Baldivis Pump Station

Project Overview

Fortec’s geotechnical division was engaged by BMD to supply and install 22 vertical permanent micropiles within a tight secant piled shaft 14 metres below surface level, and 12 metres below the hydrostatic water table, for a new sewer pump.

Fortec was required to work in a confined space with extremely tight access that was also below ground and below the water table.

Fast Facts

  • CLIENTBMD
  • LOCATIONBaldivis, WA
  • YEAR OF COMPLETION2023

Scope of Works

  •  Installation of 22 micropiles each 12 metres in length
  • Undertake compliance testing of the micropiles to comply with Quality Assurance

Key Points of Interest

  • Fortec’s experience, including the rig selection and specialist grouting equipment, allowed the project to implement an innovative design
  • The uplift hydrostatic forces were a design challenge to overcome for drilling installation and hydrostatic pressures
  • A new solution for uplift was considered and an anchored concrete plug was implemented as an alternative methodology to provide uplift restraint for the permanent works pump station.

Highlights

  • A conventional ‘dead weight only’ concrete slab was in the order, of 7 metres thick, to resist uplift forces
  • Fortec’s alternative solution with micropiles resulted in the concrete slab being reduced to just 1 metre in depth