Land & Water were commissioned to carry out the construction of 3 new dry docks.

The works consisted of the installation of 200m of LX27 sheet piles of various lengths, from 4m up to 12m and 9 tubular fender piles 18m long with a diameter of 610mm with another 24 tubular piles for a new crane platform. These piles were installed using movax piling rig.

The crane platform was constructed using a temporary support system of stub beams welded onto tubular piles, these had adjustable jacks & Megashor waling beams attached to carry the temporary support system. This system carried the full crane slab whilst under construction which was approx. 30m x 10m wide with the thickness of 550mm. This was poured in single operation with 185m³ of concrete placed in one day.

In addition to the piling works a new workshop and welfare facility was constructed using a steel portal framed building and associated drainage works.

The existing piled revetment works were failing and support was required for the riverbanks, both up and down stream of the lock and weir.

Due to restricted access, the works had to be carried out using floating equipment. Downstream and adjacent to the weir, new 7m long sheet piles were driven in front of existing piles using Land & Waters Movax pile driving attachment.

Granular dredgings from the river were then extracted and used to backfill behind the new pile line. Along the edge of the by-pass channel, galvanised steel sheet piles were driven at the bank edge and tied back to anchor piles. These again were back filled between the structures using granular material recovered from the river. Further revetments were required to shore up banks.

This was completed by using 4mm galvanised weld mesh panels behind timber posts filled behind with gabion stone. Finally, a timber oak coping and rubbing strip was attached giving both fender protection and pleasing aesthetics.

All works were carried out safely within a busy public area with all parties being pleased with the result.

Land & Water Services were commissioned by Birse Construction to carry out the piling and revetments works at Swinefleet as part of the priority schemes within a phased package of works to sustain key tidal defences in the Humber Estuary.

The works consisted of the installation of 1061m of 13m long AZ28 toe piles driven using a pontoon based crane along with 627m of PU18 crest piles, to raise the level of the flood defences, which were installed using a combination of a “Movax” vibratory hammer and “Giken” silent piling systems.

In addition the revetment area above the toe piles was re-profiled and stabilised with a 600mm thickness of armour stone (total 13,000t of rock). Other works included the top piles being clad and capped with FSC oak timber and the replacement of sluice gates on an existing outfall structure.

All access to the works had to be from the River Ouse within the inter-tidal area and therefore was subject to cycle tidal inundation. A temporary jetty and mooring location needed to be established adjacent to the works area with all materials being loaded out onto barges using a 150t crane.

The project entailed Land & Water Services being appointed as subcontractor to Carillion to install  two sheet piled walls and place rock armour. 

Due to water levels being very low it wasn’t possible to ‘go afloat’ so the rock armour was placed on both berms at the same time creating working platforms so the sheet piles could be installed.  Piling started in November using a Movax piling hammer and was completed in December 2009.  The placing of rock armour continued until late December with piling works commencing in January and being completed in Feb.

Once all piles had been installed excavators then reshaped the stone piling platforms into the finished design.  Floating plant was mobilised to finish off the re-profiling works and also to commence the intake pipeline works. The pipeline was excavated by a 35t long reach excavator on a pontoon complete with a dig system to guarantee the gradient of the pipe being laid was within tolerances.

Once laid a pipeline concrete protection mattress weighing approximately 4.5 ton was placed over the pipe to protect it and provide weight to overcome the problem of positive buoyancy of the pipe when the reservoir levels drop.

The project involved the upgrade of lake access ready for the 2012 Olympic games which included the replacement of the existing cut through bridge with a 20m wider finishing line bridge.

The programme was extremely tight with several critical deadlines starting with Land and Water Services installing the sheet piles (below) in one day for the temporary Bailey Bridge abutments to be installed thus providing access for the old bridge demolition process.

Two cofferdams were installed using Land and Water Services Movax piling rig following footpath and services diversions. These cofferdams were excavated, steel support frames and braces installed, dewatered and blinded, then handed back to the formwork contractor. Once abutments were constructed these cofferdams were backfilled and the sheet piles extracted. Once the new bridge deck was cast, Land and Water Services excavated underneath to form new bank revetments.

Further cofferdams, as above, were installed for the new bridge requiring a reduced dig to level, once abutments were cast, five rows of gabion baskets were filled and fitted to the exposed abutment sides (inside the cofferdams), backfilled and then piles removed.

The lake banks were re-profiled to 1:3 slopes, covered in topsoil and Tansar 200 geotextile was pinned to the surface and hydra seeded. Despite the volume of works required, the extreme weather conditions in the area Land & Water along with other contractors made great efforts to finish within one day of the finishing date.

Land & Water Services were contracted by Carillion to construct an Impoundment Dam to create Lagoon A which forms part of the Rutland Water Habitats Creation Scheme.

The works consisted of  the installation of 260 linear meters of AU16 sheet piles together with the placement of 8000 tonnes of rock armour to form a bund. The piling, which comprised pairs of piles between 3.2m and 8m in length, was carried out using an excavator mounted Movax 75 Side Grip Piler working off a 15 piece Spud Leg Unifloat Pontoon.

The Movax sheet piler is a high frequency hydraulic vibrator  which is controlled by a cab-mounted computer allowing the operator to select a precise angle to drive/extract the piles. The Movax sheet piler automatically corrects the straightness of the sheet pile during the driving and extracting and the side grip allows the piles to be picked up, positioned and driven in one fluid motion.

Due to exceptionally high levels within Rutland Water at the time of the works it was also necessary to cut many of the piles underwater using a dive team.

The subsequent Armour Stone placement was carried out from the same pontoon using a grab mounted on a excavator with the material being transported using a 6 piece Unifloat Pontoon.