Skip to main content

Piling job at interchange

Specialist geotechnical contractors, Bachy Soletanche has started work on a new grade separated interchange on the A41 road in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, for a Balfour Beatty/Birse joint venture.
February 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Peri's VST System is being used on a bridge spanning the Sordo Valley in Portugal
Specialist geotechnical contractors, Bachy Soletanche has started work on a new grade separated interchange on the A41 road in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, for a 1146 Balfour Beatty/1486 Birse joint venture.

Worth about e3 million, and expected to last 15 weeks, the project consists of heavy duty CFA (continuous flight auger) and cased CFA secant piling. [A continuous flight augering drill is used to excavate a hole and concrete is injected through a hollow shaft under pressure as the auger is extracted. This creates a continuous pile without ever leaving an open hole].

The hard/hard and hard/firm secant CFA piles are 600, 750 and 900mm diameter and up to 18.5m deep, and were designed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council's engineer, Scott Wilson, and include reinforced primary (female) piles in the new overbridges wing walls.

1485 Bachy Soletanche's biggest rig, a BG40, is being used for the cased CFA secant piles with the remainder being installed by a CM70.

Once complete, the retaining walls will form the new underpass beneath the newly-aligned roundabout so as to improve traffic flow on the A41.

Paul Hodgson, business development manager at Bachy Soletanche, said: "This is our biggest job in the Midlands at the moment and it's crucial we stick to schedule so as little disruption occurs as possible. Different rigs will be used for the various stages."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Balfour Beatty in 10-year extension to Exeter-Bere Regis road deal
    May 8, 2015
    A Balfour Beatty joint venture with South West Highways has been awarded a €55 million 10-year extension to its contract for operations and maintenance on the 102km A30/A35 main Exeter to Bere Regis road. The contract is on behalf of Connect Roads for ultimate customer Highways England, the newly named government roads agency. The joint venture – SWHBBIS - was appointed as the operations and maintenance contractor for this stretch of the trunk road in 1996. In 2006, the joint venture was re-appointed
  • Bolivia’s new highway
    October 10, 2017
    Bolivia’s new highway will provide better access into mountain areas – Mauro Nogarin writes At the beginning of 2015, work began on the construction and paving for the Tupiza - Atocha - Uyuni highway project. The route is located in Bolivia’s Potosí department: it is 189m in length and forms part of the Southwest Basic Road Network (RVF) of Bolivia. The completion of this important route is requiring funding worth US$150 million, of which 72% is being delivered through loans from the European Investment
  • Trimble DPS900 Drilling and Piling System
    August 27, 2013
    Trimble has introduced the Trimble DPS900 Drilling and Piling System, a new machine control solution for drilling and piling contractors. Part of the Trimble Connected Site portfolio, the new DPS900 system enables contractors to perform drilling and piling operations quickly, safely and accurately. The new system can also help promote jobsite safety by minimising the need for stakes, construction surveying and personnel near the machine during drilling operations. The DPS900 system gives contractors
  • Major Necaxa-Tihuatlan Highway project for Mexico
    October 1, 2014
    A new highway in Mexico is connecting Necaxa with Tihuatlan and the project features challenging terrain - Mauro Nogarin reports In Mexico a landmark highway project is now close to completion, having set a number of records for Latin America.