The site's ground conditions and its proximity to a railway made this a tricky project but Rigid Inclusions provided a low vibration solution which allowed for simple spread footings for construction work.

McDonald's restaurant, Colchester

The project

The construction of a two-storey drive-thru restaurant building on the site of a large existing retail park development. 

The challenge

The main challenge was to provide a foundation solution through up to 9.0m of uncompacted fill material while avoiding the formation of pathways to a secondary aquifer. It was also necessary to select a low vibration installation method due to the proximity of the nearby railway.

The solution

52No circa 10m long 300mm diameter unreinforced RIs were installed using cast in-situ construction methods.   The installation works were designed to achieve 200kN/m2 beneath the foundations only of the new modular building, which helped to minimise the size of the foundations. The works were all completed inside three working days and facilitated the adoption of simple spread footings.

Project facts

Owner(s)

British Overseas Bank Nominees Ltd & W.G.C.T Nominees Ltd

Keller business unit(s)

Keller UK

Main contractor(s)

Conlon Construction (Nottingham) Ltd