Milestone reached in King’s Dyke scheme between Peterborough and Whittlesey

A new milestone has been reached in the King’s Dyke project, with poling work beginning at Star Pit.
The scheme is due to be completed next yearThe scheme is due to be completed next year
The scheme is due to be completed next year

In response to ground investigation work and to introduce extra stability, contractors Jones Bros, have designed a new, highly engineered, improved solution than originally planned to tackle Star Pit and will be installing a piled wall. The piles will be bored to a depth of 23 metres below ground level, before then putting in a steel reinforcement cage which is filled with concrete.

This new design will involve piling into the existing ground and will reinforce the Star Pit side walls and allow the road’s embankment to be completed. This method is more robust and will increase the longevity of the asset which Cambridgeshire County Council will take on in terms of maintenance.

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Cllr Peter McDonald, Chair of the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “We have been working with Jones Bros ever since they came on-board to design and implement this part of the scheme, over the past few weeks the focus has been on the ground conditions, which are worse than our tests initially found so we’re responding to this with a new and better solution around Star Pit.

“This specialist piling work is well underway and may be visible to the public so we wanted to explain. I’m pleased to say this won’t have any impact on the programme and we’re on track to open to traffic by the end of 2022.”

Rhydian Hafal, construction manager for Jones Bros, said: “We’ve been working with highly specialised contractors in order to carry out additional ground investigations at Star Pit, and as a result, determined that some additional strengthening were required.

“By carrying out piling at the top of Star Pit, it means we can add extra reinforcement and reduce the load on the existing ground.

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“The piling requires the material that is currently in the pit to act as a support for the pit walls and for the piles themselves, so this task can only be accomplished now, following the filling of the corner of the pit.”

Many of the other large elements of the project are nearing completion or well underway - the precast concrete edge protection for the north side of the bridge has been installed, work to install the first layer of the road on the embankment, the sub-base, is now underway, kerbs for the north side of the bridge are being installed, as well as the ducts which will house electrical cabling for the street lighting.

King’s Dyke transport scheme is progressing well and on track to open to traffic by the end of 2022.

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