Falco won a contract to design and construct a new pumping station at the premises of an international petrochemical company in Surrey.
The works included the construction of a retaining structure to support the excavation of a chamber, allowing dewatering and installation of a new pumping station. The works had previously been tendered by another contractor and site work commenced but were aborted due to difficulties in management of the groundwater to allow full depth excavation and chamber installation.
The key challenge for us was how the works could be constructed in these extremely difficult ground conditions. Our preconstruction team worked with our supply chain to provide a water cut-off system which involved the installation of a 9-metre deep contiguous Seacant Piles retaining wall through the alluvial gravels into London clay.
The works involved connecting into the existing life-expired pumping station. This was particularly challenging as it required breaching the cofferdam structure. This was achieved by installing additional piles and coring through the piles and existing chamber.
The works were located in the client’s car park which was in continuous use throughout the project. A temporary GRP hoarding system with digilock-controlled access gates was employed to segregate the works and provide robust security. This required temporary works and a specialist contractor, Westgate, to design and install the hoarding. Temporary track mats were also used to protect the existing car park surfacing.
Falco provided a design and construct role for the project in addition to Principal Contractor duties. The works required daily liaison with the client’s engineering team as well as weekly progress meetings to discuss the works and mitigate clashes with other activities on the site.
The project, which included the reinstatement of the existing car park and landscaping works reinstalling granite kerbs street furniture and planting, was delivered on-time and no health and safety incidents.
Additional works were instructed by the client to carry out tree pits works within the site hoarding. This involved the excavation and installation of tree a tree pit system to provide, irrigation drainage and root management to trees in the planting areas
Client Testimonial
From MD to site workers, Falco worked as a team to ensure our new foul pumping station met the highest standards, was finished on-time and within budget. Falco’s friendly but highly professional approach helped guide us through a potentially high-risk project. We would recommend them without hesitation and look forward to working with them again in the future.