Permanent Sheet Pile Basement at Craven Cottage for Fulham Football Cub
| Contract No: | C1457 |
| Client: | Fulham FC |
| Location: | Craven Cottage, Fulham, London. |
| Value: | Approximately £550,000.00 |
| Summary: | Supply and installation of approximately 330Te of Emirates Steel Z-section Sheet Piles to form a permanent steel Intensive pile basement as part of the Riverside Stand Extension. |
Background
On Wednesday 22nd May 2019, the Fulham FC signed an agreement with lead contractor Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd, for the demolition and development and extension of its Riverside Stand extension, with work to start in summer 2019.
The new stand will not only increase the seating capacity at Craven Cottage but also enhance the facilities available at the ground and within the locality, with new features that supporters, residents, and visitors can all enjoy.
The development transforms the riverside walkway into a world class leisure destination, creating a pathway that will allow an uninterrupted walk along the banks of the River Thames between Hammersmith and Putney bridges, as well as plus various amenities that visitors can enjoy all year round.
Most importantly, the Riverside development reaffirms Craven Cottage as the home of Fulham Football Club, both for now and future generations.
The Riverside development is seen as a real game-changer for Fulham Football Club. The forward-thinking club wishes to create a world-class destination for fans and guests to experience and enjoy, whilst retaining the charm that Craven Cottage exudes within its section of the River Thames embankment. In doing so, they will also safeguard the Club’s future at Craven Cottage.
Permanent Sheet Pile Basement
Sheet Piling UK Limited was appointed to handle works, as part of this exciting project, in March 2020 and started to work at the ground, following the completion of the existing stand demolition, in early April 2020.
Sheet Piling UK supplied and installed a range of Emirates Steel sheet pile sections, consisting of EZ24-700 and EZ26-700 pairs of sheet piles, ranging in length from 10.0 to 13.0 metres. These sheet piles were intended to form a three-sided permanent basement, with the fourth side being the previously completed and realigned River Thames wall.
The solution, utilising the Z-section sheet piles, provided a benefit to the structural properties and weight efficiencies, through a part cantilever, part propped, design solution. The sheet piles were also supplied direct from Sheet Piling UK’s extensive stock, delivering programme savings over any alternative procurement solutions.
The design solution effectively ruled out the use of pre-augering, which would have assisted sheet pile drivability within the predominantly cohesive soils. Taking this into consideration, sheet piles were installed using vibratory methods, and then subsequent impact driving, to achieve the design toe levels.
The Z-section Emirates sheet piles were installed in pairs using 2nr ABI Telescopic leader rigs, from the Sheet Piling UK fleet, complete with their resonance free vibratory piling hammer. Both rigs were fitted with the sheet pile specialist’s own double jaw clamp ABI MZK1250 assemblies.
Impact driving was then undertaken utilising Sheet Piling UK’s Delmag leader-mounted hammer, which provided a great benefit to the client, by removing the need for a deep lead trench, or longer sheet piles, which would have been required if a conventional, crane-suspended, hydraulic impact hammer had been used.
During bulk earthworks operations, a temporary steel-welded support frame (part cofferdam) will be installed and, on completion of earthworks, the sheet pile interlocks will be welded in situ to provide a watertight basement structure.
The initial sheet pile installation phase was successfully completed in June 2020.