Demolition, Groundworks & Earthworks
GROUNDFORCE SHORCO PROVIDE SUPPORT SOLUTION AT CANARY WHARF
Groundforce Shorco working in close collaboration with OBR on basement support solution at Canary Wharf.
Meticulous teamwork and design collaboration has produced a highly efficient temporary support solution for a new basement excavation at Canary Wharf.
Contractor OBR Group has the reinforced concrete contract for 30 Marsh Wall, a new 48-storey student accommodation scheme just south of West India Dock. The main contractor is Tide Construction and the client is Vita Group.
The building is being built on a confined site hemmed in by existing buildings on all sides. Temporary support for the 7m-deep basement excavation is being provided by Groundforce modular hydraulic props.
Murphy Group has installed a secant piled retaining wall and capping beam around the perimeter of the excavation, which is triangular in plan with sides measuring approximately 50m, 37m and 39m.
The challenge for OBR Group was to find a method of supporting this deep and irregularly shaped excavation without crowding it with equipment that would interfere with the construction of the concrete basement slab and other permanent structures.
Having worked successfully with them on several previous projects, OBR brought Groundforce Shorco on board to brainstorm with temporary works designer Niall Keely Engineering and consulting engineer Barrett Mahony and produce an optimised solution.
“ We had been aware of this project for some time so we understood the challenges and had some ideas ready,” says Groundforce Shorco area manager Ken Sandell.
“ We worked closely with Barrett Mahony to value-engineer a solution that minimised the quantity of props required on site.”
The final design of the supporting structure involved a combination of flying shores and raking props installed in two phases.
Special steel corbels designed by Niall Keely were manufactured and cast into the concrete capping beams to brace the four flying shores, and steel stub columns were cast into the basement slab and capping beams to brace the four raking props.
Phase 1 of the operation required the installation of five MP250 modular hydraulic props, four of them bracing the 50m-long headwall against the
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