Tag: piling

March 26th – In Telford for a meeting, the footbridge project continues it’s bizarre stop-start behaviour, baffling to the uninitiated. Piles are bored and concreted now, sheet piling has appeared along the roadside, and a cavity there had been dug – maybe for a pier or lift-well. Steelwork has been driven into the earth and cut to varying lengths, and there a lot of noise and action. But no visible chap yet, and nothing on the Euston Way side of the station at all. 

I guess this is one of those puzzling projects that will just sudsy come together, but it’s very intriguing to watch.

March 8th – At Telford, the piling for the footbridge project near the station is progressing apace, and the machinery in use is fascinating. 

Holes are being bored, reinforcing assemblies being placed within and concrete pumped in. The depth of the bores is extraordinary, and an army of workers in orange wait for their moment to undertake their assigned tasks.

This is a hugely complex project which has surprised me – I can now see why it’s costing so much.

January 30th – Visiting Telford in the morning, the work on the new footbridge there is very serious now. A large continuous flight auger piling rig is drilling very deep piles to support the new structure, and concrete trucks line up to supply it as it works.

In front of the rig, the first pile is standing clear of the ground bounded by the blue sleeve, and on these solid foundations, the new bridge will stand.

Earth is being moved, surveyors measure the ground and excavators are busy. This is a project well underway know and will be worth keeping an eye on.

August 22nd – I had to pop to Telford mid day, and leaving the station for the cycleway I looked back and noticed something in the sea of built environment – the tip of a yellow drilling rig near the westbound railway platform.

I noticed a few weeks ago there was an application to build a replacement bridge here – the current one is decaying, and not compliant with disability legislation (the slopes would be very unpleasant in a hand-propelled wheelchair, it’s clear to see). The proposal is in, and it looks like the engineers are doing ground investigations in readiness of anticipated approval.

I never noticed the rig as I rolled past, and it’s position was very secluded – but looking over, it’s quite large. 

Hiding in plain sight.

April 16th – Spinning up to Screwfix in Walsall Wood, I noticed that the bank  restoration works near the Black Cock Bridge were still ongoing. It seems that after the sectional piling was installed, earth has  been spread to the level of it and dropped in front.

This work has primarily been to stabilise the bank and counter erosion, and is not to do with subsidence, as some have asserted. It is interesting to note at this point, that the fall from the embankment on that side is very steep, and the consequences of a breach on that side could be severe.

I do hope they get around to stabilising the brickwork on the other side, though, it’s falling away and is still hazardous to users.

July 20th – Last week, I noted a quantity of sectional piling had been delivered to Ogley Junction maintenance yard ready for a job locally. I wondered where the site was – and now I know.

My attention was drawn by a couple of readers to a work cabin appearing at the Black Cock Bridge, and it seems the work is being done on the embankment at the rear of houses in Bans Close, Walsall Wood, fifty metres or so from the bridge itself.. 

The interlocking piling is driven into the bank to strengthen it, and minimise the effects of erosion. Here the canal runs above ground level, and the embankment is built up to it, and the top level of the bank is only a couple of inches above the waterline.

Surveyors were here in the spring, and left their telltale spray paint and post datums, and this must be the result – fixing up the canal and securing it in a weak spot for another few decades.

Let’s hope they attend to the erosion on the towpath side, too.

July 14th – On my return, I needed to call on a pal in Newtown, so I headed up the canal past Ogley Junction. Whilst passing, I noticed a delivery of sectional piling and plant, and wondered if the Canal & River Trust had got it together to stabilise the slipping local embankments. 

I guess time will tell…