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 | | NEW WASTE RECYCLING PLANT GETS THE VIBRO TREATMENT | | | Vibro Projects Ltd | | 19/08/2008 | | | Vibro Projects Limited has proven that it doesn’t waste any time when it comes to fast track projects; in fact, the leading ground improvements specialist has just completed works one week ahead of a very tight five week schedule. The £135,000 contract was awarded to provide soil stabilisation for a new waste treatment plant at Cambridgeshire’s Waste Management Park near Waterbeach. The plant will offer an environmentally friendly method in treating and recycling black bag waste to the region’s residents.
Described as the most modern waste treatment plant within Cambridgeshire, the latest development will include the building of a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant. This sorts the black bag rubbish by removing items which can be recycled then composts the remaining waste to produce a more stabilised residue. The compost is either used as soil feed or sent directly to landfill.
Two other buildings will be constructed as part of the process, one of which will contain a teaching and resource centre for schools, universities and the general public.
It was essential for ground stabilisation works to be conducted for the civil engineering contractor, Edmund Nuttall Limited due to the soft silty soil at ground level. Furthermore, imported sand and gravel was distributed across the soil to increase the site level by 2m to 2.5m. The combination of the two made the ground strata extremely weak for any building works to progress so it was up to Vibro Projects to deliver a ground improvement technique that was effective and efficient.
Contract Manager for Vibro Projects Limited, Gerry Crawford explained:
“We decided to use our dry bottom feed stone column system which provides high production rates of up to 400m to 800m per shift. For this particular project we worked at 450m per day on average with two rigs constantly on site, allowing us to complete a week ahead of schedule.”
The technique utilises a hollow steel tube with equal openings/slots driven into the ground by a top mounted hydraulic vibrator. Aggregate for the process is held in a hopper around the tube just above ground level so that when the vibroflo tube penetrates the ground it passes through the stone hopper and fills under gravity. When the required treatment depth is reached, the tube is withdrawn allowing the aggregate to immediately flow out from the steel flaps at the base.
The vibroflo tube is the re-lowered to compact the previously placed stone. This operation is repeated in controlled increments all the way to the surface, constructing a dense, clean, uncontaminated stone column that interlocks with the surrounding soil.
In regards to this project, Vibro Projects provided 5,850 compaction points with varying depths between 1m and 4.8m. Once completed, the load bearing capacity of the site was increased to 150kN/m2.
Edmund Nuttall’s structural agent, Phil Marquand commented on Vibro Project’s ground improvement works:
“It is extremely important to ensure that sub contractors stay on schedule, especially with such tight constraints as on this project – and that normally means keeping a tight rein on their movements. However, the Vibro Projects team made excellent progress throughout their entire time on site. It was greatly appreciated and allowed us to proceed with construction works as soon as areas became available.” | |
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