EA Piling continued their long record of repeat business with Terrain Services Limited with a contract to design and construct the pile foundations for Kibimba Bridge along the Jinja-Tororo Highway. This consisted of 72 no. 600mm reinforced concrete piles by CFA method; integrity tests on all of the piles; and a static load test to 2,160kN on a test pile.

 The main contractor provided concrete for the works using a batching plant and 2no. car mixers, whilst EA Piling cut and assembled the steel to make reinforcement cages. The CFA piles were drilled to practical refusal in the bedrock, ensuring that sufficient bearing capacity could be achieved. All 72 piles were successfully installed within a couple of weeks.  

 Integrity testing was undertaken by EA Piling on 100% of the piles using the TDR2 machine by Test Consult, which employs the transient dynamic response method. The data collected at the site was analysed by ND Technology, an independent specialist engineer – all were found to be satisfactory.

 EA Piling designed the reaction piles and frame for the static load test at Kibimba. The test load was taken to 2160kN or 200% of the anticipated working load over 2no. load cycles spanning 2 days. The test was closely supervised by the client who were convinced by EA Piling’s rigorous control of variables which ensured a highly accurate result. With no significant movement in either the test pile or reaction piles, the foundation design was justified.