Setting foundations

Q-Plant Hire of Manchester has taken delivery of the first new Kobelco 110 tonne capacity CKE1100 crawler crane in the UK. This is the first of a batch of four new Kobelco cranes delivered in September, including 135 tonne and 80 tonne capacity units.

The first job for the CKE1100 was stabilisation and foundation work for a river diversion project carried out by the Gateshead-based Steel Foundations division of Volker-Stevin, for main contractor Fitzpatrick. It is part of a £15 million (US$30 million) warehouse development for Coltham Citadel Ltd in Staffordshire.

The job includes the installation of some 6,000 square metres of 8 to 15 m long sheet-steel piles in the diversion of Darlaston Brook which runs along the edge of the new site and adjacent to a main road. It also involves the stabilisation of the retained embankment and foundations for a new access road bridge.