A Novel Method for Assessing the Reuse of Under Reamed Piles as Part of the Southbank Place Project-Video

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Video Summary

Stuart Hardy describes the reuse of foundations during the redevelopment of Southbank Place, the former Shell headquarters beside Waterloo Station. The site’s existing piles were not only potential supports for the new buildings but also helped restrain movement of the Bakerloo Line tunnels beneath the site.<br /><br />The team reviewed historical records and technical papers, then investigated six of the 109 piles. Using core drilling, boreholes and CCTV inspection, they confirmed the piles’ locations, dimensions, lengths and concrete condition.<br /><br />A detailed three-dimensional finite-element analysis modelled the existing and proposed structures, ground conditions, tunnels and construction sequence. Its findings informed a modified foundation-reuse risk assessment and helped the team position new piles to manage settlement and avoid overloading existing ones.<br /><br />Reuse was essential because removing the piles was impractical and could affect the tunnels. The project combined targeted investigation, engineering judgement and numerical analysis to demonstrate that the foundations could be safely incorporated into the redevelopment.

Keywords

foundation reuse

Southbank Place

Bakerloo Line tunnels

finite-element analysis

pile investigation