Case Study: Restricted Access Basement Construction

Earlier in 2020, before the UK descended into lockdown, we were delighted to supply our colleagues at DWM Civils with the machinery required to begin the construction of a new basement at a private residence in Cheshire.

Although seemingly quite a straight forward job - installing sheet piles as retaining walls prior to the excavation of the new below ground construction - there were a few important considerations for the main contractors (and ABI) to take into account.

The project site sits adjacent to a Grade II listed building, which itself lies within a conservation area. Access to the property is along a narrow driveway off a normal residential street. With these factors to bear in mind, the selection of appropriate machinery for the job was paramount. The rig needed to have the power and ability to drive the piles accurately and efficiently, but also the mobility required to negotiate the restricted access - and the method of installation had to ensure that noise and vibration levels remained within permitted levels, given the location.

The equipment supplied by ABI was our 'smallest' Mobilram TM 13/16 SL telescopic leader rig, an MDBA 4500 auger drive (plus augers, for pre-augering the piling line), an MRZV 17 VV vibro, and an HPU 600 hydropress to achieve the final piling depth. You can read the full case study here on our Case Studies page.