Working with a Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture, Van Elle will be vibro piling to provide extensive embankment support.
Van Elle will install more than 4,000 vibro stone columns to a depth of 600mm between Gatemead and West Ruislip to strengthen the ground ahead of further construction.
The project also involves field trials and probing exercise at each section in advance of the main works.
Vibro stone piles are a quick and cost-effective alternative to piling and grouting when building on large areas of weak ground. Vibro columns do not produce spoil and tend to be shorter than piles.
Claire Garrett, Ground Improvement Director at Van Elle, said: “We’ve had some great success with vibro piling on infrastructure projects recently using specialist rigs that we have developed in-house and we’re looking forward to showing our capabilities in this area once more.”
Work is expected last until Spring 2021.