Issue 7 - Autumn 2005

Ground Breaking Acclaim for Pennine

Pennine’s future development and expansion has been secured by an £8.5m acquisition of the company by Balfour Beatty.

On August 9, the construction giant officially took over Pennine in a bid to further strengthen its existing portfolio of engineering and construction companies.

Arwel Williams managing director of Pennine, said: “The company has come a long way in a short time, building its turnover to a record £20m this year, but further substantial capital investment was required to prevent it reaching a plateau.

“The acquisition by Balfour Beatty gives Pennine the further finance required to expand the operation and grow turnover to £30m within the next five years – creating new jobs in Bacup and the regional bases in Milton Keynes, Gloucester and Stirling.”

There will be no changes to Pennine’s direct structure. Day-to-day management will remain in the hands of Pennine’s existing managers and directors, with no foreseen changes in supply chain arrangements.

Pennine Wins Construction Industry Oscar

Pennine has been named Specialist Contractor of the Year in the prestigious Contract Journal Construction Industry Awards at a presentation ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

The team was presented with the industry ‘oscar’ as a result of its work on a number of recent ground improvement projects, including the Nar Ouse Regeneration Scheme at Kings Lynn, earthworks for the widening of the M60 at Manchester and one of their largest projects that involved inserting more than 50,000 linear metres of stone columns at a 75-acre site in Kettering.

Technical director Marc Evans said: “To be shortlisted for this award amongst such fierce competition was an achievement in itself but to win it is fantastic.

“We pride ourselves on our originality, innovation and strong management and are delighted to have had our efforts recognised on such a high level.”

Pennine’s growing reputation as a sector leader has also been underlined by it being shortlisted for another leading industry award.

The company is in the running for the title Foundation or Groundwork Specialist of the Year in Building Magazine’s 2005 Specialist Contractor Awards.

The result will be announced at a presentation ceremony in London in November.

Earlier this year, Pennine beat off stiff competition to win a ‘highly commended’ ranking in the Specialists in Construction Awards organised by Construction News.

Improving Ground at Glasgow’s Docklands

Pennine inserted more than 3,000 stone columns into soft silty ground at the King George V Dock, Glasgow in one of the biggest ground improvement projects it has ever undertaken in Scotland.

The large-scale project, carried out over four weeks, prepared the ground for a substantial extension to a cattle feed warehouse being built by lead contractor Molplant Ltd on behalf of Clyde Port Operations Ltd.

It involved inserting around 18,000 linear meters of stone column to increase the load bearing capacity of the ground to 150kN/m2.

Pennine’s contracts manager Richard McKenna said: “We used dry bottom feed vibro stone columns because there were loose granular soils and a high water table, thereby we avoided the risk of borehole collapse.

“Monitoring was key to ensuring the ground was not overworked, so we had computers in the cabins of our two specially adapted Terrafirma rigs to ensure accuracy.”

The existing warehouse remained operational throughout the project, so Pennine made special arrangements to overcome access difficulties.

Pennine Harnesses Preece Pedigree

Former chairman of the Midland Geotechnical Society David Preece has joined the Pennine team, working out of its Bacup HQ.

David, a chartered civil engineer and member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, was chairman of the Midland Geotechnical Society in its 50th anniversary year (2004-2005), having served on the committee for two years previously.

Before joining Pennine he worked for consulting engineers Ove Arup and Partners for eight years, during which time he developed a broad range of geotechnical design and reporting skills and was involved in tendering for and delivering a wide range of projects, both in the UK and overseas.

He said: “I am excited by the move to Pennine and the opportunity to work on its interesting and challenging projects. I’m looking forward to delivering client-focused solutions within this competitive sector of the industry. My skills will complement Pennine’s successful and experienced design team, allowing us to offer an even wider service to our clients.”

David is married with a 16-month-old daughter.

Martyn Stocks his Wine Rack

Arup associate Martyn Duffin of Bristol scooped a case of quality chardonnay and had £200 donated to Cancer Research when he won the free summer competition run in our last issue of In Deep.

Answers to the competition, designed to test our readers’ geotechnical engineering knowledge, were:

1) Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the benefits stone columns can provide? All true

2) The main feature/benefit of Pennine's Penpile piling system is? No spoil

3) In which Midlands city has Pennine recently been involved in a project that will open up derelict land for future regeneration? Wolverhampton

4) Which of the following ground conditions is suitable for treatment by vibrocompaction? Dredged sands and gravels

Pennine Install Ten Thousand Columns in Under Five Weeks

Pennine was given the tightest of piling deadlines for a major new distribution centre at Liverpool International Business Park.

Normally, the project to install 10,034 vibro stone columns over a treatment area of more than 55,000sq m would have taken around 10 weeks to complete.

But main contractor Gladman Developments needed a ground improvement solution in just half that time in order to meet pressing building schedules.

Pennine not only obliged but, thanks to a quick turnaround with their design coupled with unrivalled resources, the team shaved another four days off the deadline, paving the way for the new distribution centre at Speke, close to John Lennon Airport.

Stuart Bailey of Gladman Developments said: “We knew we were putting pressure on Pennine to complete such a huge task in just five weeks, but they rose to the challenge. Let’s just say we were confident they wouldn’t let us down.”

Pennine installed 32,500 meters of vibro stone column to the main foundations and slabs to accommodate loadings of up to 150kN/m2.

New CPD Accreditation for Penpile®

Pennine has been awarded independent accreditation from the CPD Construction Services for its new presentation Penpile® - Auger Displacement Piling.

The company already offers an accredited CPD presentation on ground improvement, which looks at the technical, construction, design and quality control aspects of various solutions.

Now professionals can also sign up to learn more about the benefits of Penpile® - Pennine’s no spoil, no noise auger displacement piling system.

Marketing manager Stan Mimms said: “These presentations are of substantial educational merit and are very relevant to current industry needs.

“They introduce the various techniques, construction methods, design and quality control and they use case histories to illustrate real life applications to solve a variety of problems.”

The presentations can be given at any time during the working day or as a lunchtime training session.

To book one or both of our CPD presentations click here.