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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
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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."

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