Piling for a road project in tough conditions

Machines from Liebherr have been brought in to carry out a piling job in Colombia in tough conditions. The road network between Mosquera and Balsillas is being upgraded at a cost of some US$199.15 million. Mosquera lies on the outskirts of the capital, Bogotá, while Balsillas is to the south-west and close to the borders with Ecuador and Peru. Work started on the project to improve the 230km route in January 2016 and is expected to take until December 2021 to complete. One of the contractors involved in th
January 11, 2019 Read time: 3 mins
The LRB 355 is said to deliver high performance even under difficult conditions

Machines from Liebherr have been brought in to carry out a piling job in Colombia in tough conditions. The road network between Mosquera and Balsillas is being upgraded at a cost of some US$199.15 million. Mosquera lies on the outskirts of the capital, Bogotá, while Balsillas is to the south-west and close to the borders with Ecuador and Peru.

Work started on the project to improve the 230km route in January 2016 and is expected to take until December 2021 to complete. One of the contractors involved in the project, Mincivil, is utilising deep foundation equipment from 718 Liebherr to help stabilise the ground conditions, which can be challenging in some of the sections along the route.

The ground conditions can be extremely hard, but in spite of this, the LB 36 and LRB 355 rigs are being used to drill 57,000m of piles and are said to be working productively and dependably.

The aim of this construction project is to improve the infrastructure links for freight traffic between Tolima Department and Cundinamarca Department. The work also involves the construction of 16 bridges, which will help to deliver an improved road link between Tolima and Cundinamarca.

Mincivil is working on the project with another contractor, Topco. To install the piles for the bridges, Mincivil is using the LB 36 and LRB 355 deep foundation machines supplied by Liebherr. The two piling machines are being used for Kelly drilling and full displacement drilling, depending on the specific requirements of each location.

Piles with diameters of 1.5m have been driven to depths of 26m by the LB 36 rig, using the Kelly drilling method. Meanwhile, 600mm diameter piles have been driven to depths of 33m using the LRB 355 piling and drilling rig utilising full displacement drilling equipment. By the end of the piling portion of the contract, the Columbian company will have drilled a total of 57,000m.

The project is substantial and forms part of Colombia’s national road development programme, currently underway. A portion of the upgrade work has already been completed and while the LB 36 finished its work in December 2017, the LRB 355 will be operating until March 2019.

The deep foundation specialist, Mincivil, is located in Cundinamarca, Antioquia and Boyacá. Daniel Rodriguez is Foundation Unit business manager. He said that at a part of the job in Mosquera, nearly an hour by car from Bogotá, the soil conditions have proven hard and challenging due to the nearby mountains. Rodriguez explained, “These are difficult conditions and a real challenge for the machine.”

However, he added that the machines have proven both productive and dependable in the application.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New Argentina highway construction work
    January 11, 2019
    Construction is underway for Argentina’s new Mendoza-San Juan Highway – Mauro Nogarin reports The rehabilitation and maintenance works of more than 3,300km of routes is now underway in Argentina. This followed on after the takeover of six new road corridors under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, which took place in August 2018. The rehabilitation and maintenance works are being carried out prior to the start of the main projects, which will include the construction of highways. Building the
    Read More
  • XCMG sets out six stage path for future plans
    October 14, 2013
    XCMG has seen strong exports, with one deal in particular providing a major boost to turnover - Mike Woof writes It is rare that a single machine order can provide a substantial portion of a large manufacturer’s annual results. However the firm’s massive contract signed with the Venezuelan Government was a major boost to XCMG; the supply of no less than 6025 machines in a deal worth some US$750 million. This order came at an important time for the company when the world demand for construction equipment sl
    Read More
  • Brazil’s Serra do Cafezal Highway
    July 29, 2015
    Brazil's improved Mercosur route will boost capacity and cut travel time - Mauro Nogarin writes. The Régis Bittencourt Highway is one of the main access routes of the Mercosur traffic. It has a length of 400km and connects the main cities of São Paulo and Curitiba, which allows for products to enter from the southeast toward the rest of the southern part of Brazil and later transit to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Products also flow into Brazil from Mercosur through this major highway. The cost of the hi
    Read More
  • Work begins on Stockholm’s new bypass
    August 22, 2016
    The first tunnels are being excavated for the huge bypass tunnel in Sweden’s capital Stockholm – Adrian Greeman writes. After years of preparation and design, blasting and rock moving for Sweden's largest infrastructure project began south of the city this year. It sets in train a decade-long project that will create a new half-ring dual three-lane motorway for the city, 20km long. With most of it deep underground, it will also be one of Europe's largest ever road tunnels. The scheme is aimed at transformin
    Read More

Highlighted Content