Esh Construction has employed specialist techniques on the banks of the River Don as progress continues on a £4.1 million public realm scheme at Rotherham Riverside.
Esh’s civil engineering division has been carrying out repairs to the existing river walls adjacent to Westgate, with more than 250 sheet piles being installed to form a new piled foundation that will support a new footpath behind the existing river wall.
A total of 127 pairs of piles, weighing up to six tonnes each, have been installed with varying lengths between 14-18m through a five-week period. A temporary piling mat, which extends to 170m long, 8m wide and 550mm deep and equating to 1500 tonnes of capping was also constructed to support the heavy plant and machinery that will be used throughout the piling works.
Esh has already carried out remediation and repair work to the river walls. Construction Manager Michael Sherrard said: “In our investigations into the designs for a new pathway, we discovered that the existing brick wall would not support the new footpath, so we had to provide a new piled foundation that had a 100-year design life and that’s where the sheet piling construction comes in.
“These are about as long a sheet pile you are likely to use along a section of riverbank like this and the sections being installed are some of the heaviest available on the market.”
Mr Sherrard explained that site logistics and practicalities surrounding the scale of the works had to be worked through, but ultimately they served a purpose for the project. He added: “The logistics of getting the 18m sheet piles to site brings its challenges. We’ve had to use police escorts and movement orders, as well as getting the crane and the rig to site too. We also needed to assess site logistics to ensure ample space for the team, given the large scale of machinery and equipment involved.
“One of the challenges in the design was to provide a solution which ensures the longevity of the Riverside Footpath Route. With the sheet piles extending to more than double the depth of the existing wall, it is anticipated that as the existing riverbank erodes, the new piled foundation to the footpath, with accompanying balustrade would become the new exposed river wall in time, futureproofing the river bank and maintaining the footpath at the same time.”
Esh Construction worked closely with piling experts Sheet Piling UK during this key phase in the project. Emirates Steel Arkan (EMSTEEL) GreenSheetPile™ low carbon sheet piles were used to create the lowest amount of embodied (embedded) carbon within the required sheet piles.
The manufacturing process behind GreenSheetPile™ – the Electric Arc Furnace method – results in much lower amounts of embedded carbon within the finished steel products produced than is the global steel industry norm. Where a typical amount of embedded carbon with global steel sheet pile is 2,300kg per tonne of finished product, the GreenSheetPile™ sheet piles have an embedded carbon value of 708kg per tonne of finished product.
Sheet Piling UK’s director, Andrew Cotton, said: “We are delighted to have worked in a collaborative manner on the Rotherham Riverside project with Esh Construction to ensure the complex sheet piling works were delivered safely, on programme, and within budget. The sheet piling works represented a key element of the project and having a reliable supply chain partner to deliver such works is key to the overall success of the project.”
Procured through YORhub’s YORcivil2 framework on behalf of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Esh is also delivering upgrades on land just off Westgate, while highway upgrades will be actioned on Water Lane. The works on the Riverside have included cut and fill operations, deep drainage works and Japanese knotweed removal, with gabion baskets planned to create a retaining wall feature along the new pathway.
The next phase of the works, moving into 2025, will see the piling mat removed and the area between the wall and deep piles back filled, with the capping beam and balustrades to be fitted, enabling the team to proceed with the construction of the new pathway.
Across Yorkshire, Esh has used piling works to support a flood alleviation scheme for Ouse and Humber Drainage Board and the Gypsey Race Park Phase 2 (Areas 3 and 4) project. In the North East, Esh is working on behalf of Advance Northumberland at the Northumberland Energy Park in Blyth, where 183 tubular piles will support the construction of a 3,000m² piled concrete relieving slab behind the west and north quay walls. On completion, areas of the berth will provide a safe working load of 5,300kN to make the dock serviceable for the import and export of components and finished goods.
In our investigations into the designs for a new pathway, we discovered that the existing brick wall would not support the new footpath, so we had to provide a new piled foundation that had a 100-year design life and that’s where the sheet piling construction comes in.
These are about as long a sheet pile you are likely to use along a section of riverbank like this and the sections being installed are some of the heaviest available on the market.”
