Taylor Wimpey had an ambitious project to build a housing development on a slope with a severe gradient. Sheppard Piling were charged with implementing a full slope stability analysis and ascertained that the ground conditions were variable with tiered-levels throughout the site. The piling design was carefully considered as the site needed to be separated into terraces so that the construction of the retaining walls could be sequenced from the top to the lower levels to allow the RC works to continue unhindered along with the other components of the programme.

The piling mats were also designed to take into consideration the slope and its stability, but also to ensure that they are quick and easy to install to allow continuity of programme. Our Casagrande 40 tonne rig was deployed for this project as we needed to balance the weight of the equipment with the torque of the rig for drilling into rock.

There will be a total of 1700 piles of varying diameters between 350mm and 600mm. The depths of the piles vary depending on where the auger hits rock to cement solid foundations. We will have used approximately 500 tons of steel and 3,500 tons cubic metres of concrete on completion of programme.