Polymer

The MP4000 and MP5000 rigs are low head room restricted access rigs. Both work to construct piles by open hole rotary bored piling techniques and are able to work using drilling support fluid, either polymer or bentonite. This enables the rigs to drill to depths up to 36m in unstable material without the need for long lengths of temporary casings. Martello piling have researched and developed polymer and bentonite techniques which have been successfully used on a number of projects, and have the specialist equipment for its use.

Bentonite

Docklands Light Railway 3 Car Project - Delta Junction

Delta Junction is the point on the docklands light railway where trains can turn to Canary Wharf or continue on to London City Airport. The project required piles beneath the existing elevated track for new piers for the new elevated track that threaded its way beneath and through the existing. The ground conditions were made ground over alluvium, over Thames gravel over London clay with piles founding in the Lambeth Group. The piling solution devised required heavily reinforced 750mm diameter piles. The piling technique was to install 9 metres of 840mm OD temporary casing to seal into the London Clay and to bore in the London Clay prior to flooding the pile and excavating under bentonite support fluid in the Lambeth Group to the founding level. The ability of the MP4000 rig to operate in the restricted headroom beneath the existing Delta Junction and to excavate the piles using conventional augering techniques, bentonite augers, digging buckets and cleaning buckets enabled the project to be successfully completed.