Hartley Close

As part of an on-going maintenance programme to Liverpool Mutual Homes housing stock, we were employed by Housing Maintenance Solutions to stabilise 18no. brick bin store annexes on various properties within the Anfield area of Liverpool.

The existing raft foundations upon which the brick bin store annexes had been built were inadequate and had subsequently failed. Resultant rotational movement was evident from large vertical cracks between the main structure and annex had been breached.

Helifix Micro-piles, of which we are an approved installer, were specified by the appointed Structural Engineers as a proven and cost effective alternative to other stabilisation methods which require extensive excavations. Each bin store was stabilised by installing four Helifix Micro-piles, with a design load of 100kN for each pile.

Excavations were undertaken to the foot of the foundations at the predetermined locations, with each pile then being ‘screwed’ deep into stable subsoil using lightweight hand held equipment until the required torque was achieved. Adjustable ‘L’ shaped brackets were fitted to the piles and under the foundations and jacked up to achieve the correct loading, thereby transferring the weight of the building to the piles.

Installation was carried out with all tenants in-situ, with each store being completed in under two days, With the piles preventing further settlement soft movement joints were formed at the junction of the bin store and main property.