OWNER:
Makkah Mosque and Muslim Community Centre
ENGINEER:
SWF Consulting Ltd
GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Fox Developments
MAIN FIGURES:
707 Vibro Stone Columns
Project Details
SWF Consulting Ltd were in discussions with us in the initial stages of the design with a view to value engineer the foundation solution for a new mosque in Bolton. Once the new mosque is constructed, it is proposed to demolish the existing mosque and extend the existing structure.
Ground Conditions
Made ground was highly variable across the site, large areas had a minimal thickness of made ground ranging between 0.4m and 0.7m bgl. Areas of deeper made ground up to 4.2m deep were recorded beneath the north-western area of the site. Below this was stiff becoming very stiff high strength brown slightly sandy gravelly clay was encountered from 0.4m bgl to a maximum depth of 15.0m bgl.
Solution
In order to enable the construction of regular shallow foundations Vibro Stone Columns (VSC) were chosen to reinforce the cohesive soils. Menard’s design was to provide an enhanced bearing capacity of 180kPa beneath the pad foundations & strip footings and 30kPa beneath the floor slab. Settlements were limited to 25mm total settlements with relative differential settlement of 1/500 maximum. Plate load tests were conducted on the stone columns to verify the workmanship.
Sustainable Development
Vibro Stone Columns (VSC) is a very low-carbon solution because only stones (and no concrete) are used for the ground improvement and it allows the construction of conventional shallow foundations.
