Flood defence

Sub-Contractor Genseed Underground Services has Used Grundoram Koloss and Goliath hammers to install four, 18 m long, 914 mm diameter pipes as part of flood defence works near Newcastle, UK.

The works were complicated by the close proximity of a railway line. To reduce any settlement it was decided to ram the four pipes, with 200 mm spacing between each one, at a depth of 2,5 m below the railway. A 23 x 8 m launch pit with a concrete base reflecting the gradient of the finished pipe was excavated, with the first pipe installed in 2¼ hours using the Koloss hammer. The other three pipes, which needed the larger Goliath hammer, took 45 to 60 minutes each to install.