Sheet Piling and Victorian Infrastructure Projects
In early December, Portsmouth City Council approved expenditure that will equip Southsea with new sea defences, with works due to run until 2026. On the 19th of December, the BBC reported that the seafront promenade had collapsed, as works commenced. The failure of Victorian infrastructure is one with which Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd is becoming increasingly aware, mainly because sheet piles could have a big part to play in its upgrading.
Southsea is just one of many Victorian seaside resorts that soared in popularity in an age when travel was opened up by the arrival of the railways. The Clarence Esplanade was created between 1852-61, at a time when the creation of the nation’s infrastructure was developing at a fast pace of knots. South Parade Pier, built in 1879, marked the end of Victorian development in the resort.
Just a few months ago, we saw the failure of another example of Victorian infrastructure – Toddbrook Dam near Whaley Bridge. This was built in the 1830s, to create a reservoir that would supply hydraulic power and water to the canal system. At the time, we posted a blog that highlighted the role that sheet piles can play in dam restoration – something we know a lot about, as we have been involved in innovative dam repair projects.
Back in 2012, the Mountbatten Lecture was entitled, ‘Modernising Britain’s Victorian Infrastructure: An Engineering Opportunity’ and was delivered by Professor Brian Collins CB, FREng, Professor of Engineering Policy at UCL. The lecture focused on the pressing need to upgrade the Victorian infrastructure that runs the length and breadth of Britain, because the country is now being left behind, having not upgraded and improved what were once state-of-the-art systems. The Professor called for “Innovation at the interface.”
The latter is something we can confidently say Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd delivers, having been shortlisted for three awards for innovation in 2019, including a prestigious CN Award for ‘Best Innovation.’ Our long-reach vibratory installation rig, the TM 12/15 LR, is already being deployed on the upgrading of our highways infrastructure, and being used within widening schemes on various smart motorway schemes. It can also play a huge part in upgrading the railway network, if HS2 goes ahead.
At the time of the Toddbrook story, The Engineer, ran a poll, to ask readers what they felt was the best way to protect UK infrastructure from extreme weather. 42% said there needed to be a complete overhaul of our infrastructure – a nice idea, but one often lacking the budget to make it a reality. 28% suggested more focused maintenance efforts – a more realistic option.
Some commentators have pointed out that the “heavy rain” that fell on Toddbrook in August was nothing out of the ordinary for Pennines weather. They highlight that these dams are earthworks and a failure in the supporting earth can create huge issues and potentially loss of life, as many communities grew up around the dams that fed industry.
There are around 2000 dams in England and Wales alone. Each must have a supervising civil engineer and an inspecting civil engineer, filing annual safety reports to DEFRA under the terms of The Reservoirs Act. An independent inspection also needs to be carried out every ten years. Spokespeople said that Toddbrook had passed its inspection in November 2018 and is inspected twice weekly.
On that basis, our Victorian infrastructure, in the form of our reservoirs and dams, can fail at any moment, creating panic, threatening lives and livelihoods and putting the poor nature of our UK infrastructure in the global spotlight.
As we proved when working on the Island Barn Reservoir, in West Mosley, London – a typical reservoir with a puddle clay core and an earth-filled embankment to retain the water, which was seeping in three places – the use of sheet piles can innovatively strengthen a reservoir, even one holding 992m gallons of water.
This was actually an Edwardian rather than Victorian structure, having been built in 1908, and the initial methodologies considered were not as innovative as our sheet piling solution. A cement Bentonite diaphragm wall, grouting from the crest and jet grouting from the crest were all dismissed, as the enabling works and embankment strengthening required would have been to lengthy and costly.
Our innovative solution was to install steel sheet piles through the crest of the dam, utilising a floating pontoon as the base for the equipment, which was a silent, vibration-less hydraulic pile press. Using this methodology, we were able to install a robust steel sheet pile cut-off wall, having built a temporary jetty to launch the pontoon using a Giken pile pressing method, to prevent any water impacts that could have emerged with vibration.
Using the pontoon, we then lifted this piece of equipment over the embankment, ensuring little pressure was applied to the structure at that point. Once in place, the piles were installed at the required locations. Even this was achieved without the need for water jetting, ensuring there was no impact on the puddle clay core.
This example highlights that Sheet Piling UK (Ltd), when instructed as a sheet piling contractor, can deliver the innovation at the interface that was called for in 2012 and bring new maintenance solutions to sites underpinned or serviced by Victorian infrastructure. As some of this infrastructure approaches its 200th birthday, we feel it vital to continue to design new sheet piling schemes and develop new solutions, so that sheet piling can be at the heart of Victorian infrastructure maintenance, whether that is on a railway line, at a dam, or in support of a formerly genteel Victorian promenade that is no longer able to withstand the elements.
If you require assistance with such a Victorian infrastructure project, please contact us on +44 (0)1772 79 41 41.
- Ends -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.