Soil Engineering, the specialist site investigation and grouting division of VINCI Construction UK Ltd, is to be transferred in April to the ownership of VINCI’s Soletanche Freyssinet UK geotechnical arm; Bachy Soletanche Group. The services provided by Soil Engineering complement the specialist civil engineering and foundation activities of the Bachy Soletanche Group Bachy Soletanche is [...]
Geotechnical specialists help make station more commuter-friendly
Bachy Soletanche finishes third phase of Reading Station piling
November 7, 2011
Specialist geotechnical contractor, Bachy Soletanche, has finished work on the third phase of its piling contract in Reading, for BAM Nuttall working on behalf of Network Rail. Working to widen the railway line and construct three bridges to deliver rail track improvements for Reading Station, the developments at the heart of the huge commuter area will help it cope with the increasing passenger volumes.
- The foundations for the bridges on Caversham Road and Vastern Road have been completed using CFA and Rotary rigs
- Bachy Soletanche has recently finished the piling work for the new Cow Lane Bridge with a CFA rig
- The first phase of the project, which started in July 2010, saw Bachy Soletanche successfully install 10no, 750mm diameter by 28m long CFA piles on the North East side of Caversham Road Bridge and 8no, 750mm by 25m long CFA piles on the North West side
- During the second phase of the project at Vastern Road Bridge, Bachy Soletanche installed 44no 880mm diameter LDA piles with segmental casing, 18no 880mm/750mm diameter cased and 20m long piles on the South East side, 18no 880/750mm diameter cased and 21m long piles on the South West side, and 8no 880/750mm diameter cased and 21m long piles on the North West side of the bridge
- The latest phase, which entailed three separate visits, was also for BAM Nuttall and has been designed by engineers Gifford
- Bachy Soletanche installed 93no. 900mm diameter CFA piles up to 22.7m long, for 3no contiguous piled walls for the two abutments and the central pier, plus 62no 600mm diameter CFA piles up to 12.7m long for the new bridge wing walls and anchor piles
- Future plans for the major station redevelopment currently include between 3000no and 4000no piles
Quotations
Barry Osborne, Contracts Manager for Bachy Soletanche, said:
Reading is such a huge commuter area for people living and working in the city and the current station and rail line just isn’t big enough. Our experience in this challenging environment, which is very close to road and rail infrastructure, will most definitely be of use in the future.