Latest News: Cofferdams and Temporary Works Show Steel’s Strength and Carbon-control Qualities

May 22nd, 2023

Cofferdams and Temporary Works Show Steel’s Strength and Carbon-control Qualities

Call them sheet pile cofferdam, or temporary sheet pile works if you prefer; either way Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd has been creating these water and earth-retaining structures for decades, whether it has been a case of installing them in marine or riverside environments, or keeping water and earth back in areas with a high groundwater table.

However, some of our recent works have been very notable ones and we thought that bringing a few of these together would help highlight the role that cofferdams play and how these temporary works are ideal for helping to reduce the carbon footprint of a project.

It is steel’s strength that is such an asset within cofferdams, whether they are formed with single sheet pile walls or double walls in which the steel piles are tied together for even more strength. In the last example, gravel is often inserted between the two.

On land, added strength and resilience is often provided to the cofferdam through bracing, using waling beams and struts for extra support.

The other quality that makes steel sheet piles so ideal for cofferdams and temporary sheet piling works, however, is its reusability. Steel sheet piles can be installed and extracted several times over, to make the very most of the carbon that went into their manufacture and reduce the carbon generated by a project. This has become increasingly important for our clients, as you can read in our story about our work at the Chipping Waste Water Treatment Works.

All of these facets can be seen in this round-up of recent projects.

Delivering the world’s most energy efficient leisure centres, with our Basement Construction expertise.

Cofferdam to cope with high groundwater table – Staines

Basement construction for what will be one of the world’s most energy-efficient leisure centres required the construction of a temporary sacrificial cofferdam for groundwater cut-off purposes, to facilitate safe working. The Spelthorne Leisure Centre Passivhaus project saw us creating the sheet pile cofferdam from Emirates Steel Arkan EZ19-700 sheet piles and installing into Made Ground, overlying River Terrace Sands, gravels and London Clay, using a silent and vibrationless piling method. Given the geology, pre-auguring of the pile line was essential.

 

Sheet pile cofferdam for construction work in a flood mitigation area

As part of the Munio flood mitigation project in Derby, Sheet Piling UK, working in conjunction with Byland Engineering, designed a Wet Wall cofferdam with passive tension piles that could cope with an excavation depth of 8 metres. The temporary construction was formed from Emirates Steel Arkan EZ26-700 piles, with the temporary sheet pile supplies being drawn from our extensive stockholding – the largest in the industry.

This temporary anchored Wet Wall cofferdam was installed at the site of a new pumping station on the River Derwent, with piles impact-driven 5 metres into the ground, which consisted of Weathered Mudstone. Thirteen self-drilling, 19.5m-long passive tension pile anchorages were then installed, to provide the cofferdam with added stability.

Temporary Sheet Pile Cofferdams at London Olympia

Two temporary cofferdams to facilitate construction of permanent building cores

At Olympia London, we assisted the development of the prestigious new project by installing two temporary cofferdams, each measuring 20.4 metres x 18.6 metres, that would allow a new building sub-structure to be constructed.

Safe working was key and our design team liaised extensively with Laing O’Rourke, creating the solution that would work with a maximum excavation depth of 7.1 metres. We installed 260 Arcelor Mittal GU23N sheet piles, all 11-12 metres in length, following pre-auguring, using an ABI telescopic leader rig fitted with a resonance-free vibratory hammer and serviced by a 50 Te mobile crane. The project was supplied with CAD drawings, Design and Design & Check Certificates.

Steel Sheet Pile Cofferdams for the HS2 Thame Viaduct

Sheet pile cofferdams for wetland-based viaduct rail construction project

As part of HS2’s Thame Valley Viaduct project, we have started work on a 14-month project which involves constructing 33 temporary cofferdams, using top quality steel sheet piles. Each cofferdam measures 15.6 metres x 6 metres and is intended to enable the intermediate piers of the viaduct to be safely constructed. Temporary hydraulic bracing temporarily stabilises the cofferdams and has been supplied by RMD Kwikform. Installation into a significant amount of intentionally laid Made Ground, makes pre-auguring a necessity.

Here, the environmental benefits of using steel within temporary works really shines, with each sheet pile cofferdam being extracted after one pier has been completed and then moved to the next pier location for reinstallation. Working in what is a wetland area, means keeping water at bay – exactly what our watertight cofferdam constructions do.

These recent examples of our cofferdam-focused temporary sheet piling works, hopefully help demonstrate the benefits of steel sheet piles for temporary works and cofferdam construction. When you then add in the advantage of being able to gain quick access to new or used sheet piles, via our extensive stockholding – something that means no delays and better control over pricing – there’s every reason to choose Sheet Piling UK for your cofferdam construction or temporary sheet pile works’ needs.

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NOTES TO EDITORS
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.