Latest News: Sheet Piling UK Boosts Fulham FC’s Support

July 6th, 2020

Sheet Piling UK Boosts Fulham FC’s Support

The specialist steel sheet pile installation team here at Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd are delighted to be playing a part in a game-changing project that will allow EFL Championship football club, Fulham FC, to retain its iconic riverside, Craven Cottage site as its footballing home for many years to come.

Since April, we have been carrying out groundworks for a project that is aimed at enabling Fulham FC to increase its seating capacity, through an extension of its Riverside Stand. The forward-thinking project also aims to create amenities along its stretch of the River Thames, for the enjoyment of fans, residents and visitors alike.

Extending the stand and transforming the river side walkway into a world-class destination, which will boast a pathway that allows leisure users to have an uninterrupted walk between Hammersmith and Putney bridges, required the type of steel sheet pile basement, groundwork and cofferdam support works in which Sheet Piling UK has such in-depth expertise.

Steel Sheet Pile Installation at Craven Cottage
Steel Sheet Pile Installation at Fulham FC

 

Sheet Pile Supply

To create the necessary support works for the new stand, we have both supplied and installed a range of our Emirates Steel sheet pile sections, consisting of ESZ24-700 and ESZ26-700 pairs of sheet piles, of lengths of between 10-13 metres. These robust sheet piles were used to form a three-sided permanent steel sheet pile basement, with the fourth side formed by the previously completed and realigned Thames wall.

A part-cantilever and part-propped design solution was implemented, using the Z-section sheet piles to deliver the required structural properties and weight efficiencies. No delay in obtaining a supply of these first-class sheet piles was required, given the extensive amount of stock that we always hold. This saved the project time, enabling the sheet piling element of the project to keep moving without unnecessary delay.

Groundwork Engineering at Football Stadium
Construction work at London Soccer Stadia

 

Steel Sheet Pile Installation

Sheet piles were installed into the predominantly cohesive soil around the Fulham FC site using vibrator methods. We then followed this up with impact driving to achieve the design toe levels, as pre-augering was not possible. Our team installed the Z-section Emirates Steel sheet piles in pairs, using two ABI telescopic leader rigs from the Sheet Piling UK fleet. These were fitted with resonance-free vibratory piling hammers and our own double jaw clamp, ABI MZK1250 assemblies.

Impact driving was then undertaken using our fleet’s Delmag leader-mounted hammer. This was of great benefit to the client, removing the need to create a deep lead trench, or longer sheet piles, which would have been the case had a conventional, crane-suspended, hydraulic impact hammer been used.

Earthworks and Part Cofferdam

Having completed the initial sheet pile installation, our sheet piling team are now ready to focus on the next stage of the bulk earthworks project, which will see them creating and installing a temporary steel-welded support frame (part cofferdam). Once the earthworks are completed, the sheet pile interlocks will be welded, providing a watertight steel sheet pile basement structure.

As our managing director, Andrew Cotton, says: “We are delighted to play our part in giving a real community-focused football club like Fulham FC the opportunity to secure its future at its much-loved site for many years to come. We hope to help other sports grounds with similar groundworks projects, as older infrastructure begins to wear and new leisure needs have to be catered for.”

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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.