for the Crossrail depot structure in Old Oak
Common in North London. It was based
around a ground source heat pump (GSHP)
solution using energy piles and geothermal
boreholes with a combined heat and power
plant and also solar photovoltaic (PV) and
solar thermal power. Combining all these
renewables together and providing an
overarching heating and cooling system
created a system that captured waste heat
from the combined heat and power (CHP)
and solar thermal systems and stored it in
the energy foundations of the buildings.
The result is that approximately 54% of the
new railway depot’s heating and cooling will
be provided from renewable technologies
and 20% of the electrical load will be
generated on site from CHP and Solar PV;
providing the rail depot with an overall 33%
renewable energy solution. It is estimated that
once operational, run cost savings will be
around £100,000 ($133,000) annually when
compared to conventional equipment, and
will save approximately 530 tonnes (584
tons) of CO2 per year. The entire system is
calculated to have a payback on initial
investment of less than 10 years.
The multi-renewable energy solution
consists of:
• GSHPs utilizing 466 energy piles and
150 m (492 ft) deep boreholes
• CHP System to provide top-up heating
and electrical load
• 220 sq m (2,368 sq ft) Solar Thermal
• 1,498 sq m (16,124 sq ft) Solar PV
In April, at The Grosvenor Hotel in
London, GI Energy received the Heating &
Ventilation News Award for Renewable
Energy Project of the Year for work at the
Crossrail Depot.
Energy Foundations Key to U.K Renewable Project of the YearFor the past five years, GI Energy, a leading
large-scale heat pump provider, has been
working with London Crossrail con-
tractors at all of the Central London
stations installing geothermal loops into
foundations and diaphragm walls to
deliver heating and cooling to future Over-
Site Developments (OSDs). Crossrail is a
new high frequency, high capacity railway
for London and the South East.
Early in 2014, GI Energy, in collabor-
ation with Bombardier and Vinci Taylor
Woodrow, developed a renewable solution
Project Case Histories
DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 • 83
Construction of energy piles
Rendering of Old Oak Common
Geothermal pipework
84 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 • 85
west tunnel on March 23, 2011. Test
operation began in October 2015. At the
beginning of June 2016, AlpTransit
Gotthard handed over the operation of the
tunnel to Swiss Federal Railway (SBB). After
further testing, the tunnel will be put into
operation as the heart of the new Alp Transit
— on schedule — on December 11, 2016.
for Engineering & Contracting, and on
behalf of the Egyptian client Engineering
Authority Armed-Forces Military Engi-
neers Administration.
For the ventilation system, four shafts
are being constructed with depths of up to
278 ft (84.7 m) and a diameter of 68 ft
(20.7 m) using diaphragm wall tech-
nology. Additionally, a diaphragm wall is
being constructed that is approximately 27
acres (109,265 sq m) in size and up to 164
ft (50 ft) deep to serve as start and target
shafts for the tunnel boring machine. The
scope of work also includes the con-
struction of a soft gel blanket covering
5.25 acres (21,246 sq m) and the
installation of 150 temporary anchors.
Among other equip-ment, a BAUER MC
128 and an MC 96 duty-cycle
crane, both equipped with a BC
40 cutter, are being used along
with two BAUER BG 28 drilling
rigs.
The specialty foundation
engineering works is expected to
be complete in July 2016. Once
completed in 2018, the twin-
tube Ismail ia road tunnel,
including the tunnel approaches,
will stretch approximately 4 mi
(6.4 km) beneath the Suez Canal.
BAUER BG 40 rotary drilling rig
Gotthard Base Railway Tunnel: The Longest and Deepest in the WorldThe Gotthard Base Railway Tunnel in
Gotthard Massif, Switzerland, opened on
June 1. Over 1,100 guests and 300 media
representatives took part in the official
maiden journey through the tunnel, which
is 35 mi (56.3 km) long and runs up to
1.43 mi (2.3 km) below the Alps. It is the
longest and deepest railway tunnel in the
world. The Swiss subsidiaries of BAUER
Group, BAUER Spezialtiefbau and BAUER
Umwelt, were involved in this monumental
construction project.
