Keeping the neighbours happy

Displacement piling work by May Gurney is helping to avoid disturbing neighbours in Cardiff.

When designing piles for nearly 200 homes in the Welsh capital, designers were asked to come up with a scheme that would minimise disruption to neighbours living as close as six metres from the site.

Traditional pre-cast driven piles were immediately considered to be the most cost effective option but main contractor Bovis Homes was forced to reconsider.

Planning permission restrictions meant that they had to take into account any noise, vibrations and dust that might disturb neighbouring homes. As sub contractor, it was down to May Gurney's Geotechnical team to come up with a more appropriate piling design.

"It might be that noise generated by driven piling would have been at an acceptable level but with the constant hammering sound it makes, it's more the perception of how bad it is," says May Gurney's Rob Cannon. "There were also concerns that vibrations would cause adverse effects and even structural damage to nearby homes."

May Gurney considered CFA piling as one possible solution to noise and vibration problems, but with that came a new set of issues for local residents.

The Ferry Road site, close to Cardiff Bay, is in an area where other developments have been completed with driven piling, but now there are too many homes close by.

With houses near the east and south borders of the site, May Gurney opted for displacement auger piling - it's the first time that displacement piling has been used in Cardiff on a job of this size.

Click here to read the full story, courtesy of Ground Engineering magazine.