Cardiff Splott Road

Pile Type: Contiguous & Bearing

Number of Piles: 35no.         

Diameter: 750mm  

Depth: 23m

The project required the construction of piles within a height restriction of 4.5m beneath an existing bridge. The works were to be carried out below live road traffic and also adjacent to a live railway.

The strata compromised a cementitious sand material with water ingress encountered at 4m requiring both hard digging and long casings. 

Martello was required to construct 35no, 750mm diameter contig/bearing piles to depths of up to 23m whilst working to a tight programme to meet the possession and bridge lift. 

Martello utilised 2 of their low headroom MP4000 series rigs enabling works to be carried out under the existing bridge, to install the new foundations in advance of the bridge removal, thereby reducing the programme. The piles were excavated under water using digging buckets and a bypass auger, the piles were  then tremmied and the water pumped into waste tanks ready to be PH monitored and treated prior to disposal. 

The Martello rigs enable rail and road bridges to be replaced and repaired with minimal disruption to transport by allowing new foundations to be installed without removing the existing structure. The compact nature of the Martello rigs allows multiple rigs to be employed to meet programme requirements.