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Pennine Set Scene for Emmerdale Development
Esholt, the former home of TV soap Emmerdale Farm, is currently the scene of a
new production - a £64m development for Yorkshire Water.
The utility company is completely re-building its waste water treatment works on
a 10-hectare site on the edge of the West Yorkshire village, as part of
preparations for the introduction of new EU regulations in 2010.
And playing a £300,000 starring role in the development is Pennine. We are
preparing the ground for construction of a new Activated Sludge Plant (ASP) to
help bring the quality of treated waste water effluent up to Freshwater Fish
Directive standards.
In the lead up to Christmas, our Pennine team installed 5,000 vibro stone
columns (VSC's) into varying ground conditions on the site of the former sludge
lagoon.
In March we will insert another 600 VSC's and a similar number of vibro concrete
columns (VCC's) beneath other structures on the site.
The work will improve ground conditions for construction of the ASP - a massive
reinforced concrete tank 204m long and 80m wide with perimeter walls 6.5m high.
The project has not been without its hurdles for Pennine, main infrastructure
services company Morgan Est and Leeds-based engineering consultants Carl Bro.
Pennine senior engineer David Preece explained: “Varying ground levels meant
that some parts of the site had to be reduced in height by 6m while others had
to be raised by 1m.
“And, as ground conditions ranged from competent sand and gravel over coal
measure bed rock to variable quality made ground and weak alluvial clays sitting
above sand and gravel, we had to design a solution that allowed for wider
spacing of stone columns where the thickest deposits of weak soils were found.”
Morgan Est's project manager Stef Wilson said: “The relationship between
Pennine, Carl Bro and ourselves has been key to moving the project forward - the
problems that have arisen have required close collaboration between the team.
“Pennine has the expertise and flexibility to be able to adapt the design in
response to the varying conditions on site and our requirements.”
For further information on VCC’s please click here.
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The ASP site at Esholt
Pennine senior engineer David Preece
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Pennine On The Beach
Checking tide tables is all in a day's work for a Pennine ground improvement team as they prepare for the construction of a new sea defence at the Fylde coast town of Cleveleys, Lancashire.
The four-man team's work schedule is governed by the tides as they wait for windows of opportunity to access the beach in order to install vibro stone columns.
“Sometimes we get a clear eight hours in which to manoeuvre our equipment onto the beach, install a number of columns and then move everything out again,” said technical director Marc Evans.
“But at other times there is only a four hour gap between the tide going out and coming back in, which makes things very tight - especially when you consider that it takes up to 30 minutes to move our equipment between the promenade and the beach.”
Our £200,000 project to strengthen the ground along a 150m-long section of the sea wall at Cleveleys is part of a major multi-million pound sea defence project being carried out between Blackpool and Fleetwood by main contractor Birse Coastal for their client Wyre Borough Council.
While much of the ground along the rest of the wall is solid enough for construction, the mid section at Cleveleys includes an old river channel where soft peat and clay pose substantial settlement problems.
“Initially we thought we would have to install pre-cast piles to strengthen the ground along this section, at a cost of more than £750,000,” said Brian Farrington, regional engineering manager for Birse Coastal. “But Pennine have devised an alternative vibro stone column solution that will get the job done at less than a third of the price.”
A thousand stone columns are being inserted over the seven-week project, which has also involved the construction of bespoke access ramps between the promenade and the beach to aid the speedy mobilisation and demobilisation of the Terrafirma rig and a stand-by hydraulic power pack.
“With such short working windows we do not have the luxury of being able to do repairs in situ,” said Evans. “It's imperative that we have the stand-by power pack on hand since it allows us to operate the rig tracks independently and move the rig off the beach in the event of a major breakdown.”
For further information on VSC’s please click here.
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Pennine at work on Cleveleys beach
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This email has been sent by Pennine Vibropiling Ltd, registered in England number: 2878498 at Pavilion C2, Ashwood Park, Ashwood Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG23 8BG.
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