Ground Engineering
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This project involved the reconstruction of a section of quay wall that had collapsed into the tidal reaches of the River Dodder, at Fitzwilliam Quay. The works required the placement of king post piles, contiguous bored piles, ground anchors, reinforced concrete walls and ancillary works.
“Murphy combined the experience of both Ground Engineering and Civil Engineering divisions to better engineer a solution that minimised disruption to commuters, traffic and essential services in this busy urban and marine environment. The finished product was highly commended by both Dublin City Council and Inland Fisheries Ireland.” - Fiach Byrne, Contract Manager, Murphy International Ltd.
Working in the tidal reaches of the River Dodder brought logistical challenges. To enable a certain amount of the work to be carried out outside of low tide, we built a working platform in the river.
Another key challenge was managing disruption to commuters, traffic and essential services in such a busy urban environment. Good traffic management was a cornerstone of the successful delivery of this project.
The works consisted of constructing approximately 50m of quay wall and tying-in the new masonry to the bridge at the junction of Bridge Street.
As 26m of the original quay wall had collapsed into the tidal reaches of the river, it was necessary to remove all remaining elements prior to construction. The services in the location also had to be removed before being replaced with new chambers and ducts.
The replacement wall was built of approximately 38m of reinforced concrete, contiguous bored piles and 12m of anchored steel king-post wall. The contiguous bored piles were 600mm in diameter and varied in length, from 8 to 12 metres. Concrete foundations were installed below both the river bed and the low tide level. A stepped, reinforced concrete capping beam was also installed, in addition to ground anchor restraints for the king-post framework.
Hard landscaping on site was a team effort. Specialist skilled tradesmen were engaged to carry out the granite kerbing and limestone paving on the quayside. Expert stonemasons undertook the limestone random rubble masonry and capping for the quay wall. The bespoke railings were fabricated at our steel fabrication workshop in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. In addition to street furniture and bollards, the project also delivered a newly resurfaced road and public lighting.
The Murphy Ground Engineering team delivers a range of piling and geotechnical services including in-house pile design, value engineering and bespoke technical solutions throughout the UK and Ireland. Our direct delivery approach ensures that our clients always receive a reliable and adaptable service for their projects.