Almost 3 years after being commissioned as Architect and Lead Consultant by Kent County Council, work has started on site for the new Ashford Gateway Plus. This new build project of almost £6m construction cost will see integrated accommodation of several County and Borough Council services to the public, including a new Library.Pictured here is vibro compaction of the ground to increase bearing capacity. This will facilitate the use of traditional pad and strip foundations. The process took just 4 days for a footprint of 1000 sq.m. The 'pile' is driven in by both loading and high freguency vibration then hard rock (limestone) is poured in and compacted to form a stone 'pile'. A computer in the cab tells when bearing capacity is achieved. No driving of piles and no delay for testing. The 'piles' were anticipated to be 4 metres long but favourable ground conditions meant most were around 2.5m. Some were as little as 1 metres and ironically will be lost when the pad footings are excavated!
More progress photo's soon.....
No comments:
Post a Comment