project case histories · from january 2011 to august 2013, foundation piles were constructed for a...

for the Crossrail depot structure in Old Oak

Common in North London. It was based

around a ground source heat pump (GSHP)

solution using energy piles and geothermal

boreholes with a combined heat and power

plant and also solar photovoltaic (PV) and

solar thermal power. Combining all these

renewables together and providing an

overarching heating and cooling system

created a system that captured waste heat

from the combined heat and power (CHP)

and solar thermal systems and stored it in

the energy foundations of the buildings.

The result is that approximately 54% of the

new railway depot’s heating and cooling will

be provided from renewable technologies

and 20% of the electrical load will be

generated on site from CHP and Solar PV;

providing the rail depot with an overall 33%

renewable energy solution. It is estimated that

once operational, run cost savings will be

around £100,000 ($133,000) annually when

compared to conventional equipment, and

will save approximately 530 tonnes (584

tons) of CO2 per year. The entire system is

calculated to have a payback on initial

investment of less than 10 years.

The multi-renewable energy solution

consists of:

• GSHPs utilizing 466 energy piles and

150 m (492 ft) deep boreholes

• CHP System to provide top-up heating

and electrical load

• 220 sq m (2,368 sq ft) Solar Thermal

• 1,498 sq m (16,124 sq ft) Solar PV

In April, at The Grosvenor Hotel in

London, GI Energy received the Heating &

Ventilation News Award for Renewable

Energy Project of the Year for work at the

Crossrail Depot.

Energy Foundations Key to U.K Renewable Project of the YearFor the past five years, GI Energy, a leading

large-scale heat pump provider, has been

working with London Crossrail con-

tractors at all of the Central London

stations installing geothermal loops into

foundations and diaphragm walls to

deliver heating and cooling to future Over-

Site Developments (OSDs). Crossrail is a

new high frequency, high capacity railway

for London and the South East.

Early in 2014, GI Energy, in collabor-

ation with Bombardier and Vinci Taylor

Woodrow, developed a renewable solution

Project Case Histories

DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 • 83

Construction of energy piles

Rendering of Old Oak Common

Geothermal pipework

84 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 • 85

west tunnel on March 23, 2011. Test

operation began in October 2015. At the

beginning of June 2016, AlpTransit

Gotthard handed over the operation of the

tunnel to Swiss Federal Railway (SBB). After

further testing, the tunnel will be put into

operation as the heart of the new Alp Transit

— on schedule — on December 11, 2016.

for Engineering & Contracting, and on

behalf of the Egyptian client Engineering

Authority Armed-Forces Military Engi-

neers Administration.

For the ventilation system, four shafts

are being constructed with depths of up to

278 ft (84.7 m) and a diameter of 68 ft

(20.7 m) using diaphragm wall tech-

nology. Additionally, a diaphragm wall is

being constructed that is approximately 27

acres (109,265 sq m) in size and up to 164

ft (50 ft) deep to serve as start and target

shafts for the tunnel boring machine. The

scope of work also includes the con-

struction of a soft gel blanket covering

5.25 acres (21,246 sq m) and the

installation of 150 temporary anchors.

Among other equip-ment, a BAUER MC

128 and an MC 96 duty-cycle

crane, both equipped with a BC

40 cutter, are being used along

with two BAUER BG 28 drilling

The specialty foundation

engineering works is expected to

be complete in July 2016. Once

completed in 2018, the twin-

tube Ismail ia road tunnel,

including the tunnel approaches,

will stretch approximately 4 mi

(6.4 km) beneath the Suez Canal.

BAUER BG 40 rotary drilling rig

Gotthard Base Railway Tunnel: The Longest and Deepest in the WorldThe Gotthard Base Railway Tunnel in

Gotthard Massif, Switzerland, opened on

June 1. Over 1,100 guests and 300 media

representatives took part in the official

maiden journey through the tunnel, which

is 35 mi (56.3 km) long and runs up to

1.43 mi (2.3 km) below the Alps. It is the

longest and deepest railway tunnel in the

world. The Swiss subsidiaries of BAUER

Group, BAUER Spezialtiefbau and BAUER

Umwelt, were involved in this monumental

construction project.

The twin-tube Gotthard Base Tunnel

runs from Erstfeld to Bodio. Construction

on the tunnel was started in 1999; the

tunnel was excavated from five different

starting points simultaneously. The north-

ernmost starting point was in Erstfeld; from

this point the tunnel was extended towards

the south. In 2005, BAUER Spezialtiefbau

Schweiz carried out the specialty foun-

dation engineering works. The main project

consisted of bored piles with diameters of

3.94 ft (1.2 m) and 4.92 ft (1.5 m), which

were drilled to 110 ft (33.5 m) under

extremely difficult conditions, including

boulder-like landslide material. A BAUER

BG 40 rotary drilling rig was used for

installing the bored piles. Permanent

anchors were installed up to 230 ft (70.1 m)

long in the pile wall. For this, bore holes

were drilled through the boulder-like

unconsolidated rock through to the solid

rock. The excavation pit served as a starting

point for the tunnel boring machine. After

completion of the drilling job, the tunnel

was constructed using the open-cut

tunneling method, then the excavation pit

was refilled.

From January 2011 to August 2013,

foundation piles were constructed for a

3,478 ft (1.1 km) long viaduct between

Lugano and Bellinzona. For the static basis

of the structural design, test piles were

constructed beforehand and static pile load

tests were carried out. A total of 313 cast-

in-place concrete piles with a diameter of

3.9 ft (1.2 m) and lengths of up to 95 ft

(29 m) were drilled and concreted.

BAUER Umwelt was commissioned,

partly as a joint venture, with the construct-

ion and operation of two water treatment

plants; in Amsteg, Switzerland, where the

resulting mountain water had to be treated

before its introduction into the river, and in

Faido, where a nitrite treatment plant was

installed due to the high nitrite concentra-

tion resulting from the explosives used in

the tunnel driving.

The breakthrough in the east tunnel

took place on October 15, 2010, and in the

Gotthard Tunnel under construction

Water treatment plant on site

Tunnel under the Suez CanalThe “New Suez Canal” was officially

opened in August 2015 in Ismailia, Egypt.

The waterway, which has great signif-

icance for world trade, had been widened

at certain points and expanded. It

connects the Mediterranean Sea with the

Red Sea and is the shortest sea route from

Asia to Europe. The reopening of the Suez

Canal does not mean that all construction

work on the water-way has been

completed. One current project

is a new road tunnel north of

Ismailia being built up to 82 ft

(24.9 m) below the bed of the

S u e z C a n a l a n d

230 ft (70.1 m) below the ground

level. Since May 2015, BAUER

EGYPT, the Egyptian subsidiary

of BAUER Spezialtiefbau, has

been carrying out the specialty

foundation engineering works as

the subcontractor for the joint

venture between Egypt-based

companies Petrojet and Concord

BAUER MC 96 duty cycle crane

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