Highways Piling Project Sees Us Put National App into Action
Sheet Piling (UK) Limited has recently been involved with one of the first highways piling project to have used the new National Highways Productivity Application, using this App to record progress on a £49.8m highways improvement scheme between junctions 1 and 7 of the M621.
The App’s aim is to record production progress and on-site delays during the installation of embedded retaining wall solutions on the network. The end goal is a reduction in unproductive time and associated costs, whilst the focus is greater productivity for Tier-1 contractors and within the supply chain.
In our case, the works on the highways network south of Leeds, which includes new lane construction and works to improve traffic flow, were completed seamlessly, within six weeks. This was to the satisfaction of both National Highways, the client, and Keltbray Infrastructure, who had appointed Sheet Piling UK.
This speedy work schedule was abetted by the partial use of our unique long-reach telescopic leader rigs, alongside standard rigs. This allowed us to eradicate the time and costs that would otherwise have been spent on carrying out enabling works, just to reach the required sheet pile line. Other benefits of using the ABI long-reach rig included minimising the amount of night-time working required and also lessening impacts on traffic that would otherwise have been subjected to traffic management lane closures.
Sheet Piling UK’s design team worked closely with their peers at Keltbray Infrastructure, to plan the project to a tee. Our sheet pile installation methodologies were on-point so far as Keltbray’s programme requirements were concerned and also suited the access restrictions that applied to the job and the prevailing ground conditions.
Sheet pile installation took place at seven different locations, providing permanent earth retention for various new structural assets. These included highway retaining walls, to facilitate carriage widening, gantry bases for gantry-mounted signals, and communication bases.
New technology has been installed as part of this project, to detect incidents and elicit swifter responses in such scenarios but this is not being labelled a ‘smart motorway’ project. The aim is simply to increase the network’s resilience and make journey times more reliable, whilst also removing any traffic conflicts, at certain junctions.
In total, we installed around 450Te of Emirates Steel Arkan Z-section EZ36-700 steel sheet sections, in Grade S430GP steel. All was supplied from Sheet Piling UK’s extensive steel sheet pile stockholding, avoiding Keltbray incurring any expensive delay, which could have occurred if they had been exposed to extended ex-mill rolling requirements.
Similarly, all plant was supplied from Sheet Piling UK’s own in-house plant department and was 100% NRMM compliant.
As one of the first contractors to use the new App, we also assisted National Highways, by recording site data that can form the basis of future discussion with the steering group.
To make an enquiry about Sheet Piling UK’s services for any future highways widening or infrastructure project, please call us on 01772 794141.
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Sheet Piling (UK) Limited is one of the UK's leading piling contractors. Owning and operating a comprehensive range of specialist piling equipment Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd also carry extensive stocks of new and used piles enabling rapid reaction to any urgent requirements or emergency situations.