Challenging Piling Works Within Battersea Power Station

Over a three year period a significant number of bearing piles and secant wall piles were installed inside the existing Grade II* Battersea Power Station, ranging from 450mm to 2000mm in diameter, and up to 60m depth. The constraints on the pile construct ion were significant, with modified piling rigs and ancillary plant required in different parts of the site due to the requirement to maintain the existing building fabric. The pile design is both geotechnically and structurally complex due to the variable ground conditions (caused by a deep scour feature) and the complex loading combinations, plus the impact from the existing foundations and other obstructions and build ing environment. The assumptions regarding the ground conditions and the impact of obstructions at any particular pile location had to be verified during the pile construction. There was often a need for the proposed pile arrangement, design and reinforcement length to be varied in real time during the pile construction to suit the actual conditions encountered. Three preliminary pile load tests were undertaken to help produce the most appropriate buildable and economic pile solution and the design and construction was then validated by a suite of top-loaded working pile tests.