Piled Foundations - Stratford Station Upgrade

Abbey Pynford Rises To Olympic Challenge

Restricted access mini piles for new lifts and a staircase within Stratford Station.

Stratford Station, already one of the busiest in London, is undergoing a major upgrade in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. The works include new lifts and staircases to make all areas of the station fully accessible; this work is in order to achieve the Olympic Delivery Authority’s stated aim of having all spectators arrive to the games by public transport.

 “We had to work closely with Transport for London as our deliveries were coming through Stratford Bus Station.”  Anna Freeman, Contracts Manager

Abbey Pynford was employed in their capacity as piling and ground engineering specialists by Tubelines Limited to construct piled foundations for two new lifts and a staircase. Twenty one piles, each of 300mm diameter were installed to a depth of 11.5m. The piles were cased to 3m depth due to there being unstable ground conditions near the surface.

The station has very restricted access which meant driving all the necessary equipment through the disabled access barriers and across the station concourse. This offers a textbook example of Abbey Pynford’s ability to meet challenging demands on site. Also all work had to be carried out between the hours of 01:30 and 04:00 whilst the station was closed.

“It was a race against time every night to get the piles complete and the site clear before the station opened to the public again.” Anna Freeman, Contracts Manager

 Due to the enclosed nature of the station, fumes from the piling rigs were a potential problem. Abbey Pynford’s in-house design department came up with a special venting system for the rigs, creating an exhaust that could travel 40m across the station and out into the open air. Good housekeeping was also a vital factor on this sensitive site. Passengers could see into the working area from the mezzanine level, all walls, barriers and floors had to be fully protected so mess and disruption was kept to a minimum.

Location: Stratford Station, East London
Main Contractor: Tubelines Limited working for London Underground and the Olympic Delivery Authority
Scope Of Works: 21 restricted access mini piles, 300mm dia, cased 3m, 11.5m augered depth, using 2 mini rigs
Duration: 2 weeks, working between the hours of 01.30 - 04:00