Imagine a substantial groundworks excavation that unexpectedly starts filling with water. Suddenly you have a major issue to resolve before the project can proceed. How quickly could you overcome this and keep the work on track?
Groundwater is a common unseen hazard for civil engineers. Others include variable soil conditions, hidden obstructions and hazardous materials such as asbestos. Susceptibility to subsidence, heave, settlement and consolidation all need to be factored-in to create resilient structures able to withstand the effects of an increasingly unpredictable climate.
Locations for civil engineering works are rarely, if ever, uniform in terms of their geology, soil types or moisture content (which has a significant impact on the shear strength of soils). Unseen obstructions such as unmapped services are also common.
Minimise Uncertainty
A detailed geotechnical survey will tell you a great deal about potential project risks that lurk below the surface. The survey results will influence the design of temporary structures and foundations and minimise the chances of late changes being needed that would disrupt the project schedule.
Once the survey has identified potential hazards, rapid response becomes essential. Effective mitigation has to be identified and put in place quickly, which could involve collaboration between ground engineering specialists, civil engineers and others.
This collaborative process is at the heart of Suttle’s Projects:Simplified approach to delivery.
Successful Collaboration
Early in a recent major car park improvement scheme we detected the presence of asbestos. A revised solution that reduced excavation and reconstruction depths was quickly implemented and enabled the car park to be completed on schedule.
Without close collaboration between the teams, valuable days could have been lost that would have compounded delays across the rest of the project.
And to come back to the original question, this was also a real situation on a recent project. The ground survey hadn’t anticipated the levels of localised groundwater and a cofferdam structure was being badly affected by water ingress.
To find out how our In-house ground engineering specialists resolved the issue to keep the project on track, access our Free Information & Resources. Simply scroll down on our home page to register.