Burnley Schools Piling Project
Geo-technical specialists, Bachy Soletanche Limited is currently in the early stages of a high profile piling foundations contract for the Lancashire Schools BSF project in Burnley. The piling work will be completed at the beginning of next year, ready for the construction of a new schooling complex including a Primary School, Concourse Community Centre and Sixth Form College, providing leading edge learning facilities in the Burnley area.
In preparation for the planned construction, the foundations provided by BSL will use the Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piling process boring four hundred and thirty one CFA piles, ranging from 14 to 25 metres in depth and 400mm in diameter. Andy Tucker, Project Manager, at Bachy Soletanche Limited, commented:
“We are now into the third week of an eight week contract period, and with the piling work well underway the whole project is running on schedule. However, in the very early stages we found that the Burnley site was above an old stone quarry which meant extensive probing works had to be carried out to ascertain the base of the quarry where the foundations are to be installed between 1 and 3 metres into the rock .”
“Luckily the problem was foreseen in the design process so when piling work began, we knew what to expect.” He added.
The site is wedged between a sixth form collage and a secondary School, therefore careful planning was absolutely essential from the access points for the rigs, to the noise levels during school hours, Andy Tucker concluded:
“The site has been quite restrictive compared to some other sites we work on, but due to our detailed plan and co-ordination with the main contractor, Bovis Lend lease, we have kept the project running smoothly.”