Marine geotechnical investigations on the Mersey
RSK’s geoengineering specialists Structural Soils helped to design and construct the Mersey Gateway bridge by providing marine geotechnical investigations. Right from the outset, the team knew the complex site, including its environment and isolated position, would provide plenty of technical and logistic challenges, so it engaged the wider RSK group of companies for its extensive skillset.
Difficult terrain; specialist tools
The dynamic site is a 1-km-wide tidal estuary with an irregularly shaped large sandbank in the centre. Deeper water surrounds the sandbank, which is submerged by high spring tides. The riverside on both sides is salt flats, and the nearest harbour is more than 20 km downriver.
Considering the timeframe and the site location, RSK applied a multidisciplinary approach. Deploying specialist equipment, including a jack-up platform and a spud-legged barge, made accessing the site and drilling easier. Using the jack-up platform, engineers drilled 28 boreholes in the deep-water channels and moved the platform according to the tidal cycle. Directly from the sandbank’s surface, engineers drilled boreholes through the sandbank using equipment positioned on the spud-legged barge. In many boreholes, in-situ, high-pressure rock dilatometer testing was undertaken incrementally as the boreholes progressed. Once completed, specialists began double packer permeability testing and geophysical logging, including optical and acoustic logging.
Transporting the drilling equipment to the site involved a 20-km journey upriver from the nearest dock. RSK appointed local contractors with good knowledge of the river and access to low draught vessels. Boats with outboard engines could not be used owing to a build up of sediment deposits on the riverbed, so a hovercraft and helicopter, operated by RSK Orbital, transported engineers from shore to the sandbank and the drilling platform. To ensure the highest level of environmental safeguarding, RSK implemented a wide range of control measures and contingency plans for potential pollution incidents affecting the estuary and undertook noise monitoring and abatement measures to ensure that the ground investigations did not set a poor precedent of noise impacts on nearby residents and businesses.
“I’d like to thank every single person who got us to this point, on what has been a long and sometimes challenging journey,” offered a delighted local official.
- Location: England
- Client: Halton Borough Council
- Project status: Completed
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🤝 At COP27, delegates from across the globe debated vital issues from expediting clean energy solutions to ensuring financial support for nations on the front lines of climate change.
🤔 As we are looking ahead to what the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will bring, we asked specialists from across the RSK group what impact the agreement has had on their sectors and regions.
Read more in our bio!
#ClimateChange #Biodiversity #ClimateCrisis #COP15 #COP27 #Sustainability
📸 #selfiesonsite 🤳
Amelia Houghton from RSK Biocensus having a wonderful time on-site!
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#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture
👏 Steven Carmody, Managing Director at SCP Infrastructure, an RSK group company, has been re-elected to the national council of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation.
💚 "I take great pride in seeing things being built and leaving a long-term legacy for our world.”
Find out more about Steven's work in our bio!
#Highways #Transportation #Transport #Infrastructure #Sustainability #Council
🤔 Do you ever wonder what COP15 really is and why does it matter to you and your business?
💚 Dr Stephanie Wray, RSK Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Managing Director of Nature Positive, gives us a clear explanation about why it is essential for the business community to understand the opportunity that is COP15.
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#COP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Environment #Sustainability #NetZero
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Some great pictures from the team at @centara_ltd out on-site surveying with a laser scanner.
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#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #survey
🤝 @facaderemedialconsultants' Managing Director has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to highlight concerns around new regulations such as the Building Safety Act 2022 and the developers’ pledge – Mr Gove’s bid to reset building safety in England.
Find out what he requested in our bio!
#Housing #Building #Construction #Safety #Home #Development
🌍 COP15, the upcoming UN biodiversity summit, aims to set out a plan for how countries will work together to achieve a nature-positive world by 2030.
🤝Our panel of experts will debate:
✔ key discussion points highlighted so far during COP15
✔ progress made towards a robust nature-positive action plan
✔ what living in harmony with nature looks like for future generations
✔ how living in harmony with nature can look different around the world.
💡 Join the COP conversation as RSK reports live from COP15!
Register for our free webinar in our bio!
#RoutetoCOP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Sustainability #COP15 #Sustainable
💧 Actively restoring rivers by reinstating natural river processes will play a vital role in helping offset the global freshwater biodiversity crisis.
💡 In this insight, Dr Hamish Moir and Peter Downs from @cbec_eco_engineering_uk, an RSK company, explore how sustainable approaches to river management can help protect us from flooding and droughts.
Read more in our bio!
#Biodiversity #Climate #Water #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Floods #Droughts
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Jiano Pulickal from @structuralsoils took Bertie Bear around the site for the day!
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities 👉 www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #construction