The twin-tube Gotthard Base Tunnel
runs from Erstfeld to Bodio. Construction
on the tunnel was started in 1999; the
tunnel was excavated from five different
starting points simultaneously. The north-
ernmost starting point was in Erstfeld; from
this point the tunnel was extended towards
the south. In 2005, BAUER Spezialtiefbau
Schweiz carried out the specialty foun-
dation engineering works. The main project
consisted of bored piles with diameters of
3.94 ft (1.2 m) and 4.92 ft (1.5 m), which
were drilled to 110 ft (33.5 m) under
extremely difficult conditions, including
boulder-like landslide material. A BAUER
BG 40 rotary drilling rig was used for
installing the bored piles. Permanent
anchors were installed up to 230 ft (70.1 m)
long in the pile wall. For this, bore holes
were drilled through the boulder-like
unconsolidated rock through to the solid
rock. The excavation pit served as a starting
point for the tunnel boring machine. After
completion of the drilling job, the tunnel
was constructed using the open-cut
tunneling method, then the excavation pit
was refilled.
From January 2011 to August 2013,
foundation piles were constructed for a
3,478 ft (1.1 km) long viaduct between
Lugano and Bellinzona. For the static basis
of the structural design, test piles were
constructed beforehand and static pile load
tests were carried out. A total of 313 cast-
in-place concrete piles with a diameter of
3.9 ft (1.2 m) and lengths of up to 95 ft
(29 m) were drilled and concreted.
BAUER Umwelt was commissioned,
partly as a joint venture, with the construct-
ion and operation of two water treatment
plants; in Amsteg, Switzerland, where the
resulting mountain water had to be treated
before its introduction into the river, and in
Faido, where a nitrite treatment plant was
installed due to the high nitrite concentra-
tion resulting from the explosives used in
the tunnel driving.
The breakthrough in the east tunnel
took place on October 15, 2010, and in the
Gotthard Tunnel under construction
Water treatment plant on site
Tunnel under the Suez CanalThe “New Suez Canal” was officially
opened in August 2015 in Ismailia, Egypt.
The waterway, which has great signif-
icance for world trade, had been widened
at certain points and expanded. It
connects the Mediterranean Sea with the
Red Sea and is the shortest sea route from
Asia to Europe. The reopening of the Suez
Canal does not mean that all construction
work on the water-way has been
completed. One current project
is a new road tunnel north of
Ismailia being built up to 82 ft
(24.9 m) below the bed of the
S u e z C a n a l a n d
230 ft (70.1 m) below the ground
level. Since May 2015, BAUER
EGYPT, the Egyptian subsidiary
of BAUER Spezialtiefbau, has
been carrying out the specialty
foundation engineering works as
the subcontractor for the joint
venture between Egypt-based
companies Petrojet and Concord
BAUER MC 96 duty cycle crane
View of the project site
84 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 • 85
west tunnel on March 23, 2011. Test
operation began in October 2015. At the
beginning of June 2016, AlpTransit
Gotthard handed over the operation of the
tunnel to Swiss Federal Railway (SBB). After
further testing, the tunnel will be put into
operation as the heart of the new Alp Transit
— on schedule — on December 11, 2016.
for Engineering & Contracting, and on
behalf of the Egyptian client Engineering
Authority Armed-Forces Military Engi-
neers Administration.
For the ventilation system, four shafts
are being constructed with depths of up to
278 ft (84.7 m) and a diameter of 68 ft
(20.7 m) using diaphragm wall tech-
nology. Additionally, a diaphragm wall is
being constructed that is approximately 27
acres (109,265 sq m) in size and up to 164
ft (50 ft) deep to serve as start and target
shafts for the tunnel boring machine. The
scope of work also includes the con-
struction of a soft gel blanket covering
5.25 acres (21,246 sq m) and the
installation of 150 temporary anchors.
