Screw piles for scaffolding at historic conservation college in West Sussex
West Dean College is an internationally recognised College of Arts and Conservation in West Sussex. A historic building of great importance.
The college needed a new roof, however the building needed to be protected whilst the roof was stripped and replaced.
The main contractors found it was not possible to tie the scaffolding and temporary roof canopies to the existing building due to the fragility and importance of the building. Ground Sun were therefore contacted to provide screw piles to anchor the scaffolding for compression and uplift loads. Given most of the loads were in tension, the Chance Hubbell piles with their forged connections were the best solution.
Ground investigation reports were inconclusive and so a series of load tests were undertaken in 5 locations around the building to determine capacity of the pile foundation design. A 70kN working load was required. All load tests passed. Four of the piles were tested to 14 tonnes (circa twice the 70kN maximum required load) and one pile tested to 28 tonnes.
Ground Sun used bespoke tungsten tipped augers to drill down through the existing concrete and asphalt car park and the many obstructions in the upper surfaces. 100 Chance Hubbell helical screw piles were installed to an average depth of 8m.
