Reinforced concrete retaining walls with piled foundations were originally shown on the Engineering layout drawings for this Barratt Homes development site at Pan Meadows Isle of Wight for groundworker Gracelands Ltd. Additional GI in the form of trial pitting and plate bearing tests were carried out under the proposed location of the retaining wall as weak made ground was identified, but the depth of made ground and the bearing capacity of the underlying capable soils had to be determined.
Geolex worked closely with the client’s consultant geotechnical engineer to formulate and design an alternative solution using ground improvement techniques together with a proposal for a modular block reinforced soil retaining structure. This solution minimised ground bearing pressures and through a controlled excavation and granular replacement and compaction procedure on site, the need to install piles was negated.