Among other equip-ment, a BAUER MC
128 and an MC 96 duty-cycle
crane, both equipped with a BC
40 cutter, are being used along
with two BAUER BG 28 drilling
rigs.
The specialty foundation
engineering works is expected to
be complete in July 2016. Once
completed in 2018, the twin-
tube Ismail ia road tunnel,
including the tunnel approaches,
will stretch approximately 4 mi
(6.4 km) beneath the Suez Canal.
BAUER BG 40 rotary drilling rig
Gotthard Base Railway Tunnel: The Longest and Deepest in the WorldThe Gotthard Base Railway Tunnel in
Gotthard Massif, Switzerland, opened on
June 1. Over 1,100 guests and 300 media
representatives took part in the official
maiden journey through the tunnel, which
is 35 mi (56.3 km) long and runs up to
1.43 mi (2.3 km) below the Alps. It is the
longest and deepest railway tunnel in the
world. The Swiss subsidiaries of BAUER
Group, BAUER Spezialtiefbau and BAUER
Umwelt, were involved in this monumental
construction project.
The twin-tube Gotthard Base Tunnel
runs from Erstfeld to Bodio. Construction
on the tunnel was started in 1999; the
tunnel was excavated from five different
starting points simultaneously. The north-
ernmost starting point was in Erstfeld; from
this point the tunnel was extended towards
the south. In 2005, BAUER Spezialtiefbau
Schweiz carried out the specialty foun-
dation engineering works. The main project
consisted of bored piles with diameters of
3.94 ft (1.2 m) and 4.92 ft (1.5 m), which
were drilled to 110 ft (33.5 m) under
extremely difficult conditions, including
boulder-like landslide material. A BAUER
BG 40 rotary drilling rig was used for
installing the bored piles. Permanent
anchors were installed up to 230 ft (70.1 m)
long in the pile wall. For this, bore holes
were drilled through the boulder-like
unconsolidated rock through to the solid
rock. The excavation pit served as a starting
point for the tunnel boring machine. After
completion of the drilling job, the tunnel
was constructed using the open-cut
tunneling method, then the excavation pit
was refilled.
From January 2011 to August 2013,
foundation piles were constructed for a
3,478 ft (1.1 km) long viaduct between
Lugano and Bellinzona. For the static basis
of the structural design, test piles were
constructed beforehand and static pile load
tests were carried out. A total of 313 cast-
in-place concrete piles with a diameter of
3.9 ft (1.2 m) and lengths of up to 95 ft
(29 m) were drilled and concreted.
BAUER Umwelt was commissioned,
partly as a joint venture, with the construct-
ion and operation of two water treatment
plants; in Amsteg, Switzerland, where the
resulting mountain water had to be treated
before its introduction into the river, and in
Faido, where a nitrite treatment plant was
installed due to the high nitrite concentra-
tion resulting from the explosives used in
the tunnel driving.
The breakthrough in the east tunnel
took place on October 15, 2010, and in the
Gotthard Tunnel under construction
Water treatment plant on site
Tunnel under the Suez CanalThe “New Suez Canal” was officially
opened in August 2015 in Ismailia, Egypt.
The waterway, which has great signif-
icance for world trade, had been widened
at certain points and expanded. It
connects the Mediterranean Sea with the
Red Sea and is the shortest sea route from
Asia to Europe. The reopening of the Suez
Canal does not mean that all construction
work on the water-way has been
completed. One current project
is a new road tunnel north of
Ismailia being built up to 82 ft
(24.9 m) below the bed of the
S u e z C a n a l a n d
230 ft (70.1 m) below the ground
level. Since May 2015, BAUER
EGYPT, the Egyptian subsidiary
of BAUER Spezialtiefbau, has
been carrying out the specialty
foundation engineering works as
the subcontractor for the joint
venture between Egypt-based
companies Petrojet and Concord
BAUER MC 96 duty cycle crane
View of the project site