowing that we had the techniques and experience to carry out the piling contract.
We were pleased to be awarded the sub-contract by the Ascon Dragados JV to install piles in accordance with the final design for the foundations on the south side of the River Suir Bridge.”
The piling contract consists of 16no. 1500mm diameter piles bored to a depth of 48metres with 18.5metre long rock sockets. Some of these piles also required the use of massive 42metre temporary casings to support a band of weak rock found in the ground profile. These temporary casings are inserted to drill the pile.
Ged Neary commented: “We believe that this is one of the longest and heaviest lengths of segmental casings ever installed and safely extracted on a piling project in Ireland or even the British Isles. To demonstrate their actual size, the 1500mm diameter piles take over 90 cube metres of concrete to fill each borehole and the full-length pile reinforcing cage weighs around 20 tonnes.
As a result of careful planning and co-ordination, the process was successfully carried out”
BSL is also installing 20no. 1180mm diameter piles over 35metres deep with 7-8metre long rock sockets. All the piles on this project are constructed using the large diameter auger (LDA) piling technique with a new BG28/36 high torque rig.
Several bridges in the area of Waterford have crossed the River Suir since the 18th Century from a long fixed timber bridge built in 1794 and RC rolling lift bridge built in 1909, to the current trunnion bascule structure (the Rice Bridge). However, it is now time for the increasingly heavy traffic volumes on the Rice Bridge and through the town to be diverted away and onto the Celtic Roads Group’s new fit-for-purpose additional river bridge. BSL is due to complete its piling sub-contract in early 2008 allowing future works to continue apace.

Email: fiona@manifestcomms.co.uk