Mid Harbours Housing, Gibraltar

With the ever increasing demand for social housing in Gibraltar the Government embarked on the ambitious Mid Harbours project. This included 500 apartments constructed on reclaimed land.

Ground conditions were always going to be challenging with the project's location in relation to the sea. The engineering team at Rock Foundations (Gibraltar) devised a wide range of ground engineering solutions to facilitate the foundation construction for the project.

Initially the large RB UK 7006 rig was mobilised to install 425 number 600mm diameter CHD piles to depth of 8m. In addition, some 280 micro piles were required to complete the foundation work, both the Klemm 802 and 806 were used to install the 300mm diameter drill bar piles to a depth of 10 – 12m.

Finally, a sheet piling solution was required to retain the sands which would otherwise have been washed out by the water table enabling the main contractor to successfully excavate for the foundation pads. The sheet piles were driven in with a vibrating actuator connected to a 20t excavator.