Highly-specialised piling work for a new multi-storey commercial development in the centre of Slough has been awarded to Cementation Foundations Skanska.
The £700,000 contract is starting at Landmark Place, a new office and retail scheme on the corner of Windsor road and Herschel Street, has been awarded by main contractor Bowmer & Kirkland.
The development, by Frontier Estates, includes a split-level basement area containing car parking and a fitness centre. Using Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) rigs, Cementation will install some 940 interlocking Secant piles to form a retaining wall around the 370-metre perimeter.
For a double-level basement area on one side, extending some six metres below the water table, a hard-soft piling technique has been chosen to achieve the closest possible tolerances and ensure water tightness. Nearly 650 piles of 600mm diameter will be bored to a maximum of 21.5 metres below ground. For an adjoining single basement area, a hard-firm piling method will be adopted, in which more than 290 piles will penetrate into the dry clay sub-strata to form a concrete barrier to a maximum depth of 12 metres.
The work is scheduled for completion in September this year.