Accurate advice for the consulting engineer
Client: The main contractor
From information provided on ground conditions, Purkelly were able to produce pile design calculations to satisfy the engineer's specified loadings.
Underhill Road London SE22
This contract involved the installation of 11 No. 250 mm diameter auger bored piles to 8.0 m and the construction of RC ground beams for a new extension at the site. The consulting engineer designed and specified the scheme providing all the loadings for contractor designed piles.
Ground conditions were firm to stiff clay which was susceptible to shrinkage and heave. The piles were sleeved for the top 3.0 m.
Insitu tests taken during the initial bores proved an average clay cohesion from 3.0 m to 8.0 m of 178 kn/m2 which was well above the assumed value of 120 kn/m2 taken at the pile design stage.
A specialist company carried out integrity testing on all the piles after they had been installed. This proved that the piling was satisfactory. Cube test results indicated that the concrete strength of 35 N/mm2 was achieved on the pile concrete and 55 N/mm2 on the beam concrete.
