The stretch of the M80 between Castlecary and Bishopbriggs has long been one of the more clogged up arteries streaming into the heart of Glasgow,
but Land-Drill has been playing its part in getting the flow of traffic running more smoothly into the city with some technically demanding installations along this busy thoroughfare.
Our involvement on this project stretches back several months, Land-Drill were commissioned by
HMC to do the initial borehole drilling for the site investigation being done prior to the actual construction work beginning.
Land-Drills scope was a stretch of motorway roughly 12 kilometres in length which involved half the
road being widened and the other half a completely new build, part of the construction remit will be the construction of
several large embankments on soft compressible ground; obviously great care will have to be taken on these loadings
with regards to the threat of significant settlement or even collapse.
To ensure that this possibility remains a remote one, Land-Drill was engaged to install vibrating wire (VW) piezometers and horizontal profile gauges along large stretches of the motorway; VW piezometers provide instant and highly accurate measurement of pore water pressures. The VW piezometer converts water pressure to a frequency signal via a diaphragm, a tensioned steel wire, and an electromagnetic coil. The VW piezometer is designed so that a change in pressure on the diaphragm causes a change in the tension of the wire. These devices are constantly checking the stresses in the ground while also monitoring the rate of settlement.
The precise nature of these installations can be demanding enough, but the fact all work had to be done amidst a flurry of construction work being undertaken by other contractors and while being governed by stringent Health & Safety demands meant that the tight deadline imposed on the project was by no means certain to be met, however all drilling work was completed in three weeks, bang on schedule, the installation of the monitors is a rolling programme with ongoing deadlines having to be met up until all construction work is finished.
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