Case Study Overview
The Emirates cable car was installed to provide a pedestrian link across the River Thames between the Royal Docks and the Greenwich peninsula.
Red7Marine provided the project with all the marine equipment in the tidal River Thames to install the foundations for the South support tower and the station foundation in the Royal Victoria Dock. Ship impact protection was also installed at both sites to safeguard both structures.
At a glance
- Location: Greenwich, London
- Plant used: Haven Seaway, Haven Seabreeze, Haven Seafield, Haven Seavoyager, Haven Seareach, Haven Sea Supporter
- What we did: Red7Marine worked with Bachy Soletanche in a joint venture to install the foundations for the one-kilometre long cable car.
The Challenge
The foundation support piles were installed by Bachy Soletanche using the rotary bored piling method, a discipline that requires experience and skill to correctly construct the concrete piles. The foundation piles were installed from a jack up barge located above the tidal water level to provide a stable platform for the piling rig. The team’s project management skills were utilised to carry out the heavy lifting operation of a 200 tonne pre-cast concrete section, which was installed on the marine foundation piles.
The marine plant supplied to the project consisted of two jack up barges, the Haven Seajack 1 and the Haven Seaway, supported by the Haven Seareach crane barge, Haven Seavoyager and the Haven Seabreeze flat top supply barges. The Haven Seasupporter tug with additional workboats moved the equipment around between the locations.
The Solution
Temporary access walkways supported on tubular steel piles were installed from the riverbank to the South tower foundation which also supported the pumped concrete supply lines. The walkways allowed the efficient and safe transfer of personnel to the work site.
As Red7Marine was operating close to the London City Airport flight path and on a busy stretch of the tidal River Thames there were additional operational constraints which required close liaison with important local stakeholders. The management team worked closely with LCA and the PLA to gain approval of the construction methodology and the project programme, ensuring that the project was carried out with the minimal disruption.
Nick Offord, Managing Director at Red7Marine commented:
“The Emirates Cable Car is a popular tourist attraction and essential local travel connection. Consequently it was important for us to liaise very closely with the local stakeholders at all stages of the project and our flexibility as an agile business enabled us to quickly respond to the evolving project requirements.
Our team are committed to providing the best solutions and project management to each and every client.”
Complete package delivery
Red7Marine provided all the marine equipment, managed the project and worked closely with the client at all stages.
Solutions provider
Red7Marine worked closely with London City Airport and the PLA on this project in order to carry out the marine construction works with minimal disruption to the live airport.
Skilled team
All of the Red7Marine team are highly skilled, offering partners added peace of mind that they are receiving an industry leading service.
