FK Lowry have successfully completed the design and installation of large diameter rotary bored piles for a new Windfarm in the West of Ireland for Enercon Windfarm Services. FK Lowry installed 96 No. 750mm Dia. Rotary Bored Piles up to 18m deep using 880mm dia. temporary segmental casing. The Ground Conditions were variable across the 6 No. Wind Turbine Bases but could generally be described as Made Ground/Fill overlying Peat.
This was underlain by medium dense sands and soft to firm, to Stiff cohesive deposits at depth. FK Lowry’s Senior Design Engineer, Chris Chapman explains, “The variability of the sub-soils presented a real challenge on the Blacklough Windfarm project. Due to the nature of the sub-soils, we had to examine the strata at each base and to ensure the parameters of the soils considered in the pile design were correct.
Another geotechnical challenge was the Boulders encountered within the underlying Glacial Till. To mitigate the risk of obstructions and to reduce coring time, we deployed our most powerful SR-95 Rig to the scheme which ensured that we could penetrate through this band of material and achieve design depth with our piles”. As well as boasting an impressive 300kNm torque, the SR-95 Rig comes with the latest Tier IV Engine technology that emits less emissions and pollutants and thus conducive to working in an environmentally sensitive area such as Blacklough.
