Crewe, David Whitby Way

A new multi million pound net zero carbon deployment base was proposed in Crewe to replace the outdated police station located in the town centre.  The facility, located on David Whitby Way off the A500, is designed to accommodate around 300 staff and brings together several policing departments under one roof. The development aims to improve access across the wider local policing area, with strong connections to the strategic road network and Crewe town centre.

The site was historically undeveloped agricultural land and was principally underlain by glacial till, comprising soft to firm sandy clay overlying extensive deposits of silty sands, with firm to stiff clay encountered locally at greater depths. Alluvial soils, including organic rich sands and silts, were identified in the vicinity of a former watercourse. Groundwater conditions were shallow and persistent, with water levels recorded across the site at depths of approximately 0.3 m to 2.0 m below ground level.

Menard installed approximately 230 vibro stone columns (VSCs) beneath the pad foundations to depths typically ranging between 3.2 m and 3.6 m below ground level. The columns were designed to improve the bearing capacity of the underlying soils and to control total and differential settlement beneath the proposed foundations.

The ground improvement works achieved an enhanced allowable bearing pressure of 150 kPa, while predicted settlements were reduced to less than 25 mm, satisfying the project performance criteria. The quality, installation consistency, and load carrying performance of the VSCs were verified through the completion of two plate load tests.