Great Blakenham

In August 2021, Aarsleff Ground Engineering conducted a
sizeable multi-discipline project on behalf of client Team AB who
have been appointed as the main contractor in building a new
logistics park in Ipswich, Great Blakenham.

The establishment, named ‘Port One’, will soon boast a bespoke
warehouse set to revolutionise e-commerce warehousing. The
impressive warehouse will offer uninterrupted access 24/7 and
365 days per year. The overall site consists of 90 million
cubicfeet of capacity, 1.8m sq. foot floor space and 21m eaves
capacity. The geographical positioning of the scheme is
conveniently located a short 20-minute drive from the A14, which
is also situated closely to the Port of Felixstowe.

With a combination of our own in-house capabilities and a highly
skilled workforce, Aarsleff were able to design and deliver a range
of complex ground engineering disciplines, bringing together
our individual departments; Insitu, Specialist Retaining Walls and
Geotechnical.

Toby Lee, Senior Technical Estimator from the Insitu team,
observed the site area and grounds and worked in close
collaboration with our Design manager Ash Rogers to coordinate
the three departments that would bring this project to
completion. Ash Rogers commented: “We always seek to deliver
the best solution that benefits our clients. We have provided the
client with the ability to continue working around us with follow
on works, which save times for our client Team AB and is
subsequently, more beneficial to their client”

Our current scope of work contains of a contiguous wall
between units 3 and 4 to enable a 8 meter retained height,
and a soil nail supported sheet piled wall to retain the adjacent
highway up to 10 meter high.

The key challenge was creating an economical solution that
provided the right stability within a small amount of space
available between each warehouse unit. Due to no restrictions
on the developable space along the road, the best solution for
this tactic was identified as sheet piles. 202No. sheet piles were
installed by our specialist retaining wall team over the course of
2.5 weeks.

Once the sheet piles were in, the ground could be excavated for
the soil nails to be installed. The benefit of combining these two
disciplines together was that the client was able to dig the grounds
immediately, which meant we could all move quickly together. Soil
nails were also chosen as the best economical solution to support
the existing road, in total 267No. Soil nails were installed by our
Geotechnical team.

In between the warehouse units, contiguous flight auger was
chosen as the solution to provide the best result in restricted
space. Our Insitu team installed a Contiguous pile wall comprising
125No. 900 diameters x 16 meters over the course of 4.5 weeks.

The construction sequence had been developed with the client
where we have taken great efforts to educate and help Team AB
understand the process and learn along each stage of the project.

The main challenge on this large scheme was sourcing materials
due to Brexit. The commitment from our site teams together with
cross-departmental collaboration was crucial in delivering project
success. The project has been completed on time and in budget.
The project has been completed on time and in budget.