EA Piling was awarded the subcontract to provide piling solutions at the Ntoroko Lakeport on the Southern shore of Lake Albert. The project included a 45m long jetty founded on piles, and an adjacent 100m long sheet piled wharf.

 The jetty was constructed by backfilling an earthen platform into the lake, installing the piles then digging out the backfill before installing the deck. In order for the piles to have uniform appearance once the back fill was removed, they have a permanent casing in the top 5m which are above the lake bed. In the design the permanent casing was neither long enough nor strong enough to protect against collapse of soils in the lake bed, so temporary casings were also required.  To achieve this design scheme, EA Piling used drilling tools and temporary casings suitable for 800mm piles to make the bore, installed the permanent casing with the reinforcement cage, then removed the temporary casings.

 For mobilisation to the site which includes a long unpaved section of road through the Semiliki wildlife reserve, EA Piling stripped the Soilmec R620 to achieve a reduced truck weight, and reassembled on the site.

 The 44 no. bearing piles were installed in under a month, despite the added complexity of the permanent casings and inclement weather.

 Once the piles were installed, they were tested for integrity by EA Piling 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, who confirmed that the test results did not indicate anomalies in any of the piles.

 Initially the contracted piling work included some bearing piles along the wharf but EA Piling worked with the main contractor to develop a scheme using sheet piles which is considerably more practical and economic.

 EA Piling took design responsibility for the wharf and developed the concept of a continuous sheet pile wall with a combined capping and waler beam restrained by deadman ground anchors. The variation was approved by the consultant and the sheet piles were subsequently supplied and installed by EA Piling.

 Sheet piles were predrilled through the hard clay, then driven to depth using our crane-mounted vibrohammer and impact hammer.

 EA Piling’s technical and design advice brought savings to our client alongside a highly practical final result.