Foundation engineering

Situation

In 2013 a 400-metre-long quay wall was built in the Nieuwe Waterweg, suitable for Aframax oil tankers up to 250 metres in length, 45 metres wide and a maximum draught of 15.2 metres.

Challenge

At large construction projects such as for example the realisation of a new port area, corrugated sheet piles which are driven into the ground are a familiar phenomenon. Because they are the base for the quay walls, they must be anchored very firmly in order to support both tensile and compressive effects of the water.

Jetmix is a specialist in (grout injection) anchor systems; modular systems that consist of thick-walled steel tubes with a coarse tapered thread across their entire length (for optimum adhesion of grout on anchor pile), as well as coupling sleeves. On the front side the anchor is fitted with a drill bit that can be tailored to the foundation present.

Solution

Once the anchor system is installed, it is tested. During the construction of a new port area in the Netherlands Jetmix therefore makes use of a 400 tonnes hollow plunger cylinder by Holmatro. This cylinder of almost 900 kg is installed from ground level using a crane that is suspended over the combi-wall. During testing, the anchor’s creep value is calculated and is used to show that the anchor meets the set requirements. The full test results, together with the installation data, are recorded in client reports. Once the tests have been completed, the injection anchors are pre-stressed by means of the hollow plunger cylinder. The large dimension of this custom made cylinder takes future changes of the anchor system already into account as well as the literal growth of the components that will be tested and pre-stressed.

Would you like to know more about this project? Contact us via e-mail [email protected] or call +31 (0)162 751500.